Born in London in 1980, Jack Liebeck is established as one of the most compelling young violinists on the concert platform.  He has appeared with all the major British orchestras and with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Moscow State Symphony, Sinfonica de Navarra, Real Philhamonia de Galicia, Belgian National, Lausanne Chamber, Polish Radio Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia and Indianapolis Symphony, among others. He has performed under the baton of conductors such as Martyn Brabbins, Paul Daniel, Sir Mark Elder, Roy Goodman, Gunter Herbig, Alexander Lazarev, Andrew Litton, Sir Neville Marriner, Sakari Oramo, Libor Pesek, Vasily Petrenko, Jukka Pekka Saraste, Yuri Simonov, Leonard Slatkin and Bramwell Tovey. 

Jack made his acclaimed London recital debut to a sold-out Wigmore Hall in 2002 and has gone on to perform recitals all over Europe, plus tours of Australia, China, Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and the USA. Jack is a committed chamber musician, collaborations have included performances with Katya Apekisheva, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Michael Collins, Julius Drake, Bengt Forsberg, Lynn Harrell, Angela Hewitt, Gary Hoffman, Piers Lane, Christopher Maltman, Leon MacCawley, Christian Poltera, Joan Rodgers, Katherine Stott, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Ashley Wass. Jack has appeared at many major festivals including Bath, City of London Festival, Cheltenham, Harrogate, Belfast, Aldeburgh Summer Proms, Kuhmo, Montpellier, Montreux, Reims, Spoleto, Stockholm and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. In 2013 Jack became the new violinist of renowned Paris-based piano trio, Trio Dali. Formed in 2007, the trio has a prize-winning international career with acclaimed recordings and performances scheduled all over Europe and further afield.

Since a hugely successful recording debut on the Quartz label with pianist Katya Apekisheva (“CD of the Week” the Telegraph, “Strad Selection” in Strad magazine and a Classical Brit Award nomination), Jack has recorded two critically acclaimed discs for Sony Classical (Dvorak, awarded a 2010 Classical Brit Award and Brahms Sonata's) and has just started a new recording relationship with Hyperion Records. Jack has an established bond with Oscar winning composer Dario Marianelli and is featured as soloist on the film scores of Jane Eyre (2011) and the 2013 Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA Nominated soundtrack for Anna Karenina (released 2012).

Recent performances include a broad range of concerti; from Maxwell Davies, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Glass and Lindberg to Brahms, Mendelssohn and Mozart, with the Royal Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestra of Opera North, Queensland Symphony, English Chamber and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra respectively. Other recent orchestral appearances include the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Northern Sinfonia (Bruch); Real Filharmonia de Galicia (Gerhard); Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (Brett Dean’s The Lost Art of Letter Writing); Auckland Philharmonia (Dvorak); Orquesta Sinfonica de Navarra (Brahms); Oslo Philharmonic (Lindberg); Ulster Orchestra (Korngold); BBC National Orchestra of Wales (Chausson’s and Saint-Saens), Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (play/direct) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Halle (Mendelssohn) .

Jack is professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music and is the Artistic Director of Oxford May Music Festival, a festival of Music, Science and the Arts.

Jack plays the ‘Ex-Wilhelmj’ J.B. Guadagnini dated 1785.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as ‘in a class of his own’ James Baillieu has been the prize-winner of the Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Das Lied International Song Competition, Kathleen Ferrier and Richard Tauber Competitions. He was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2010 and in 2012 received a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship and a Geoffrey Parsons Memorial Trust Award. In 2016 he was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Outstanding Young Artist Award.

James has given solo and chamber recitals throughout Europe and further afield. He collaborates with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists including Lawrence Power, Jack Liebeck, the Elias and Heath Quartets, Ian Bostridge, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Annette Dasch, Pumeza Matshikiza, Jamie Barton, Markus Werba and Catherine Wyn Rogers. Venues include Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berlin Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein, the Barbican Centre London, Wiener Konzerthaus, Cologne Philharmonie and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. Festivals include Festpillene i Bergen, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, City of London, Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, St Magnus, Derry, Norfolk & Norwich and Brighton Festivals. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Ulster Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Wiener Kammersymphonie.

An innovative programmer, James has already curated a number of projects, including series for the Brighton Festival, Wigmore Hall, BBC Radio 3, Bath International Festival and Perth Concert Hall.

In the 2015/16 season James presented his own 11-concert series at the Wigmore Hall “Introducing James Baillieu” with Adam Walker, Jonathan McGovern, Ailish Tynan, Tara Erraught, Henk Neven, Iestyn Davies, Allan Clayton and Mark Padmore amongst others. This series was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music and Song Award for an outstanding contribution to the performance of chamber music and song in the UK during 2016. He also took part in a European tour with Benjamin Appl as part of the ECHO Rising Stars series.

This season’s engagements include appearances with Allan Clayton, Louise Alder, Adam Walker, Benjamin Appl, Lise Davidsen, Tara Erraught, Amy Harman and Markus Werba at venues including Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bozar Brussels, Louvre Paris, Pierre Boulez Saal, Hong Kong City Hall, Peace Center South Carolina and the Vancouver Playhouse.

James enjoys working with young musicians and is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, a coach for the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, a course leader for the Samling Foundation, and is head of the Song Programme at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy. 

Born in South Africa, James studied at the University of Cape Town and the Royal Academy of Music in London with Michael Dussek, Malcolm Martineau and Kathryn Stott. In 2007 he graduated with a Dip.RAM and received the Christian Carpenter Award in recognition of his outstanding achievements. He was appointed a Hodgson Junior Fellow in 2007, a Professor of Piano Accompaniment in 2011, and awarded an ARAM in 2012. He is also International Tutor in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Julian Bliss is one of the world’s finest clarinettists excelling as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, jazz artist, masterclass leader and tireless musical explorer.  He has inspired a generation of young players as guest lecturer and creator of his Conn-Selmer range of affordable clarinets, and introduced a substantial new audience to his instrument.

Born in the UK, Julian started playing the clarinet age 4, going on to study in the U.S. at the University of Indiana and in Germany under Sabine Meyer.   The breadth and depth of his artistry are reflected in the diversity and distinction of his work.

In recital and chamber music he has played at most of the world’s leading festivals and venues including Gstaad, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Verbier, Wigmore Hall (London) and Lincoln Center (New York).

As soloist, he has appeared with a wide range of international orchestras, from the Sao Paolo Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Paris, and Auckland Philharmonia, to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2012 he established the Julian Bliss Septet, creating programmes inspired by King of Swing, Benny Goodman, and Latin music from Brazil and Cuba that have gone on to be performed to packed houses in festivals, Ronnie Scott’s (London), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) and across the U.S.

Recent album releases receiving rave reviews from critics, album of the week spots and media attention, include his recording of Mozart and Nielsen’s Concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.    Recent chamber discs include a new piece for clarinet & string quartet by David Bruce – Gumboots – inspired by the gumboot dancing of miners in South Africa and a recital album of Russian and French composers with American pianist, Bradley Moore.

This season’s highlights include an exciting new concerto by Wayne Shorter, with the Argovia Philharmonic, extensive USA tour with his septet, and chamber concerts with the Carducci Quartet.

Born in Swansea, Thomas Carroll studied with Melissa Phelps at the Yehudi Menuhin School and with Heinrich Schiff in Austria. An exceptionally gifted cellist, he is one of only two artists who auditioned successfully for both Young Concert Artists Trust in London and Young Concert Artists, Inc. in New York. He has since gone on to give critically acclaimed debut recitals at Wigmore Hall (London), Alice Tully Hall (NY) and in Boston, California, Florida and Washington DC.

As a concerto soloist Thomas has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Mozart Players, ViVA, Orchestra of the East Midlands, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra (conducted by Heinrich Schiff), English Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic, and Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra.

Much in demand as a chamber musician, Thomas has worked with the Belcea Quartet, Chilingirian Quartet, Endellion Quartet, Yehudi Menuhin, Ivry Gitlis, Gidon Kremer, Steven Isserlis, Mischa Maisky, Michael Collins, Julian Rachlin at Wigmore Hall, the Edinburgh and Cheltenham International Festivals, among many others. His recordings include Michael Berkeley’s String Quintet with the Chilingirian Quartet for Chandos.

Engagements over the last year have included concerts at Wigmore Hall, the Louvre in Paris, Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Dubrovnik Festival, Bath MozartFest, Mecklenburg Festival and The International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht with Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin and Ensemble. Thomas has also given a series of concerts in Tokyo under the auspices of YCA Inc, been resident at the Delft Festival in Holland and appeared as soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre Regional de Cannes. In August 07 he made his debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in a series of performances of Shostakovich’s Concerto No.2 and received an immediate reinvitation. Last season Thomas returned as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, performed the Dvorák with the Staatsorchester Braumschweiger, Vivaldi Double Concerto with Heinrich Schiff and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and gave recitals at the Cheltenham Festival and in Holland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Russia, Sweden and Japan. This season sees a continuation of recitals in series and festivals throughout the UK, South Africa and Europe and concerti with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players and Cape Philharmonic. 2010 will see the release of Thomas and eminent pianist Llyr Williams’ CD of Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms sonatas on the Orchid Label.

Thomas is currently a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and the Yehudi Menuhin School.

http://www.thomascarroll.co/

The international critical acclaim that Danny Driver’s recordings and performances have generated over recent years has cemented his reputation as one of Britain’s most respected and versatile pianists, with two Gramophone Award nominations, a National Public Radio Top 10 Award and Limelight Magazine’s Instrumental Recording of the Year 2014 Award for his recording of Handel’s Eight Great Suites.

Danny Driver’s recent concerto appearances have included the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Minnesota Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and American Symphony Orchestra. He has appeared twice at the BBC Proms, most recently with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Dutoit.

In recital Danny Driver has performed throughout the UK and in Germany, Italy, Israel, Sweden, the USA, and China. Highlights of Driver’s 2016-17 schedule will include the Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series (London), Music Toronto, the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris, and a USA tour featuring Ligeti’s Piano Études.

As a chamber musician Danny Driver has appeared at the Australian Chamber Music Festival, Bard Music Festival, Birdfoot Music Festival, Eilat Chamber Music Festival, and Stockholm’s Festival O/Modernt. He collaborates regularly with violinists Chloë Hanslip and Jack Liebeck, and with baritone Christian Immler, with whom he has given recitals broadcast by Deutschland Radio and Radio France.

Driver’s fruitful relationship with London-based Hyperion Records has spawned an internationally acclaimed discography of works by C P E Bach, Handel, Schumann, and Balakirev, and highly praised interpretations of neglected British composers York Bowen, Benjamin Dale and Erik Chisholm.

Director  Ashley Solomon

Regular performances in some of the world’s most prestigious venues have confirmed Florilegium’s status as one of Britain’s most outstanding period instrument ensembles. Since their formation in 1991 they have established a reputation for stylish and exciting interpretations, from intimate chamber works to large-scale orchestral and choral repertoire. Florilegium regularly collaborate with some of the world’s finest musicians including Dame Emma Kirkby, Robin Blaze and Elin Manahan Thomas.

Concert venues include Sydney Opera House, Esplanade (Singapore), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Beethoven-Haus (Bonn), Handel-Haus (Halle) and Frick Collection (New York). Among the numerous residencies Florilegium have held was Ensemble-in-Residence at London’s Wigmore Hall from 1998 to 2000, performing several series of concerts each year and becoming actively involved in the Hall’s education work. Since September 2008 they have been Ensemble in Association at the Royal College of Music, where they take five string, wind and keyboard coaching sessions each term on 18th century baroque repertoire.

The 2017-18 season sees Florilegium travelling around the UK with concerts in London, Winchester, Cardiff, Bath, Cambridge, Somerset and Bristol. London concerts include Kings Place with a programme of virtuosic baroque music from Germany, England and France, two concerts at Wigmore Hall, culminating in the performance in March with acclaimed countertenor Robin Blaze, the performance of the complete Brandenburg Concertos at St George’s Hanover Square and the Royal Festival Hall for St Matthew Passion.

Florilegium’s recordings for Channel Classics have been awarded many prizes including a Gramophone Award nomination, Editor’s Choice from Gramophone, Diapasons d’Or and Chocs de la Musique. Florilegium’s CD of Telemann’s Paris Quartets Vol 2 received the Classical Internet Award from Classicstoday.com. The Bach Cantatas disc with Johannette Zomer was awarded a 2008 Edison Award, Dutch music’s most prestigious prize. The second volume of Baroque Music from Bolivian Missions was nominated for a 2008 BBC Music Magazine award, and BBC Music Magazine selected volume 3 as Disc of the Month for April 2010. A recording of Vivaldi, released in January 2012, was rated “Outstanding” by International Record Review and was Disc of the Week on BBC Radio 3’s CD Review. A disc of Florilegium’s arrangements of Bach’s Organ Trio Sonatas, released in summer 2012, was immediately awarded CD of the Week by The Sunday Times.

In 2014 Florilegium released their 25th recording, the complete Bach Brandenburg Concertos, which was awarded a Dutch Luister 10 Award, Classical CD Choice CD of the Month and was Classic FM Featured Album on 10 November 2014 (a week before its official UK release date). Last year’s release Telemann: Concertos & Cantata ‘Ihr Völker hört’ has received Gramophone’s “Editor’s Choice” in their September 2016 issue, was shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards and was elected “Recording of the Month” in the October 2016 issue of BBC Music Magazine. The latest release includes Handel’s German Arias and Trio Sonatas recorded with soprano Gllian Keith. Almost immediately Classics Today reviewed this recording suggesting it was “compelling”. Future releases include a double CD of Telemann’s Essercizii Musici.

Australian born guitarist Craig Ogden is one of the most exciting artists of his generation. He studied guitar from the age of seven and percussion from the age of thirteen. In 2004 he became the youngest instrumentalist to receive a Fellowship Award from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
One of the UK’s most recorded guitarists, his recordings for Virgin/EMI, Chandos, Nimbus, Hyperion, Sony and Classic FM have received wide acclaim. Craig’s Classic FM albums The Guitarist and Summertime both shot straight to No.1 in the UK classical chart in summer 2010 and 2011 respectively, followed by the release of Christmas Time in November 2013. His latest Classic FM albums Summer Guitar (June 2014) and Craig Ogden and Friends (June 2015) went straight to No. 1 in the classical chart and he is one of Classic FM’s most played artists.
Craig Ogden has performed concertos with all the main UK orchestras plus many abroad in countries including Latvia, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Australia. In recent seasons he has performed with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Ulster Orchestra, Hallé, Bournemouth Symphony, WDR Rundfunk Orchestra (Cologne) and the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra (Denmark). In December 2015, Craig was asked at short notice to step in for Miloš Karadaglić who was unable to perform due to a hand injury – Craig performed the series of concerts on tour with the Royal Northern Sinfonia at major UK concert halls to critical acclaim. Craig was asked again to step in at short notice for Miloš for his UK concerts in winter 2016 with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and the English Chamber Orchestra, taking on the challenge of learning nine new pieces of music in one week. This season Craig performs concertos with orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra, Hallé, London Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Swan, Spanish Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra (Spain). Craig enjoys performing new works for guitar and gives the world premiere of a concerto written for him by Andy Scott with the Northern Chamber Orchestra in Manchester in November 2017. Composers David Knotts and Geoffrey Gordon are also writing concertos for Craig.
Craig Ogden regularly appears as soloist and chamber musician at major venues and collaborates with many of the UK’s top artists and ensembles. Craig has been invited by John Williams to perform with him at venues including London’s Globe Theatre, where he returned for a music and poetry performance with actress Meera Syal. Craig has performed at many of the major UK festivals and is also invited to play at large outdoor festivals including Jamie Oliver and Alex James’ Big Feastival and the Wilderness Festival. In August 2015, Craig gave a recital with tenor James Gilchrist at the Edinburgh Festival which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Craig performed as part of the Michael Tippett concert series at Wigmore Hall and returned there with the Nash Ensemble. In July 2016, Craig gave concerts and masterclasses in Hong Kong and Shanghai as part of the Hong Kong Guitar Symposium and in July 2017 Craig has been invited by Piers Lane to perform several concerts at the Australian Chamber Music Festival. In spring 2017, Craig is recording a new album with vocalist Jacqui Dankworth followed by a tour. Craig has presented programmes on radio including The Segovia Legacy on BBC Radio 3 (co-presented with Louis de Bernières), Ten Pound Pom Mum for BBC Northern Ireland (a programme about his Mother’s upbringing in Northern Ireland) and a series of four interviews with artists including John Williams for ABC Classic FM (Australia). In December 2011 Craig presented three short videos as part of an advertising campaign on Classic FM for Emirates Airline. Craig was also invited by Sky Arts to be a mentor for the 2015 Guitar Star television series.
Craig Ogden is Head of Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Visiting Lecturer at London’s Royal College of Music, Adjunct Fellow of the University of Western Australia, Associate Artist of The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Curator of Craig Ogden’s Big Guitar Weekend at The Bridgewater Hall and Director of the Dean & Chadlington Summer Music Festival.

Simon Oswell (viola) trained in Australia and the United States.

He gained awards in the National Concerto competition and co-founded the Petra String Quartet. Simon has performed and recorded as a soloist and chamber musician in Australia, Europe and South East Asia and subsequently in the United States in the LA based chamber music groups, the Capitol Ensemble and Pacific Serenades. In California he occupied several Principal Viola positions including the Hollywood Bowl, and recorded for the motion picture industry. Since returning to Australia Simon has appeared as Guest Principal with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Tasmanian and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Australian World Orchestra, Ensemble Liaison, Firebird Trio, Wilma and Friends, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Recent highlights have included performances in the UK at the Oxford May Chamber Music Festival and the North York Moors Festival. He currently teaches at the University of Melbourne.

One of Portugal’s foremost musicians, both nationally and internationally, Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro is considered a ‘poet of the piano’, whose musical interpretations, characterized by profound emotion and intellectuality, are highly appreciated by the public and by music critics.

Born in Porto, he studied in various countries before becoming a disciple of Lyudmila Roshchina at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where he obtained a Doctorate in Musical Performance in 2000, holding the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Scholarship.

Playing the whole spectrum of the piano repertoire, from the Baroque to Contemporary Music, he has premiered many works from composers such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Marcelo Nisinman, Eurico Carrapatoso and Sofia Gubaidulina.

As a soloist, he is frequently invited by the most important orchestras from Portugal and also from other countries, such as Russia, Spain, Cuba, Slovakia, Armenia or Belgium, collaborating with conductors John Nelson, Dmitri Liss, Emilio Pomàrico, Mikhail Agrest, Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Peter Tilling, Boguslaw Dawidow, Rengim Gökmen, Marc Tardue and Misha Rachlevsky, among others.

A passionate chamber musician, he has performed regularly with outstanding colleagues, such as Gary Hoffman, Renaud Capuçon, Benjamin Schmid, Gérard Caussé, Michel Portal, Jack Liebeck, Christian Poltéra, Corey Cerovsek, Isabel Charisius, Pascal Moraguès, Eldar Nebolsin, Lars Anders Tomter, Adrian Brendel, Anna Samuil and José Van Dam.

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro is the founder (2006) and artistic director of the DSCH - Schostakovich Ensemble, based in Lisbon’s Centro Cultural de Belém. The Ensemble has recorded for Mezzo channel and performs regularly across Europe.

He has released several CDs, highly appreciated by music critics, featuring works by Bach, Scarlatti, Seixas, Beethoven, Wagner, Debussy, Ravel, Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc…
His last CD PIANO SEASONS was recorded in France for Paraty and includes the “The Seasons, opus 37-bis” by Tchaikovsky; the first recording of the new piano version of Piazzolla’s “Four Seasons of Buenos Aires”, composed by Marcelo Nisinman for Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro; and “Four Last Seasons of Lisbon”, by Eurico Carrapatoso, a cycle also dedicated to the pianist and having its first recording in this double CD.

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro is often invited as artistic director of music festivals. He is the artistic and pedagogical director of Classical Summer – Lisbon International Music Academy.

Besides his busy performing career, Filipe has been Piano Professor for the last decade at some Portuguese Universities and frequently gives Masterclasses.

Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro is a Steinway Artist.

Alexandra Raikhlina was born in Moscow in 1983 and moved to Belgium in 1990. At the age of 13 she was Laureate of the “Charles de Beriot” competition in Belgium before being awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natalia Boyarsky. Later she received a full scholarship to do her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno and Krzsisztof Smietana.

Alexandra has performed extensively as a soloist and a chamber musician in Belgium, England, Switzerland, Russia, Greece and Hong-Kong.She has appeared as a soloist and a chamber musician in Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Fairfield Halls and the Sage Gateshead.

Alexandra has won awards from the Craxton Foundation, the Martin Scholarship Foundation and was awarded the LSO String Scheme Experience. She was a prize winner at the Richmond upon Thames Performing Arts festival and a finalist and special prize winner (for best performance of a sonata) at the International Koningin Sophie Charlotte competition.

Alexandra has appeared as a soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Epsom Symphony Orchestra and the Richmond Symphony Orchestra.

Alexandra’s solo BBC Proms appearance was part of the "Composers Portrait" programme broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Other radio appearances have included performances on BBC Radio 3's “Free Thinking Festival”.

Alexandra has participated in festivals including the Gstaad, Paxos, Highgate International Chamber Music Festivals, Northern Chords Festival and currently holds the position of sub-principal first violin with the Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Alexandra is the Artistic Director of Brundibár Arts Festival based in Newcastle and Gateshead.

Winner of the prestigious Pierre Fournier Award at Wigmore Hall in 2007, Gemma Rosefield made her concerto debut at the age of sixteen, when she won First Prize in the European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, Norway, playing a televised performance of the Saint-Saens Concerto with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Other numerous awards and prizes include the Premier Prix Maurice Ravel in France, the Vice-Principal’s Special Prize at the RAM, and the Gold Medal at the RNCM.

Described by The Strad on her 2003 Wigmore Hall debut as ‘a mesmerising musical treasure’, by the London Evening Standard in 2005 as ‘a phenomenal talent’, and featured in BBC Music Magazine as ‘one to watch’ in 2007, Gemma has made her solo debut in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and in The Diligentia, The Hague, in the New Masters International Recital Series. She gave the highly successful Pierre Fournier Award recital in September 2008 at Wigmore Hall, and also the 2008 and 2009 Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Concerts at the same venue. She performs regularly on BBC Radio 3, including notably Michael Ellison’s Concerto for Cello and Turkish Instruments with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Gemma has played widely outside the UK, in the USA, Russia, Japan, Mexico, Kenya, New Zealand, and throughout Europe. In September she will be giving several performances at the Nuremberg Chamber Music Festival, some of which will be broadcast by Bavarian Radio.

In 2011, Hyperion released a CD of Gemma playing the Complete Works for Cello and Orchestra of Sir Charles Stanford with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Manze. BBC Music Magazine considered the Stanford Concerto to be ‘superbly played’ and Gramophone Magazine commented that Gemma ‘plays with disarming character and freshness; her technique too is enviably sure and tone beguilingly rounded’.

Gemma gives some 50 performances a year as cellist of Ensemble 360, Royal Philharmonic Society Medal Winners, 2013, whose performances are described by the Independent as ‘brimming with body and soul, with passion, vitality and virtuosity, whose performances never cease to amaze’. She is also cellist of the Leonore Piano Trio, with whom she has toured recently in Italy and New Zealand, including a broadcast performance in the New Zealand Parliament. In 2014, Hyperion released the premiere CD of the Trio, of the two Piano Trios by Arensky. The Observer described their performances as ‘revelatory’with ‘sumptuous breadth and beguiling warmth’. The Gramophone commented that the Trio played ‘with truly glorious affection’ and that ‘it is hard to imagine playing of a greater intensity’. This CD was BBC Radio3 disc of the week. The Trio recently performed the 2014 Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Concert at Wigmore Hall. Gemma is planning, with the Leonore Piano Trio, to embark in 2015 on a project to perform all the works by Beethoven for piano trio, violin and piano, and cello and piano, including at Kings Place, London.

In 2014, Gemma gave a Sunday Morning Concert at Wigmore Hall with Tim Horton, and she performed the premiere of a new work for Cello and Choir by Cecilia McDowall at Westminster Abbey. She has recently returned from Tallinn, where she played the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Estonian National Orchestra and Vello Pähn. In May Gemma performed the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra and Christopher Warren-Green and in August, she gave the UK Premiere of Concello, for Cello and Orchestra, by Polish composer Maciej Zielinski at the Presteigne Festival. 

Gemma studied with David Strange at the RAM and with Ralph Kirshbaum at the RNCM. She has also studied with Johannes Goritzki, Gary Hoffman (Les Dix Stages de Perfectionnement, the Paris Conservatoire), Bernard Greenhouse and Zara Nelsova. Gemma has performed with eminent musicians such as György Pauk, Menahem Pressler, Julius Drake, and Stephen Kovacevich. She has a deep interest in contemporary music, and works have been written for her by David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, James Francis Brown, Julian Dawes, Rhian Samuel, David Knotts and Michael Kamen.

Gemma plays on a cello made in Naples in 1704 by Alessandro Gagliano, formerly owned and played by the Prince Regent. 

Enno Senft is principal double-bass of the London Sinfonietta and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, of which he is a founder member. In addition he plays regularly as a guest with other Ensembles, amongst them the OAE, the Academy of St.Martin’s , the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Berliner Philharmoniker .  He has performed and recorded internationally with many leading conductors and soloists, also appearing at chamber and contemporary music festivals, notably the Berliner Festwochen, Wien Modern, Huddersfield, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, the Wigmore Hall Series in London and the Sydney Festival, 

 Enno Senft worked at IRCAM on Michael Jarrel's bass concerto "Droben….” which he premiered with the Ensemble Modern in Basel, followed by performances in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris and with the Ensemble Contrechamps under George Benjamin in Geneva and Strasbourg. 

Close collaboration with composer Dai Fujikura lead to the premier of his bass concerto in November 2011 with the London Sinfonietta at London’s QEH. 

In the great and often underappreciated art of piano duo playing, Sivan Silver and her partner Gil Garburg are setting a new standard: acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, the duo has been invited time and time again by top orchestras, festivals, and concert organizers. They have performed in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Vienna Musikverein, the Sydney Opera House, and the Berlin Philharmonie; they have concertized in approximately 70 countries on five continents; and they collaborate regularly with such orchestras as the Israel Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie.

Their recording of Mendelssohn’s concertos for two pianos and orchestra, with the Bavarian Chamber Philharmonic under Christopher Hogwood, has been called “breathtaking” (Bayerische Rundfunk), “extremely exciting” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), and “brilliant” (Rondo). The Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung raved about the “lyrical sensitivity and the ravishing technical mastery” of the duo, noting that only rarely does one experience “such spontaneous shouts of ‘bravo’” at the end of a concert. The Independent concluded: “What a wondrous evening!”

The two Israelis, who live in Berlin with their son, can be heard during the 2014-15 season in North America, Latin America, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and in numerous European countries – both with orchestra and in recitals. Upcoming engagements also include tours with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the Brno Philharmonic across the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria – in the Vienna Konzerthaus among other notable venues. In addition, spring 2015 will see the release of their most recent recording on the label of their new exclusive partner, Berlin Classics: Stravinsky’s Petrushka and The Rite of Spring for four hands. An additional CD will be dedicated to the last works of Schubert.

In their late thirties, after 17 years of playing together, Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg are establishing themselves as a presence at the top echelon of the music world – which, as a piano duo, is doubly challenging: developing exciting interpretations and rendering them with virtuosity and refinement is not enough. A duo must also have a sense of oneness and of the ever-changing roles of the four hands. Avowed perfectionists Silver and Garburg rehearse for six hours each day, with a particular commitment to the details that are often inaudible on a conscious level – which is to say, the details that make the difference. These include shifting the balance at moments of harmonic change and carrying out minimal variations in tempo; the instinctive understanding between Silver and Garburg is so deep that the two even breathe together. “We express our own emotions and, at the same time, a combined sensibility. We are one, and yet we’re in dialogue with each other – that’s the magic,” says Silver. And Garburg adds: “The more we work together, the more we grow together and the freer we become. Like a conductor realizes his or her vision with an orchestra, we can realize all that we envision with four hands.”

The literature for piano duo is far richer and more significant than is revealed by the typical concert fare. Silver and Garburg, in addition to performing the standard repertoire, constantly and enthusiastically discover new works for themselves. With orchestras, they perform everything from Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Bruch to Poulenc, Martinu, Bartók, and contemporary composers. They present an astounding number of original compositions for two pianos and piano four hands, as well as arrangements by the composers themselves – for example, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, and Dvo?ák. Brahms alone penned dozens of pieces for piano four hands, among them the original versions of almost all of his quartets and quintets and many orchestral works!

In 2014, the Graz University for the Arts unanimously chose the Silver-Garburg Duo (over numerous well-known competitors) to occupy one of the few extant professorships for piano duo. Previously, they taught at the Hannover Conservatory, the elite German piano school at which they themselves completed their studies in 2007 under Arie Vardi.

Sivan Silver and Gil Garburg are invigorated by the need to constantly adapt to the demands of duo recitals and orchestral engagements, moving between intimate pieces that require unity, dialogic works, and those in which they evoke the grand power of an entire orchestra at the two pianos. “As a piano duo, it’s easy to make effects with virtuosity. But that alone is far too little. We want to move our listeners emotionally.” According to reactions from their audiences, their colleagues, and the press, they’re doing it.

Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow into a family with an established musical tradition and made his concerto debut at the age of eight and the same year came to study at the Menuhin School. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years and they performed together on several occasions including the Bach Double Concerto, Bartok Duos at St James’ Palace, and when Alexander played the Mendelssohn concerto under Menuhin’s baton.  

 He has gone on to perform with the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, London Mozart Players, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Brussels Philharmonic, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Malmo Symphony Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Academy of St. Martin’s in the Fields, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Mulhouse Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, St Petersburg Symphony, Welsh National Opera and the BBC Concert Orchestra among many others. Conductors he has worked with have included Sir Mark Elder, Yakov Kreizberg, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Denis Russell Davies, Andrew Sewell, Alexander Dmitriev, Mark Soustrot, Julia Jones, Michel Tabachnik, George Hanson and Joseph Swensen.

 This season, Alexander will make his debut in Brussels, Poznan, Santa Cruz in Bolivia and St Petersburg as well as going on two nationwide tours of the UK with the Brussels Philharmonic and St Petersburg Symphony. He willbe touring Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and will also perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall. He will return to the Kuhmo and Cheltenham Festivals and make debuts at the Verbier and Lockenhaus Festivals

 His new recording for CPO of Andrzej Panufnik's Violin Concerto to commemorate the composer's 100th Birthday has been critically acclaimed and he will perform the work this season with various orchestras including the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Poznan Philharmonic and the Riga Sinfonietta.

 He has also recorded for Angel/EMI, Decca, Orfeo, Onyx, BIS and Avanti Classics including the Bach Double Concerto with Julia Fischer.

 In 2011, Alexander was awarded the 1st prize at the Trio di Trieste Duo Competition with the pianist Wu Qian, with whom he subsequently embarked on a twenty concert tour in Italy as well as a recital at the Weill Hall in Carnegie Hall. He is also a member of the prestigious "Chamber Music Society Two" program at the Lincoln Centre in New York.

 Chamber music has always been very important to Alexander. He is a founding member of the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio with the pianist Wu Qian and cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, with whom he has won various prizes including the Mecklenburg Vorpommern Kammermusik Prize and has performed all over the UK and Europe including at the Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall in London. The trio's debut CD of Czech Repertoire for BIS had stellar reviews and their follow up recording of Mendelssohn Trios will be released in 2015. They have also released a disc of Brahms and Schubert on the Wigmore Live Label. Since 2012, he has also played in a String Quartet project with Julia Fischer, meeting once a year to perform in some of Europe's most prestigious venues.

Alexander has also shared the stage with Julia Fischer, Janine Jansen, Maxim Rysanov, Alexander Chaushian, Misha Maisky, Natalie Clein, Eric Le Sage, Polina Leschenko, Julian Rachlin, Boris Brovtsyn, and many others. He also performs regularly with the Razumovsky Ensemble and the Ensemble RARO.

Ailish Tynan trained at Trinity College, the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. She was a Vilar Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and a BBC New Generation Artist. In 2003, representing Ireland, Ailish won the Rosenblatt Recital Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Recent highlights include Gretel Hansel & Gretel for Welsh National Opera; Anna Intermezzo in her debut for Garsington Opera; Handel Messiah on tour with the Academy of Ancient Music under Richard Egarr; Strauss Vier letzte Lieder at the Royal Festival Hall; Schoenberg String Quartet No. 2 on tour with the Callino Quartet and recitals at Wigmore Hall. Additionally, she was a guest commentator for the Song Prize Final at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World.

Operatic engagements include Gretel Hänsel und Gretel and Madame Cortese Il viaggio a Reims; Marzelline Fidelio (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Gretel Hansel and Gretel (Scottish Opera); Tigrane Radamisto (English National Opera); Papagena Die Zauberflöte (Teatro alla Scala); Despina Così fan tutte (Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse); Héro Béatrice et Bénédict(Houston Grand Opera, Opéra Comique and the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg). Other operatic highlights include Sophie Der Rosenkavalier, Nannetta Falstaff and Atalanta Xerxes all for the Royal Swedish Opera; Miss Wordsworth Albert Herring (Opéra Comique and Opéra de Rouen) and Vixen The Cunning Little Vixen (Grange Park Opera).

Among her notable concert appearances are Mahler Symphony No.8(Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, Philharmonia under Lorin Maazel and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano); Mahler Symphony No.4 (Prague Symphony Orchestra under Jac van Steen and the Hallé under Sir Mark Elder) and Mahler Symphony No. 2(Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Myung-whun Chung); Verdi Requiem (Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele under Michael Hofstetter); Haydn The Creation (CBSO under Andris Nelsons) and Vaughan Williams Hodie at the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She performs regularly at the BBC Proms where she has performed Bella in Tippett’s A Midsummer Marriage(BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis) and Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano (Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under Kirill Karabits).

In recital Ailish works regularly with pianists including Iain Burnside, James Baillieu, Graham Johnson and Christopher Glynn, amongst others, giving recitals at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh, City of London, Gregynog, St. Magnus, Brighton and West Cork Music Festivals, and the Vinterfespill in Norway. Her discography includes Fauré Mélodies (Opus Arte), Nacht und Träume (Delphian), From a City Window Hubert Parry Songs (Delphian) and An Irish Songbook (Signum Classics) all with pianist Iain Burnside, Il re pastore for Classical Opera (Signum Classics), Michael Head Songs (Hyperion) with Christopher Glynn, Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music (EMI), Mahler Symphony No.8 under Valery Gergiev (LSO Live) and with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Lorin Maazel (Signum Classics).

Highlights in the current season include her return to the Royal Opera House as Madame Podtotshina’s Daughter in Shostakovich’s The Nose, and debut performances with international orchestras including Beethoven Symphony No. 9 for the Philharmonie Zuidnederland and Mahler Symphony No. 8 in Dresden.

Louise Williams has been a member of several prestigious chamber groups,and has played as a guest with many more. The string quartet dominated the first part of her career, but since having children she has free-lanced and played with groups that spend less of the year touring abroad.

She began her musical life as a violinist, gaining a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music to study with Manoug Parikian. After winning many prizes both for violin and quartet, including the final Recital Diploma prize, she moved on to the Juilliard School in New York where she studied with Ivan Galamian.

On her return, Louise was sponsored by the Countess of Munster Trust on their recital scheme, and played Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Roger Chase and the English Chamber Orchestra at their 25th Anniversary concert. She also became a founder member of the Endellion Quartet, as second violinist, which had an immediate success at the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition (now the London International String Quartet Competition) and later at the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York.

However, after five years she left both the quartet and the music world in search of a different lifestyle, spending a year studying organic gardening and time in India practising meditation.

Shortly after returning to the fray, she was invited to join the Chilingirian Quartet as their violist. This was a very happy and busy time, with many concerts and recordings and the fulfillment of having played 3 different parts in many pieces, after having given many concerts as first violin of her student quartet. 

Having three children in quick succession put paid to a touring career, however, and since that time Louise has not gone back to full-time musical work as she was fortunately able to make the choice to be at home some of the time.

The following years included playing quintets as a guest with other quartets, (Sorrel, Coull, Vanbrugh, Endellion), deputizing in quartets in cases of illness (Takacs, Lindsays) and playing as a guest with the Nash Ensemble for many years. Louise was also a member of the Raphael Ensemble, and had a trio with clarinet and piano in which she played both violin and viola. After deputizing in the Lindsays, including jumping into a Beethoven Cycle, she was invited to become their regular quintet and sextet partner and enjoyed many concerts and recordings with them until their retirement.

Since 2001 she has been a member of the Frith Piano Quartet with Benjamin Frith, Robert Heard and Richard Jenkinson, and Arpège, a group with flute, harp, horn and viola.

She has also played as guest principal with Britten Sinfonia, guest principal viola with the Philharmonia and as a member of Andras Schiff's orchestra, Capella Andrea Barca. 

Festivals include regular attendance at IMS Prussia Cove, Kuhmo Festival in Finland, and the Gould Trio's Festival in Corbridge.

In 2010 - 11, Louise played a cycle of the 10 Beethoven sonatas for violin and piano with Kathron Sturrock, and in 2011-12, recorded 2 CDs of British viola music form the 1st half of the 20th century, which were released in October 2012 as a double CD on the EM (English Music) label.

Frank Close is a particle physicist, author and speaker. He is Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. He was formerly vice president of the British Association for Advancement of Science, Head of the Theoretical Physics Division at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and Head of Communications and Public Education at CERN. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling "Antimatter", and the winner of the Kelvin Medal of the Institute of Physics for his "outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics." 

Stefan Hild is a Professor of Experimental Physics in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Glasgow. For the last 15 years his great passion is the detection of gravitational waves from some of the most violent events in the Universe. Stefan worked as a PhD student on the German/British gravitational wave detector GEO600, where many of the technologies were prototyped which ultimately allowed the first detection of gravitational waves. After that he held a research fellowship at the University of Birmingham to design the core interferometer of the French-Italian Advanced VIRGO interferometer, before he joined in 2009  the University of Glasgow as Lecturer. Stefan is a member of the executive committee of the LIGO Scientific collaboration, a member of the Young Academy of Scotland as well as a member of the Global Young Academy and he is also the scientific coordinator of the the International Max Planck Partnership, collaboration of 5 Scottish physics departments and 5 Max Planck Institutes in Germany.

Yadvinder Malhi is an ecosystem ecologist who has advanced our understanding of the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and how they are responding to the pressures of global change, including climate change, degradation and loss of large animals. This work integrates insights from ecosystem ecology into Earth System science, and has been characterised by a multidisciplinary approach that involves establishing broad networks of field research in tropical forests in some of the most remote and challenging regions of the world, and also application of micrometeorological approaches, global climate datasets, terrestrial ecosystem models and satellite remote sensing. This work has contributed to our understanding of the carbon sink in the terrestrial biosphere, and to how it may be vulnerable to climate warming.

His interests extend to a broad understanding of contemporary change in the biosphere and how to navigate it, through a combination of natural sciences, social sciences and policy approaches.

David Owen is a structural biologist and biochemist whose group uses an integrated combination of in vitro and in vivo techniques to study how membrane-embedded ‘cargo’ proteins are moved between a mammalian cell’s membranes in transport vesicles and tubules. Along with their collaborators, his group has focused on understanding the structure and function of the AP2 adaptor complex, which selects cargo for and plays a central role in controlling the internalization of proteins from the cell surface. They have also provided insights into the mechanisms underlying the selective incorporation of SNARE proteins, which allow transport vesicle and tubules to fuse with their correct target membranes, into a range of transport vesicles and of the formation of transport vesicles and tubules that leave endosomes. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and was awarded the Colworth Medal by the British Biochemical Society and the Hooke Medal by the British Society for Cell Biology.

Boris Kucharsky is a solo violinist, chamber musician, recording artist and teacher. He has played with major orchestras worldwide including the Slovak Philharmonic and Radio Symphony, Dortmund Philharmonic, Karlsbad Symphony, European, Vienna and Prague Chamber Orchestras as well as the Gulf Coast Symphony. Kucharsky collaborated with the legendary violinist Yehudi Menuhin, playing Bach's Double and Triple Concerto with him and Beethoven's Violin Concerto as soloist with Menuhin conducting. This series of concerts across Germany first laid the foundation for Boris Kucharsky's reputation as one of the most outstanding violinists of his generation. In the last 20 years he has performed extensively in chamber ensembles, (for instance with members of the Munich and Berlin Philharmonic) and collaborated with pianists such as Melissa Marse, Per Rundberg, Elizabeth Hopkins and Helge Kjekshus in concerts across Europe, the US and Far East. He was featured as soloist in numerous television and radio broadcasts for the Bavarian Radio Munich, Klassik Plus, WDR Cologne, BBC, Deutschlandfunk, Radio Stephansdom Austria, Slovak National Radio and Television, WQXR and WNYC, USA.

He has recorded for Trevak, Ars, StarArts, Vipro Classic and KC Classics labels.

His recording of all 10 Beethoven Sonatas, released in 2010, won widespread critical acclaim. Since 2008 he has performed all chamber works written for the violin by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Schumann. His repertoire spans from early baroque music to the great works of the 20th century. Recent performances have also included works by the Slovak composer Eugen Suchon, the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, the contemporary American composer Robert Aldridge and the German composer Jörg Widmann.

In 1999 Kucharsky's recording of Suchon's Violin Concerto "Fantasia and Burleska" was awarded "Best Classical Recording of the Year" by the National Slovak Radio.

Kucharsky completed his studies for a Master of Music degree with the legendary violinist Erick Friedman at Yale University in 1997. Kucharsky and Friedman shared the stage on many occasions. A highlight was their rendition of Brahms's Double Concerto in 1996, with Erick Friedman conducting and Kucharsky and cellist Ole Akahoshi as soloists.

As a teenager, Boris Kucharsky studied chamber music at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London with Peter Norris, Sidney Griller (Griller Quartet) and Hans Keller as well as with the Endellion and Chilingirian Quartets. From 1989-1994 he studied at the Musikhochschule in Cologne with Igor Ozim and was coached by the Amadeus and Alban Berg Quartet in chamber music.

Boris Kucharsky has been on the faculty of the J.J.Cali School of Music at Montclair State University since 2008, where he teaches violin, chamber music and orchestral studies. From 2002-2008 he taught at Munich's Music Academy, a class for especially talented young violinists and received the L.O.B. award in 2008 for his extraordinary achievements as a violin pedagogue.

He is a close colleague of the cellist and conductor Paul Watkins (the successor of David Finkel of the Emerson Quartet) with whom he recently performed the G-major Brahms Sextet at Menuhin Hall, London, England.

He plays the "Baron Knoop", made by Carlo Bergonzi in Cremona, 1735.

Pianist Daniel Grimwood is a performer of international renown, combining an exceptional talent, rare versatility and refinement, with an inquisitive personality.

With a repertoire ranging from Elizabethan Virginal music to the works of living composers, he enjoys a solo and chamber career, which has taken him across the globe, performing on the most prestigious concert platforms, including the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Purcell Room in London, Saffron Hall, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Symphony Hall Birmingham, the Sage Gateshead, the Three Choirs Festival, the Rachmaninoff and Gnessin Halls in Moscow, the Carnegie Hall in New York, as well as venues in Germany, Austria, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Estonia, Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Lebanon and Oman.

His musical interest started as a 3-year-old playing next door’s piano, and from the age of 7 he was performing in front of audiences. His training continued with Graham Fitch at the Purcell School, where he also studied violin, viola and composition, giving him a broad appreciation of classical music, and later with Vladimir Ovchinnikov and Peter Feuchtwanger.

Although primarily a pianist, he is frequently to be found performing on harpsichord, organ, viola or composing at his desk. Grimwood is a passionate exponent of the early piano, and has given a recital of Chopin’s Etudes on the composer’s own Pleyel piano.

As a solo recording artist his growing discography ranges from Scriabin on Somm Recordings to Algernon Ashton, a world premiere recording on Toccata Classics. His discs of Liszt and Chopin, performed on an 1851 Erard piano, received a unanimous chorus of praise from the press; the Liszt album was Daily Telegraph CD of the week and Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine. He was the first artist to record on the Edition Peters Sounds label, the complete Fauré Nocturnes album was released to excellent reception in The Sunday Times, which was followed by a disc of solo piano works by Adolph von Henselt, described as “a blizzard of dazzling pianism” by the Observer.

Daniel Grimwood regularly performs on live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3, and has been featured in BBC Four’s TV documentary series “Revolution and Romance”. His media work continues with performances and video masterclasses in the “Piano Masterworks” collection on Tido Music, a new iPad app launched in 2016.

Benjamin Roskams began playing the violin at the age of nine in Cardiff where he studied with Harry Cawood before going on to win a scholarship to study with Lydia Mordkovitch and Emanuel Hurwitz at the Royal Academy of Music where he was awarded B-Mus.Hons (1st class). Benjamin continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno as a scholarship holder and then with Professor Ilya Grubert at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, also seeking inspiration from Ivry Gitlis in Paris.

A keen chamber musician Benjamin has collaborated with many leading ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet, the London Conchord Ensemble and London International Players.

Equally at home on the  viola, he is a member of the award winning Artea Quartet, having performed at venues such as the Conway Hall, Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall as well as appearances on BBC radio 3 “In Tune” and a chamber music prom concert broadcast from the V&A on the BBC. 

As an experienced orchestral musician he has led the Dutch National Ballet as well as acting as guest deputy concertmaster of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Holland Symfonia. In the UK he works regularly with the LSO, LPO and Philharmonia Orchestra as well as being a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra 1st violin section.

He is a keen collector of violin bows and is indebted to Albert Cooper's family for the generous loan of the c.1720 Joseph filius Andrea Guarneri violin on which he plays.