Strings

Recently his disc of solo violin works by Kurtág and Bartók drew praise in The Strad Magazine as a “luxuriantly detailed reading” and in Gramophone Magazine for “his thoughtful, sympathetic performances”.

He has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Philharmonia, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Recitals have included the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room. He has performed extensively across Russia with recitals and concerto performances from Moscow to Vladivostok, and played concertos in Hong Kong and Beijing. His repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary and he has a number of ongoing projects to expand the violin repertoire through commission and rediscovery of lost works.

A committed chamber musician, Simon was a member of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Octet, performing in concert halls and broadcasts worldwide. Other projects have included the release of a CD of duos and trios by Kodály and Dohnányi.

In addition to masterclasses throughout the UK, he has visited and taught in institutions such as Central Conservatoire, Beijing; Academy of Performing Arts, Hong Kong; Zhiganov State Conservatoire, Kazan, Russia, and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and School of the Arts in Singapore. In 2018 he will be giving a class at the Moscow Conservatoire. He has been on the jury for international competitions, including as chair of a new competition in Kazan, Russia.

He plays on a Rogeri violin, made in 1708. He acts as a consultant to Viaduct Violins in Paris.

He studied with Antonio Brosa, Sylvia Rosenberg and subsequently with Sascha Lasserson. He studied composition with Alan Ridout. Andrew has performed to good critical comment in many parts of the world as soloist and conductor. He has led the Mercury Ensemble for Rambert dance company and played in London and Scottish orchestras. Solo performances range from Wigmore Hall to eastern Europe, the USA. and Africa. Many composers have written works for him from Howard Skempton to the American Stephen Funk Pearson, as well as an acting/performing role in a musical at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He is in demand as a conductor and has worked with orchestras from the strings of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to the Brighton Youth Orchestras Trust whose orchestras and ensembles have won awards and acclaim since he became Director. He is principal conductor for European Youth Summer Music and of the Musicians of All Saints who are committed to unjustly neglected and contemporary composers. Andrew adjudicates both in Britain and abroad, and many of his earlier students are now professional musicians.

Keen to pass on her wealth of knowledge and orchestral experience, Clare is regularly invited to tutor in all of the London music colleges and is generally sought after as teacher and audition mentor by many young musicians embarking on their careers. She also has a burgeoning private studio in North London, teaching across the syllabuses. Her students range from age 7-18 with notable examination and conservatoire entrance successes.

Clare was a prize-winning student at the Royal Academy of Music where she studied with Carmel Kaine. Scholarships then enabled her to complete her postgraduate studies in Germany with Wolfgang Marschner. On her return, she was soon appointed to the Principal 2nd chair of the English Chamber Orchestra, performing with such artists as Barenboim and Zukerman. She performed with the English Chamber Orchestra as a soloist both in the concert hall and recording studio. In that time, some ten years, she also appeared as guest leader with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Ulster Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Thames Chamber Orchestra and principal positions with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra amongst others.

She has led the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall, performed with many of the world’s great conductors, Muti, Maazel, Salonen and Ashkenazy to name but a few, and is now regularly invited to lead and co-lead British orchestras including most recently, working extensively as Co-Leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra with Andris Nelsons.

Clare has also enjoyed an active chamber music career, performing, recording and broadcasting with such ensembles as Prometheus, Cirrus and Serenata. She has played chamber music with Rostropovich and is a featured soloist on a CD of Vivaldi violin concertos with Pinchas Zukerman. She also continues to work in the studio recording film scores, including The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and The Hobbit.

Clare was recently made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in recognition of her services to music.

She plays on a fine Joseph Gagliano violin, circa 1770.

Clare Thompson studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Carmel Kaine where she won numerous prizes for solo and string quartet playing. Various scholarships, including the Countess of Munster Trust enabled her to continue her studies with Wolfgang Marschner in Freiburg, Germany, where she graduated with the final diploma.

As leader of the Cummings String Trio and the English String Quartet, Diana has performed widely both nationally and internationally. The English String Quartet was also the resident ensemble of the London Festival of Chamber Music, a month-long event which during the course of 13 consecutive years (1995 – 2007) gave over 200 concerts, bringing an extensive repertoire of both familiar and rarely heard works to audiences across London.

With regard to orchestral work, Diana has guest-led the London Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, the Liverpool Philharmonic and the Hallé Orchestra and has played with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the English Chamber Orchestra. She has performed Bach’s complete concerto repertoire with the London Bach Orchestra at London’s Southbank Centre several times, and she was leader and soloist of the Northern Chamber Orchestra. She is the leader of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra, often appearing as a soloist.

In all these capacities Diana has broadcast frequently and has made many recordings for major labels.

Diana is also a Professor and Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music, where as part of her work she is the Specialist for the LRAM Teaching Diploma. She is violin coach of the National Youth String Orchestra and is frequently invited to give masterclasses and workshops, and to participate as adjudicator, panel and jury member at Competitions and Festivals both nationally and internationally.

Since her debut in 2012 with Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, Lana Trotovšek has appeared with some of the world’s finest orchestras. In 2014, she toured with Moscow Soloists and Yuri Bashmet, and she recently performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.1 with The London Symphony Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda. Her 2015-16 schedule included performances with Orchestra Teatro Verdi under Tan Dun, as well as playing with the Slovenian, Shanghai, Sarajevo, and Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestras, the RTV Slovenia, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, where she was described as “an emerging voice to watch” by Philadelphia Inquirer.

Trotovšek has performed at some of the most prestigious venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven. Her talent has taken her beyond Europe to perform in China, Japan, the UAE, Canada, the USA and she has performed with many eminent conductors such as George Pehlivanian, Hans Graf, Uroš Lajovic, Barry Wordsworth, Andres Mustonen and others.

She has also featured as an artist at renowned international festivals including Rheingau, Aix-en-Provence, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Festival Internacional de Santander, Emilia Romagna, Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, Bad Kissingen, St Magnus International and Aldeburgh.

Trotovšek was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to a family of musicians. At the age of four, she began playing the violin under the guidance of Majda Jamsek. When she was 17 years old, her prodigious talent was recognised by Ruggiero Ricci, who mentored her at the Academy Mozarteum in Salzburg. During this period, she continued her studies at the Academy of Music, University of Ljubljana with Volodja Balzalorsky and Primoz Novsak. In 2005, her passion and skill was rewarded with the Prešeren Award, the highest university award for arts in Slovenia, following her performance of the Khachaturian Violin Concerto with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of George Pehlivanian.

From 2006-2011, she was a member of the Greenwich Piano Trio with cellist Stjepan Hauser and pianist Yoko Misumi. They won the Solti Foundation Award, The Tunnell Trust Award and other first prizes in chamber music competitions across Europe. They were guided by the Beaux Arts Trio cellist Bernard Greenhouse and pianist Menahem Pressler as well as Stephen Kovachevich.

Trotovšek continued her studies at Trinity College of Music with Vasko Vassilev, Boris Brovtsyn and Rivka Golani and at the London’s Royal College of Music with Itzhak Rashkovsky, winning many international prizes. From 2011-13, she was the leading violinist of the Badke String Quartet, winners of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

Lana Trotovšek lives in London and is a professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where she completed her postgraduate studies in 2009. She maintains close ties to her home country, where she performs regularly, and is a visiting assistant Professor at the Academy of Music in Ljubljana. She plays the 1750 Pietro Antonio dalla Costa violin.

His discography with the Carducci Quartet numbers over 20 CDs, for labels including Signum, Naxos, BMG, Somm, Nimbus and Carducci Classics – the quartet’s own label. Matt has performed at major concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Washington Library of Congress, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Tivoli Hall Copenhagen, and the quartet performs around 90 concerts each year.

Known for their complete cycles of Bartok, Beethoven and Shostakovich, in 2015 they won a Royal Philharmonic Society award for ‘Shostakovich15’  – a project which included a performance of the complete Shostakovich quartets in one day, at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre in London.

Matt studied with Felix Andrievsky at the RCM for 4 years and was awarded Junior Fellowships in chamber music for a subsequent 2 years, studying with members of the Amadeus, Alberni and Chilingirian Quartets.

With the quartet he was then a Bulldog Scholar and Richard Carne Junior Fellow at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he now continues to visit as Violin professor and quartet in residence.

As a soloist he has performed concerti by Bach, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Delius, Beethoven, Bruch and Brahms, and is regularly invited to guest lead a range of ensembles and orchestras. Matt can regularly be heard on TV and film scores including Downton Abbey, Poldark, The Theory of Everything, Everest, Boxtrolls, Murder on the Orient Express, Shazam and Paddington. As a violinist Matt has also featured recently on albums by Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Jethro Tull.

Many of Matt’s past students have gone on to be successful performers and teachers and can be regularly heard in orchestras including the Halle, Liverpool Philharmonic, Aurora, BBC NOW and the English Symphony Orchestra.

With the quartet, he set up the ‘Carducci Music Trust’ to help inspire musicians for the future and to enable more children to experience live music in schools.

Matt plays on a historic Brother’s Amati violin from 1603 – ‘The Hurwitz ex Cooper‘

Other eminent conductors with whom she has worked include Daniel Barenboim, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Lawrence Foster, Kyril Kondrashin, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Sergio Ozawa, André Previn, Joseph Krips, Kurt Sanderling, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Walter Weller and Sir Simon Rattle. She has been guest at Europe’s most prestigious international festivals, including Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and the London Proms, in addition to Ravinia, Saratoga and Tanglewood Festivals in the United States. Chamber Music has been an integral part of her artistic life forming longstanding partnerships with Michael Roll, Jorge Federico Osorio and Richard Markson in addition to appearances with André Previn, Ralph Kirshbaum, Nobuko Imai, Peter Frankl, Craig Sheppard and Gerald Robbins.

As a chamber musician he regularly performs at London’s prestigious Wigmore Hall. As a soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Pieter has performed Arvo Pärt’s Double Concerto with Boris Garlitsky, Brahms’s Double Concerto with Kristina Blaumane, and Britten’s Double Concerto with Alexander Zemtsov, which was recorded and released on the Orchestra’s own record label to great critical acclaim. He has recorded numerous violin solos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Chandos, Opera Rara, Naxos, X5, the BBC and for American film and television, and led the Orchestra in its soundtrack recordings for The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In 1995 Pieter became Co-Leader of the Orchestre philharmonique de Nice. Since then he has appeared frequently as Guest Leader with the Barcelona, Bordeaux, Lyon, Baltimore and BBC symphony orchestras, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Pieter was appointed Leader of the LPO in 2008, having previously been Co-Leader since 2002.

Stephanie is leader of the English Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and has both directed and appeared as soloist with them throughout the world. She has directed numerous other chamber orchestras and in 2018 will perform with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in that capacity.
Stephanie has appeared as soloist with most of the leading British orchestras as well as many abroad. Solo recordings include the Sibelius Concerto on BMG and the Dvořák Romance with the ECO and Sir Charles Mackerras.

Stephanie was leader of the Vellinger String Quartet, winners of the 1994 London International String Quartet Competition.

In demand as a chamber musician, Jan has performed in many of the major concert halls internationally with the Angell Trio, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, the Schubert Ensemble of London and the Razumovsky Ensemble. He has broadcast for American networks, French and Swiss radio as well as most German radio stations and has appeared on NHK-TV, Japan.  His recordings have appeared on the Sanctuary, ASV, Guild, Lorelt and Chandos labels.

Since 2015, the Angell Trio has collaborated with operatic bass Matthew Rose and soprano Katherine Broderick to commission four new works for voice and trio by Martin Suckling, Kate Whitley, Jordan Hunt and John Woolrich.

Michael has passionate beliefs about the way in which music is thought of in the present day and this has led him to develop various educational projects. These include setting up several series of masterclasses and since 1994, he has coached young professional quartets and string players on intensive residential courses held at his home.

Walter Reiter is now internationally recognised as a leading Baroque violinist, teacher, leader and conductor. He is Professor of Baroque Violin in the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance,as well as Visiting Professor of Baroque Violin in the Institute of Superior Arts in Havana, His work in Cuba is sponsored by the Mozarteum Trust in Salzburg.Walter Reiter has made countless recordings with orchestras in Europe and the UK. A much traveled recitalist, he has recorded the Recreations of Leclair for Addes, France, and Sonatas by Mondonville for Meridian, a CD that was awarded the ‘Choc’label by the French CD magazine Diapason.

In 1999 he founded Cordaria, whose highly acclaimed solo CDs on the Signum label are of Vivaldi Violin Sonatas Op 2, the Biber Mystery Sonatas, and “Un alma innamorata”, a collection of cantatas forvoice, violin obbligato and continuo.He has led and directed many baroque orchestras over the years and is a Principal of The English Concert, with whom he has toured and recorded extensively, frequently appearing as a soloist, and with the English Concert Chamber Group.Walter Reiter is currently working on a book of pedagogic interest for baroque violinists, “How to Play the Baroque Violin, an Annotated, Graded Course of Works for the Perplexed, Curious and Diligent.”His Baroque Violin Etude books “Gradus ad Parnassum” are being published by International Music Publishers and a four volume”Baroque Violin Anthology” is being published by Schott. He has also written a novel, “Healing by Deceit.”

He is a member of the award-winning Solem Quartet – praised for their ‘“immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and recognized as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Tai Murray, Gary Hoffman, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Philippe Graffin, Jennifer Stumm and Garth Knox. Recent engagements have taken him to Boston’s Jordan Hall, London’s Barbican and Wigmore Halls, Tokyo Opera City, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Konzerthaus.

A noted interpreter of contemporary music, Stephen is also a member of London’s Riot Ensemble, winners of the Ernst von Siemens Foundation Ensemble Prize, whose disc ‘Speak Be Silent’was selected as one of New Yorker Magazine’s ‘Best Recordings of 2019’. He has worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, including Max Richter, John Adams, Thomas Adès, George Benjamin and Helmut Lachenmann. Expanding the repertoire of the viola through the commissioning of new music has always been a feature of Stephen’s work. He has taken part in over 300 world premieres including chamber music of Georg Haas and Sally Beamish (alongside the composer) and solo works of Mark Simpson, Simon Holt, Michael Finnissy and Errollyn Wallen.

Recent solo appearances include recitals in the Time of Music (Finland), Brighton and Little Missenden Festivals, Kettle’s Yard and the National Gallery.

Stephen has also toured regularly to the USA, Europe and Asia with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and its music director, Joshua Bell and works with the Chineke! Orchestra as principal viola and as a member of the chamber players.

A highly sought after teacher, he has given masterclasses at institutions including Cambridge University, Trinity Laban, the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music (Poland), Royal College of Music Stockholm, Cardiff University, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Vanderbilt University, Liverpool University, University of Georgia and University of Michigan, among others.

Stephen also serves on the faculty of Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival Academy where he co-curates the annual ‘Festival Forward’. In recent years, he has been invited to adjudicate the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and the Royal Overseas League Competition.

He has also published technique articles in Strad Magazine and was a featured guest on BBC Radio 3’s “This Classical Life”.

Born in London, Roger Chase, violist studied at the Royal College of Music with Bernard Shore and in Canada with Steven Staryk and worked for a short time with Lionel Tertis, whose famed viola he now plays. Making his debut with the English Chamber Orchestra in 1979, Roger Chase has since played as a soloist or chamber musician throughout the world.In 1987 he appeared as a soloist at a Promenade Concert at The Royal Albert Hall in London before becoming a member of many ensembles, including the Nash Ensemble, the London Sinfonietta, the Esterházy Baryton Trio, the Quartet of London, Hausmusik of London, and the London Chamber Orchestra. Playing as principal violist with many major British orchestras and others in North America and Europe, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Roger Chase has also recorded for EMI, CRD, Hyperion, Cala, Virgin, Floating Earth, Dutton, Centaur and Naxos Records, and performed at numerous festivals in the US, Japan, Italy, France, Finland and the Netherlands.

Milena’s chamber music partners include Ivry Gitlis, Vadim Repin, Leonidas Kavakos, Antonio Meneses, Yuja Wang, Denis Kozhukhin, Vadim Kholodenko, Konstantin Lifschitz, Beatrice Rana, Boris Andrianov, Itamar Golan, Julian Rachlin, Roman Simovic, Gordan Nikolitch, Tim Hugh and many others.

Milena’s concerts have been broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3, Medici TV, Rai Uno in Italy, Arte etc. and her performances praised as “…exceptionally delivered performance, charged with brilliant combination of operatic quality, which was jaw-dropping at times”, “seductive and exciting…with rare artistic sensibility” in the press.

Milena is a resident viola and a chamber music coach at the Culture Festival in Sardinian town of Santulussurgiu, taking place in August every year, which enjoys versatility of students from all continents.

She received Bachelor and Masters of Music in violin from the Belgrade University of Arts and Music, and Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. After this Milena continued her further studies with viola and has completed another Masters degree at the Zurich University of Arts under Lawrence Power.

Milena plays a Giovanni Battista Rogeri violin ca. 1680, and Paolo Antonio Testore viola from 1740.

As a chamber musician, Malcolm joined the Amernet String Quartet in 1990 after meeting at the Julliard School in New York. The quartet went on to be the recipient of many major awards including the prestigious Gold Medal at the 1992 Tokyo International Chamber Music Competition. They performed all over the USA, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany and Australia and held residencies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, LSU and The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts while also participating in the Aspen, Tanglewood, Norfolk and Great Lakes Summer Festivals.

More recently, Malcolm has worked as guest violist with the Leopold String Trio at the Edinburgh Festival and the Snape Proms, participated in the Chamber Music series at the Wigmore Hall with the LPO Chamber Players as well as featuring as violist with the Falk Quartet. He has collaborated with several distinguished musicians including Ruth Laredo, Miriam Fried, Nathaniel Rosen and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

Malcolm earned his Bachelor’s degree at the RSAMD, Glasgow (now Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and continued his studies with John White at the Royal Academy of Music, London. Other teachers included Masao Kawasaki and Jerzy Kosmala. Among others who have given direction to Malcolm’s career are the Tokyo, La Salle, Emerson and Amadeus String Quartets and Isaac Stern, during the inaugural season of his Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, New York.

As an educator, Malcolm has been a visiting professor at Trinity Laban, the RAM and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for several years. He is especially sought after as a mentor for young musicians preparing for auditions and embarking on their careers with several former students now holding prominent positions in orchestras around the UK. Malcolm is very excited to now hold the position of Professorial Staff- Viola at Trinity Laban.

In 1997, he was elected an Associate of the RAM (ARAM).

ichard is a professor of viola and violin at Trinity Laban and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is also on the teaching faculties at the University of Bristol, the University of Bath and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Skype lessons are a new feature of Richard’s work. Students from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Norway, Belgium, Switzerland, France, Spain, Italy, and major cities throughout the United Kingdom are all benefiting from the flexibility of internet lessons. This often gives students from these countries more confidence to travel to the UK to benefit from the mini-courses with Richard before taking exams.

His younger students gain scholarships to prestigious schools in the UK, have won first prizes at national and international competitions, and gain places with the National Youth Orchestras of England and Wales.

He has coached on courses in Korea, Spain, France, Italy and the UK, and is a member of a team of international teachers and soloists who give recitals, masterclasses, individual coaching and chamber music for the organisation Language and Music for Life.

His most gifted postgraduate students secure positions with major orchestras in London, throughout the UK and abroad. Young professionals return for refresher lessons when preparing for auditions.

Richard has also produced the Crabbers Scale Manual for Violin, Viola and Cello. This unique system uses letters and numbers and is specifically designed to help students who have difficulties with learning scales. The system has received favorable acceptance by his colleagues.

Spring season 2022 featured Sascha as soloist in the Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Printzregententheater in Munich and Konzerthaus Berlin along with partner Antoine Tamestit and the AKAMUS Berlin. As a chamber musician, the recording release of complete string chamber music of Edward Gregson on Naxos Label and international concerts with his Navarra Quartet as well as guesting principal with the London Philarmonic Orchestra and Orcherstra of the Age of Enlightenment will soon be followed by the release of the complete Schubert Trios on gut strings and a rich schedule touring with quartet, a Wigmore Hall recital and with many appearances with Britten Sinfonia.  

Sascha has appeared as principal player of Aurora Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Academy of Ancient Music, English Chamber Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra and the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, a newly founded project very close to his heart in Romania. He enjoys the company of chamber music partners such as Anthony Marwood, Jonathan Stone, Katya Apekisheva, Adam Walker, RIchard Lester, Guy Johnston, Tim Posner at various festivals such as Adelburgh, Peasmarch or West Wicklow and their own quartet’s festival in Holland WCMF. Along with his quartet, Sascha has been the artistic director or the Weesp Chamber Music Festival going for last nine years near Amsterdam, curating eclectic programmes featuring guests such as Adam Walker, Aneleen Laenerts and Matt Hunt.  

Both violinist Rainer Schmidt from Hagen Quartet and composer György Kurtag marked strong influences on his musical understanding and approach to music scores. He had since had the opportunity to play in chamber groups with musicians including Thomas Zehetmair, Benjamin Schmid, Leonidas Kavakos and the members of Hagen Quartet. As a member of Mozart Quartet Salzburg, he toured around Europe performing complete Mozart quartets. 

As soloist, Sascha has often performed with the Philarmonic Banatul from Romania, recently the concert piece by Enescu in a unique arrangement with a symphony orchestra and coming up next season, a commissioned piece for viola and symphony orchestra by the Romanian composer Sabin Pautza. In the past years, notable soloist performances are the ones with Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra amongst others, in the Auditorio Nacional (Madrid), the Tonhalle (Zürich), the Kunst- und Kongresshaus (Luzern), the Sydney Opera House, and Melbourne Recital Centre. 

In 2007 he won the audition for the Principal Viola of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Previously a member of Camerata Salzburg (2006-2012) with Roger Norrington and Leonidas Kavakos was followed by Sascha successfully auditioning for the Australian Chamber Orchestra where he was appointed as a core member shortly after. He played as co-principal viola from 2012-2015 and acting principal viola 2015-2017 and had a significant role in curating chamber music programs and education. During his collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sascha found an exceptional exemplary of a 1610 Gio Paolo Maggini viola which he used in concerts for two years, having to return it to the orchestra after relocating to the UK. 

Sascha enjoys playing regularly in gut stringed ensembles, appearing as co-principal viola with Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Le Poeme Harmonique and the Academy for Ancient Music Berlin. He worked with conductors such as John Eliot Gardiner, Louis Langrée, Sir Roger Norrington, Philippe Herreweghe and Rene Jacobs and is a founding member of Schubert String Trio London.   

In addition to his activities as a classical musician, Sascha is dedicated to jazz and other forms of improvised music and regularly appears at jazz concerts and festivals. He loves to play with his father bassist Johnny Bota, guitarist James Kitchman and pianist Bruno Heinen and has appeared at jazz festivals in Europe as well as the EFG Jazz Festival in London with the J.Kitchman Quartet. Part of ACO Underground he appeared next to shout poet Marcie O’Neal, and shared stage with Giovanni Sollima and Jonny Greenwood. 

Sascha plays on a labelled M.Albani viola 1639 made in Bolzano, a baroque Pawlikovski instrument and on an NS design 5 stringed electric viola with various pedals.

Image credit: Andrej Grilc

What do the critics think of Rivka Golani? James North of America’s Fanfare Magazine, in a glowing appraisal of her work, wrote that she is “… carving out a place of her own that no other performer on the instrument can reach.”  The Financial Times of London clearly agrees: “Rivka Golani (is)… a supreme viola virtuoso – white-hot in delivery, kaleidoscopic in tone colours, electrifying in rhythmic attack.” For an even more effusive testimony, we might try the Boston Herald: “… riveting, intensely physical stage presence… hurtling momentum, constant risk-taking, complete technical assurance… one can only be grateful that she dedicated herself to art rather than warfare, for she would be an awesome adversary.” Finally, a tribute from Geoffrey Crankshaw of Musical Opinion, following a recital at Wigmore Hall: “No nobler music-making could be imagined than this eloquent performance… the grand tradition brought to the service of inspired musical insight.”

Rivka has recorded countless albums with many distinguished orchestras, including Royal Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Berne Symphony, Budapest Radio Orchestra, BBC Sinfonietta, and others. A landmark among her many albums is her world premiere recording of Elgar’s Violin Concerto on viola, with the Royal Philharmonic – the complete Bach Cello Suites, including performances of Bach’s Chaconne and Chromatic Fantasy.

As the artistic director of Fort MacLeod Music Festival, Alberta, Canada, for seven years, she developed a special collaborative relationship with the Canadian First Nation Blackfoot. She is currently the artistic director of SOWECA Music Festival in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada.

Born in Israel, Rivka trained at the Music Academy of Tel Aviv with the great violist and composer Oedoen Partos. At the age of 23, she became a member of the Israel Philharmonic. Rivka moved to Canada in the mid-1970s, where she began her solo career. Her present home is in London, England. She is also an inspiring teacher who draws students from all over the world to her classes at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Rivka plays a viola made by the renowned maker Otto Erdesz.

Rivka is also a painter and her works have been exhibited in Israel, Austria, Germany, the UK, USA and Canada.

Sarah-Jane has premiered and recorded many new works for solo viola, many of which have been dedicated to her, including the viola concerto Winter Remembered by David Matthews. This was jointly commissioned and premiered at the Presteigne and Deal Festivals in 2002 and she gave the London premiere with the City of London Sinfonia in a concert broadcast live on Radio 3 in 2003. She also performed the work with the English Chamber Orchestra and Paul Watkins conducting at Kings Place in 2012 in a festival to celebrate David’s 70th birthday. This work is included on her debut concerto CD of British Viola Music with Orchestra Nova and conducted by George Vass, which was released on Dutton Epoch in 2007 to high critical acclaim. Subsequently she has recorded five further concerto CDs for Dutton: Arthur Butterworth’s Viola Concerto with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Delius’s Double Concerto with Philippe Graffin and the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by David Lloyd-Jones (Classic FM Magazine’s Editor’s Choice), Paul Patterson’s Viola Concerto with Orchestra Nova (which she premiered at the 2009 Hampstead and Highgate Festival), Arthur Benjamin’s Viola Concerto and Romantic Fantasy for violin and viola with Lorraine McAslan, John Gibbons and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and most recently Walter Braunfels’ Viola Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Johannes Wildner. Sarah-Jane also gave the premiere of Matthew Taylor’s Viola Concerto 5 Humoreskes in 2011 and recorded the work with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Garry Walker in a studio concert for Radio 3 in January 2013. The CD was released on Toccata Classics in July 2013. Sarah-Jane has recorded two recital CDs for Naxos of East European Romantic Works and English Works for Viola and Piano, as well as a CD of works by Vaughan-Williams with the London Soloists Ensemble.

Other performances included a concert series at St John’s Smith Square with the London Soloists Ensemble, a performance of David Matthews’ Double Concerto for Violin and Viola at the Presteigne Festival, and a performance of the winning piece of the British Composer’s Awards student entry for solo viola to be broadcast on Radio 3. Sarah-Jane plays on a viola by G.A. Chanot of Manchester, 1896.“Sarah-Jane Bradley is that rare kind of viola player who can make you blush with shame for ever having told a viola joke. In her hands the instrument is passionate, eloquent and wide-ranging in its colours and moods. I would happily put this at the top of any list of recommended recordings.” BBC Music Magazine, June 2007 on “British Viola Music” (5* for both performance and sound).

Following studies as a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music with John White and at the Mozarteum, Salzburg with Thomas Riebl, Sarah-Jane won many prestigious awards, including the Trevor Snoad Award (Martin Trust), Countess of Munster, Maisie Lewis Young Artists, Royal Overseas League, Bernard Shore Award (ROSL), Tillett Trust, Leverhulme Trust, BBC Young Artists Forum and Young Concert Artists Trust amongst others. She was a prizewinner at the 1994 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, of which she is now on the executive committee and was also invited to sit on the jury for the 2013 competition. She won first prize at two competitions in Spain at Capellades and Sant Joan de Vilatorrada in 1995 which led to substantial recital tours.

Aleksandar has collaborated with many renowned artists, such as Bruno Giuranna, Rocco Filippini, Jan Talich, Franco Gulli, Julian Rachlin, Irena Grafenauer, Radovan Vlatkovic, Gautier Capuçon, Viktoria Jagling, Alexandar Rudin, Richard Tognetti and Christian Altenburger. He has recently recorded and performed with Grammy Award nominated lutenist Edin Karamazov. An avid chamber musician, Aleksandar is also a founding member of the Tartini String Quartet which has performed in many prestigious venues around the world. He has performed in many chamber festivals including the Colmar Chamber Music Festival (France), Dubrovnik Festival (Croatia), Maribor Musical September, Ljubljana Summer Festival (Slovenia) and Samobor Festival (Croatia). He is currently principal violist with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and has held previous positions with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, Zagreb Soloists, Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin and Arturo Toscanini Orchestra. CD recordings include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart’s flute quartets with Davide Formisano for Italian label Stradivarius, and many recordings with the Tartini String Quartet. Firmly dedicated to pedagogical work, Aleksandar currently teaches viola at the Zagreb Music Academy in Croatia as well as at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Sally recently performed all the Beethoven Cello Sonatas with pianist Ian Buckle in the Leeds International Concert Series and gave the british premiere of In manus tuas for solo cello by Caroline Shaw at the London Spitalfields festival.

In summer 2018, Sally played in chamber music festivals in Germany, Scotland and England and performed recitals in Nuremberg and Brooklyn, New York. 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the Fitzwilliam Quartet, who are celebrating by re-recording their benchmark Shostakovich Quartet cycle and the late Schubert quartets.

A prize-winner in the National Federation of Music Societies and Jeunesses Musicales International Cello competitions, Bozidar has performed throughout the UK, Europe, USA and Far East. In 2010 he made his debut solo CD for EMI Classics on Howard Goodall’s The Seasons. His most recent London solo performance was with the world renowned violist, Lawrence Power and the English Chamber Orchestra at Kings Place. He has an impending release of Stravinsky and Schnittke for Somm Recordings with the pianist and composer Alissa Firsova. 

Bozidar was the principal cello of the Oxford Philharmonic for 10 years and has been invited to play as guest principal with many of the UK’s finest orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Ballet Sinfonia and Spain’s Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife.

He studied with Stefan Popov at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he was awarded the prestigious Premier Prix. He continued his studies with William Pleeth and completed his training with Alexander Kniazev in Moscow. 

He teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in the Junior Department where he is also Head of Lower Strings. He has given classes at the Royal College of Music, the University of Cambridge, Royal Holloway University of London and Toronto University. He was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2012. He plays on a beautiful 1720 Milanese cello made by Santino Lavazza.

An experienced teacher, Naomi has worked extensively with the Natioanl Youth Orchestra, Oxford and Cambridge music faculties, Birmingham Conservatoire, the Royal College of Music and now principally Trinity Laban. She has also conducted and coached chamber music, most recently in Africa and the Far East.

On a lighter note, she has played piano and double bass for the Cambridge Footlights, touring with John Cleese, Graham Chapman and the rest, and was cello teacher to Prince Charles! She is a prolific painter with various commissions and exhibitions to her credit. She is married to composer and organist Antony le Fleming.

In his remarkable career, David has worked as a soloist with some of the most distinguished conductors in the industry such as Lord Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Walter Weller, Sir Charles Mackerras, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Christoph von Dohnányi, Pedro Halffter, and Martyn Brabbins among others. His triumphant solo debut in Japan with the N.H.K. Symphony Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in June 2007, led him to be immediately re-invited for the 2009-2010 season.

As a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and thanks to a grant from the Menuhin Foundation, David has won more than 25 prizes in international cello competitions. Among his prizes and awards are the Gold Medal of the GSMD in London, (following in the footsteps of Jacqueline du Pré), the Geneva International Cello Competition, the J. S. Bach International Competition, the Audi International Competition, the Douai International Cello Competition, the Tenuto Competition, the Guilhermina Suggia Gift, the Ian Fleming Trust, the S.P.E.S Award, the KPMG Martin Scholarship, the Hattori Foundation Award, the Borletti Buitoni Fellowship Award and the Foundation SUISA Award. He was nominated ECHO Rising Star for the season 2002-2003 by the Royal Philharmonic Society of Belgium and the Concertgebouw, performing a world tour in the greatest halls including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Cologne Philharmonie, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels and in the cities of Helsinki, Athens and Birmingham. He has studied with the finest cellists: Wiliam Pleeth, Melissa Phelps, Lynn Harrell, Daniil Shafran, Natalia Gutman, Gary Hoffman, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Lord Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Oleg Kogan. David is a passionate chamber musician and regularly performs in major festivals with the finest young talents of Europe.

He is regularly invited to International Chamber Music and Cello Festivals such as Kronberg (Germany), Manchester (UK), Cambridge (UK), Beauvais (France), Orpheus & Bacchus in Bordeaux (France), the Gstaad Menuhin Festival (Switzerland), West Cork (Ireland), Kuhmo (Finland), Elverum (Norway), Oxford (UK), Sonoro (Romania) to name just a few. David is the Artistic Director of the Melchior Ensemble, which brings together the greatest young talents of Europe such as Alexander ‘Sasha’ Sitkovetsky, Priya Mitchell, Corinne Chapelle, Natalie Clein, Silver Ainomäe, and Răzvan Popovici. The ensemble is in residence at Peterhouse College, Cambridge. He is also the Artistic Director and founder of the exciting new chamber music festival, Les Sons Intensifs in Lessines, Belgium and co-Artistic Director and founder of the Rome Chamber Music Festival, Concertando.

In March 2001, at the age of 20, David was appointed Principal Cello of the Philharmonia Orchestra, becoming the youngest ever Principal Cello in history. In 2013, he joined the “David” piano trio from Rome. You will find award-winning recordings by David with Forlane, Classic FM, Cypres-Records and the LPO Label. He has also released recordings of the Lutosławski Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Sofia Gubaidulina concerto recording with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Cohen is a passionate pedagogue and has been teaching since 1998 in masterclasses around the world such as Cividale del Friuli (Italy), Dinant (Belgium), Kuhmo (Finland), Stift (the Netherlands), Tokyo (Japan) and Bejing (China). He holds a Professor position at the prestigious Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Mons in Belgium since the year 2000 and now joins the Faculty of Music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London. David plays on the “Ex-Pergamenschikow cello”, a magnificent Dominicus Montagnana circa 1735, thanks to the kindness and generosity of Mrs Pat Morton and the help of the Razumovsky Trust.

A new dimension to Richard’s career was initiated in the mid-eighties when he began to develop as a conductor under the guidance of his mentor, the distinguished American conductor, Ezra Rachlin. Since taking up the baton, conducting has claimed a significant proportion of his performing activities associating with orchestras as far afield as Australasia and South America and often featuring joint appearances as soloist and conductor. Chamber music plays an integral part in Richard Markson’s artistic life. For many years he partnered Michael Roll and Mayumi Fujikawa in a piano trio. He has also enjoyed musical partnerships with Peter Frankl, Nobuko Imai, Jean-Rodolphe Kars, Gerald Robbins, Cristina Ortiz, John O’Connor and Jorge Federico Osorio. The Markson/Osorio Duo began more than twenty years ago and has performed throughout Europe, Latin America and Japan.

His interest in teaching has led to associations with musical educational establishments worldwide from the Universities of Southern California, Irvine, Indiana, Texas, Michigan, Boston and CUNY in the US to the principal  music departments and conservatories in Australia, Mexico and Brazil. As an enthusiastic supporter of online musical access he has edited the concerti of Dvorak, Haydn, Elgar, Lalo, St. Saëns & Boccherini for Virtual Sheet Music. In addition to his  Senior Fellowship at Trinity Laban he is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority.

David holds regular ‘cello classes for his own students, directs the String Chamber Music Programme and the Post-Graduate string Tutorial, including an annual performance at London’s Wigmore Hall, and teaches regularly at the Dartington International Summer School. He has given ‘cello masterclasses at Montepulciano, the Summer School of the Köln Hochschule für Musik and at the Royal Academy of Music (for the London Cello Society). His classes have been broadcast on the BBC World service. David’s former students are currently working as soloists, chamber musicians and in orchestras around the world, including cellists in non-Classical genres, Stjepan Hauser (of “Two Cellos” fame) and Ayanna Witter-Johnson (former South Bank Centre emerging artist and MOBO award nominee) while in classical chamber music ensembles, for the last two years David was mentor and coach of the winning string quartet (Isbilia Quartet, 2015) and piano trio (Nemesis Trio, 2016) in the prestigious Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition (the first time any Conservatoire has won two years in succession). David is Head of String Chamber Music at Trinity Laban.

After leaving college, Neil freelanced with a variety of London orchestras, as well as Welsh Opera, English Opera Group, Royal Ballet, BBC Northern, and Scottish Theatre Ballet. After a while he settled with the New Philharmonia Orchestra (later known as the Philharmonia Orchestra) for symphonic work and Philomusica of London for chamber orchestra playing, while always playing as much chamber music as possible (including the Sunday afternoon broadcasts in the early days of Capital Radio).

Between 1976 and 1979, Neil held the Principal Bass chair of the BBC Welsh Symphony, after which he returned to London and the Philharmonia.  In the early 80s he was a founder-member of London Musici (with whom he occasionally performed Bottesini’s Gran Duo Concertante), and the short-lived London Double Bass Ensemble, the brainchild of the Philharmonia’s Principal Bass at the time, Gerry Drucker. Gerry’s sheer enthusiasm netted prestigious performances for this ensemble at Wigmore Hall, on live television and radio, and even accompanying a TV play by Mike Leigh (music by Carl Davis), as well as lots of fun but terrifying concerts around the UK.

During the late 80s, Neil was a frequent traveller with Chris Warren-Green’s London Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and London Sinfonietta, and also began teaching at the Royal College of Music. He succeeded Gerry as Principal Bass of the Philharmonia in 1992, and later published his transcription for bass of Ševčík’s Op. 2 School of Bowing Technique.

Whilst subsequently teaching on the Pimlico Special Music Course, Neil published Beginning Scales on the Double Bass and Essentials of Ševčík, and currently holds teaching posts at both the Purcell School and Trinity Laban, as well as being Visiting Professor to the Razumovsky Academy. He regularly plays chamber music with the Soloists of the Philharmonia and the Razumovsky Ensemble.

Neil has always considered that the greatest music for bass begins and ends with the symphony orchestra, but also loves playing everything else in between!

As an orchestral musician, Sioned has appeared with every major UK orchestra, as well as West End theatre and film orchestras.

Sioned is also well-known for her work with choirs. These include the Liszt Choir in Hungary, the choir of Christchurch, Oxford, the BBC Singers, Bernstein with Westminster Abbey and The Bach Choir. She has also given recitals with many singers and instrumentalists including Michael Chance, Martyn Hill, Steven Isserlis, Neil Mackie, Aurèle Nicolet, Mark Padmore, Andrew Watts, Jeremy Huw Williams, and Roderick Williams. Many of Sioned’s commercial recordings on Hyperion, EMI Classics, Collins Classics, Meridian and Proudsound have won awards and accolades. Apart from her solo CDs, she has partnered with James Galway, The Holst Singers, Lisa Milne, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Frederica von Stade, The Choir of Kings College Cambridge, The Sixteen, Westminster Cathedral Choir, and Winchester Quiristers on disc.

Sioned devised the renowned Professional Studies Course for Harpists at Trinity Laban, where she now holds the position of Senior Fellow in Harp Studies. In 2003, Sioned received her fourth fellowship, from the Royal Academy of Music, for her contribution to music. In 2005, Sioned was a consultant for the Geneva Conservatoire of Music in setting up a comprehensive harp department there.

Experienced in the field of education, Roland wrote material for Reading University’s Music Teaching in Private Practice course. In addition to giving masterclasses and examining at the major music colleges, he is frequently invited to adjudicate at music festivals. In 1992 he was appointed Professor of Guitar at Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban), and he also teaches at the Purcell School where he coaches highly gifted young guitarists from all over the world.

Since his appointment in 2003 as professor of early plucked instruments at Trinity Laban, David regularly directs performance projects for the Historical Performance Department. Critically acclaimed large scale projects include The Glory of San Marcofor the 2010 Royal Greenwich International Early Music Festival and in 2011, Miserere Mei, Deusat the beautiful St Mary-at-Hill Church, Billingsgate. He returns to the 2012 Royal Greenwich International Early Music Festival directing music for the court of Charles I with Trinity Laban Early Music Ensemble.

Among David’s numerous recordings are several CDs of English songs and lute music, including John Dowland discs with both James Bowman and Charles Daniels, as well as the complete works of John Danyel with Nigel Short. He has recorded a CD of consort music by Dowland with Concordia and the King’s Singers, and lute works by Francesco da Milano on Concordia’s Titian disc. As a member of I Fagiolini he included solo lute works by Holborne and Byrd on their acclaimed Triumphs of Orianna disc, as well as Pacoloni trios and other plucked consort music on Carnevale Veneziano. His 2009 Wigmore Hall recital with Iestyn Davies was released in 2010 in the Wigmore Hall Live CD series.

His solo disc with Elin Manahan Thomas – Ravish’d with Sacred Extasies – features devotional songs by Dowland, Campian, Humfrey and Purcell, as well as rarely heard lute and theorbo music by John Lawrence & John Wilson. The recording has been highly acclaimed and, within weeks of its release in August 2010, received the coveted Supersonic Award by Pizzicato Magazine in Luxembourg.

In addition, David has over 150 recordings as an accompanist and continuo player, and he can be heard on the soundtracks of Francesco da Mosto’s Venice, The Canterbury Tales, Bob the Builder, the Samuel Pepys Diaries serialised on Woman’s Hour, and – much to the delight of his family – Dr Who and Harry Potter!

David is professor of lute at the Guildhall School and tutor for the European Union Baroque Orchestra and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Since the mid-1990s he has performed at Dartington International Summer School, where his highly regarded lute masterclass continues to inspire the younger generation of lutenists.