2010 FESTIVAL ARTISTS
Nicholas Daniel Artistic Director (oboe, oboe d’amore, cor anglais)
Nicholas Daniel’s long and distinguished career began when, at the age of 18, he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and went on to win further competitions in Europe. At his debut at the BBC Proms in 1992 the Sunday Times described him as one of the greatest exponents of the oboe in the world. Today one of the UK's most distinguished soloists as well as a successful conductor, he has become an important ambassador for music and musicians in many different fields.
Nicholas has been heard on every continent, and has been a concerto soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, working under conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Sir Roger Norrington, Oliver Knussen, Richard Hickox and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. In addition to his extensive experience in baroque and 19th-century music, he is an important force in the creation and performance of new repertoire for oboe, and has premiered works by composers including Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Henri Dutilleux, Thea Musgrave, Nigel Osborne, John Tavener and Sir Michael Tippett. Since his debut at the Promenade Concerts, he has appeared in this series on several occasions including the world premieres of John Woolrich's Oboe Concerto, of Thea Musgrave's Helios and, in 2007, her Two’s Company, written especially for him; he made his conducting debut at the Proms in 2004 in the Chamber series with the Britten Sinfonia.
An active chamber musician, Nicholas is a founder member of the Haffner Wind Ensemble and the Britten Oboe Quartet and enjoys a long history of collaboration with the pianist Julius Drake and the Maggini and Lindsay string quartets. His duo with Julius Drake was described in The Independent as “vital, thoughtful and confirmed in musical integrity of the highest order.”
As a conductor, Nicholas has worked with orchestras in the UK and in Europe, most recently in Germany and in Sweden, and as Associate Artistic Director of the Britten Sinfonia he conducts this award-winning orchestra regularly. He is oboist to the California-based chamber ensemble Camerata Pacifica and is Artistic Director of the Leicester International Festival. He teaches in the UK and in Germany, where is he Professor of Oboe at the Musikhochschule, Trossingen.
Recent engagements include appearances as soloist with the National Orchestra of Spain, the St Louis Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Pacifica, as well as appearances at the BBC Promenade concerts and in chamber music engagements at the Wigmore Hall and in the Delft Chamber Music Festival. Future engagements include his return to the Wigmore Hall in recital, appearances at the Delft and Aldeburgh Festivals, concerts with the Haffner Wind Ensemble and engagements in Poland and Finland as oboist and conductor. In addition, Nicholas Daniel continues to work with the Britten Sinfonia as oboist and as conductor and appears regularly at many festivals including Kuhmo International Festival of Chamber Music and the Oxford Chamber Music Festival.
James Gilchrist (tenor)
James Gilchrist began his working life as a doctor, turning to a full-time career in music in 1996.
James’ concert appearances include Damon in Acis and Galatea at the Proms (Academy of Ancient Music/Paul Goodwin), Bach cantatas with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra in their celebrated Bach Pilgrimage (Sir John Eliot Gardiner/Europe – America), Tippett’s The Knot Garden (Sir Andrew Davis/BBC Symphony Orchestra), Monteverdi Vespers and Messiah (The Sixteen/Japan), Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Ralph in HMS Pinafore (Scottish Chamber Orchestra), the title role in Judas Maccabeus (The King’s Consort), Septimius Theodora (Scottish Chamber Orchestra), Israel in Egypt (St Louis Symphony Orchestra, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Collegium Vocale Gent and SCO), B Minor Mass (Semyon Bychkov/Turin and Santa Caecilia in Rome), Mozart Requiem (Seattle Symphony Orchestra), L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and a televised performance of Berlioz L’enfance du Christ at the BBC Proms (Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra), Alexander’s Feast in Salzburg, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Ton Koopman and the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich, the Evangelist in the Bach/Mendelssohn St Matthew Passion with the OAE, a residency with the Nash Ensemble at Princeton University, Israel in Egypt on tour with Collegium Vocale, Messiah with both the San Francisco and the Detroit Symphony Orchestras, War Requiem and Dream of Gerontius for the Three Choirs Festival, Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich and at the Salzburg Festival, Bach Cantatas with the Bach Collegium Japan, St Matthew Passion with North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and at Symphony Hall, Boston, St John Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Britten’s Serenade at The Sage, Gateshead and The Seasons with the Handel & Haydn Society under Sir Roger Norrington at the BBC Proms. James is a keen exponent of contemporary music and has performed in the world premieres of Knut Nystedt’s Apocalypsis Joannis (Oslo Philharmonic), John Tavener’s Total Eclipse (Academy of Ancient Music), which was also recorded, and Helen Ottaway’s new commission for the Salisbury Festival, The Echoing Green.
As a recitalist, he has appeared with Malcolm Martineau, with Stephen Varcoe and Della Jones at St John’s Smith Square, and with John Constable performing Britten Canticles, Quilter To Julia and Tippett The Heart’s Assurance for the BBC. In his partnership with the pianist Anna Tilbrook, he has performed Schumann Liederkreis (op 24), Finzi Till Earth Outwears and Poulenc Metamorphoses for BBC Radio 3. James is also partnered regularly by the harpist Alison Nicholls and recently appeared in recital with the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, and at the Bury St Edmunds Festival in a programme featuring a new commission by Alec Roth based on Vikram Seth’s ‘All You Who Sleep Tonight’.
Operatic performances include Quint in Britten’s Turn of the Screw, Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte, Scaramuccio in Strauss’ Ariadne Auf Naxos (Richard Hickox), Gomatz in Mozart’s Zaide (Istanbul), Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love (Barbican/Radio 3), Hyllus in Handel’s Hercules (Berlin), Acis & Galatea at the Berlin Staatsoper, Evandre in Gluck’s Alceste at La Monnaie in Brussels and Purcell’s King Arthur for Mark Morris at English National Opera.
Amongst his many recordings are Albert Albert Herring and Vaughan William’s A Poisoned Kiss for Chandos, Bach St Matthew Passion (Gabrieli Consort/McCreesh), Bach St John Passion (New College Choir/Higginbottom), Rachmaninov Vespers (EMI/Kings College, Cambridge), Schütz Sacred Music (The Sixteen/Collins Classics), Rameau Cantatas and St Mark Passion (ASV), Grainger Songs (Chandos), Kuhnau Sacred Music (The King’s Consort/Hyperion), Bach Missa Brevis (Collegium Instrumentale Brugense), and Bach Cantatas variously with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra, Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan. More recently James released a disc of Finzi song cycles, “Oh Fair To See”, (Linn Records) and Elizabethan Lute Songs “When Laura Smiles” with Matthew Wadsworth.
Engagements in 2007/2008 include On Wenlock Edge with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Bach Concerts on tour with the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestra, Creation at the Frauenkirche, Dresden and at Westminster Cathedral for the Bach Choir, Mass in B Minor at Wells Cathedral, Lechmere Owen Wingrave (concert) for CLS at Cadogan Hall, Pulcinella for Radio Svizzera in Lugano, St Matthew Passion at the Royal Festival Hall and Ugone Flavio for the Academy of Ancient Music in Birmingham and London. Looking further into the future, engagements include War Requiem with the Dresden Philharmonie and the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, Oedipus Rex with BBC NOW, Creation on tour with Philippe Herreweghe, Pulcinella with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, St Matthew Passion with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich and King Arthur with the Concert Spirituel in London, Luxemburg and Paris.
Priya Mitchell (violin)
Priya Mitchell has been described as ‘one of the foremost violinists of her generation’ (The Strad). She was brought up in Oxford and went to the Yehudi Menuhin School where she studied under David Takeno. Two years at the Conservatoire in Vienna were followed by a period of study with Zachar Bron in Germany. In 1994 the Young Concert Artists Trust in London selected her for representation.
She was chosen as the British representative in the European Concert Halls Organisation ‘Rising Stars’ Series and her year as ECHO ‘Rising Star’ included recitals at Symphony Hall Birmingham, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Konzerthaus (Vienna), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels) and her critically acclaimed New York debut at Carnegie Hall.
She has given highly acclaimed performances with, amongst others, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Yuri Temirkanov at the Royal Albert Hall, the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Hickox, and the Walton Concerto with Sir Andrew Davis at Symphony Hall, Birmingham; the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; the English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Philharmonia. She has recently toured Scotland with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and played with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields at the Barbican under Emmanuel Krivine.
Priya Mitchell is a regular concerto soloist with many major European orchestras. She has appeared with the Belgian Radio and Television Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. In August 2000 she made her debut in Australia with a very successful nationwide tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. In 2003 she toured the UK with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra performing the Sibelius and Stravinsky violin concertos. Her most recent successes include concerts with the Deutsche Sinfonie-Orchester at the Berlin Philharmonie and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.
As a recitalist and chamber musician Priya Mitchell has performed extensively at many international music festivals including Schleswig-Holstein, Lockenhaus, Stavanger, Heimbach, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festivals in Germany. In November 2000 she gave a highly praised recital tour of Northern Ireland and Eire and was subsequently invited to play in the 2003 Sligo Festival. Additionally she has performed at the Schwarzenburg Festival, Bath International Festival and the Perth Arts Festival, Australia; Cheltenham, Bath Mozartfest and recitals at the Philharmonie, Berlin; Chatelet, Paris and concerto performances with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
In July 2000 Priya Mitchell launched her own festival – the Oxford Chamber Music Festival – of which she is Artistic Director. The Independent acclaimed ‘this is a festival that should really put Oxford on the map of the classical music world’ and the majority of the concerts have been broadcast on BBC. Priya Mitchell plays a Balestieri violin (1760).
Ayako Tanaka (violin)
Ayako Tanaka was born in Osaka (Japan). She received her musical education in the strictest Hungarian tradition. She received several prizes at competitions (2nd Prize at the Wakayama competition, prize-winner at the soloists’ competitions of Japan, 1st prize at the Osaka competition) and received her European music education from Tibor Varga.
She gives concerts as a soloist, in Switzerland (Victoria Hall in Geneva), in Italy, in Germany and in Japan. She entered the CNSM de Lyon in 1995 and won a Premier Prix with the mention 'Très bien' and the congratulations of the jury. In 1995 she won the 1st prize of the International Competition Rovere d'Oro. In 1997 she became first violin of the Psophos quartet. In less than three years the Psophos quartet won the 4th Prize at the London International String quartet Competition, the 3rd Prize at the Osaka International Competition, the 2nd Prize at the International Vitorio Gui competition and the Special Prize of the Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg. In September 2001 this culminated in the PREMIER GRAND PRIX of the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, together with the unanimous international press prize, the Serge den Arend prize for the best Mozart interpretation, the Maurice O'Hana prize and the Mécenat Musical Société Générale Prize for the recording of a CD. These victories contributed greatly to invitations for the Psophos quartet on the most important stages and international festivals. In January 2005, the Psophos quartet was nominated at the Victoires de la Musique in the category "best musical ensemble of the year", to be followed by radio BBC3 in London inviting the quartet to join the prestigious series "new generation artists" for 2006 and 2007.
Ayako likes to share her passion for chamber music with other artists and plays the first violin in the ensemble 'Dissonances'. She performs regularly with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France as well as co-leader at the Orchestre de Besançon for four years.
Since 2003, Ayako Tanaka has been a fervent supporter of the association RIVE which fights against HIV in the Indian Ocean (Réunion, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Comores and Mayotte) and contributes actively every year by giving concerts with a couple of musician friends on these islands. The income from these concerts is given to local associations for HIV-prevention.
Ayako Tanaka plays a 1628 Antonius & Hieronymus Amati violin belonging to two anonymous sponsors.
Guy Ben-Ziony (viola)
Guy Ben-Ziony was born in 1974 in Israel. At age 9 he started to play the violin, and since age 13 is playing the viola. In Israel he studied among others with Prof. Chaim Taub. He finished his studies under Prof. Tabea Zimmermann(Frankfurt), and Prof. Tatjana Masurenko (Leipzig). Guy is Professor for viola and chamber music in Leipzig “Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Musikhochschule,” and is a regular guest viola principle in Camerata Salzburg under Leonidas Kavakos. He has given master courses, teaching in Sweden, Austria, Turkey, Israel and Hungary.
As a soloist he played with many Israeli and European orchestras, among them the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Tel-Aviv Soloists, and with the I.D.F. Chamber Orchestra in its 12th anniversary, a concert patronaged by Isaac Stern. Another collaboration was the Bartok concerto in Leipzig under Daniel Harding.
A most requested violist in Europe, Guy is regularly invited, as viola principal, to orchestras such as Deutsche kammerphilharmonie Bremen under Paavo Jaervi, “Kremerata Baltica” under Gidon Kremer, and Camerata Nordica, Sweden. His chamber concert engagements took him to music halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London and Berlin Konzerthaus.
In the 1998/1999 seasons, he was a member of the Zapolski Quartet in Copenhagen. They toured Scandinavia and Russia, and recorded for the “Chandos” and “Classico” record companies. Guy has participated in some of the world’s leading chamber music festivals, among them the Lockenhaus, Davos, Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Ravinia, “Spannungen in Heimbach”, Jerusalem international chamber music festival, Moritzburg, Prussia-Cove, and “Chamber music connects the world” in Kronberg.
Guy Ben Ziony collaborated in concerts with artists such as Gidon Kremer, Antje Weithaas, Tabea Zimmermann, Tatjana Masurenko, Boris Pergamenschikow and Menachem Presler.
David Cohen (cello)
David Cohen is one of the most successful young cellist in Europe. He is undoubtedly one of the world’s most charismatic cellists. Born in the town of Tournai in Belgium, David made his solo debut with the Belgium National Orchestra at the age of nine.
His International career as a soloist soon flourished with the Saint-Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Liege, l’Orchestre Symphonique de la VRT, l’Orchestre de la Beethoven Akademie, l’Orchestre National de Lille, the Zurich chamber orchestra, L’Orchestre de chambre de Lauzanne, l’Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, l’Orchestre Symphonique de Grenoble, the Polish Philharmonic Orchestra, the Symphonia of Varsaw, the Philharmonia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, NHK, BBC Concert Orchestra…
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 Rostropovitch, Walter Weller, Sir Charles Mackerras, Vladimir Ashkenazy, C.V.Dohnanyi, Pedro Hallfter, Martin Brabbins ect….
His very successful solo debut in Japan with The N.H.K and Maestro V.Ashkenazy performing Tchaikowsky rococo variations in June 2007, lead him to be re-invited for the season 2009&2010.
As a graduate of the Yehudi Menuhin School, thanks to a grant from the Menuhin Foundation, and also Graduate from the Guidhall School of Music & Drama, David won more than 25 prizes in International Cello Competitions. Amongs his prizes and awards are the Gold Medal of the GSMD in London, (like Jaqueline Dupre), The Geneva International Cello Competition, the Audi International Competition, International Cello Competition in Douai, ’Tenuto’international Competition”, The Guilherminia Suggia Gift, The Ian Flaming Trust, SPES, KPMG Martin Scholarship, Hattori Foundation, Berllotti-Buitonie Fellowship award, Fondation SUISA, J.S.Bach International Competition
He was nominated ECHO “Rising Star” for the season 2002-2003 by the “Royal Philharmonic Society of Belgium” and the “Concert Gebouw”.
He has studied with the finest cellists: Wiliam Pleeth, Melissa Pheleps, Lynn Harrel, Daniil Schafran, Nathalia Gutman, Gary Hofman, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Lord Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich and Oleg Kogan.
David is a passionate Chamber Musician, he regularly performs in major festivals with the finest young talents of Europe. He is regularly invited to International cello and chamber music festivals like Kronberg (Germany), Manchester ( U.K), Cambridge (U.K.), Beauvais (France), Orpheus Baccheus in Bordeaux ( France), the Gstaad Festival (Suisse), West Cork (Ireland) Kuhmo (Finland), Elverum (Norway), Oxford (u.k), Sonoro (Bucharest) etc….
David is the Artistic Director of the Melchior Ensemble, which brings together the greatest young talents from Europe such as Sasha Sitkovetsky, Priya Mitchell, Corinne Chapelle, Silver Ainomae, Razvan Popovici ect… The ensemble is in Residence at Peter House Cambridge.
David was appointed Principal Cello of the Philharmonia Orchestra in March 2001 (the youngest Principal cello ever!)
You will find award winning recordings by David with Forlane, Classic FM, Cypres-Records and the LPO Label. Future releases of his recordings of the Lutoslawsky cello concerto with the Philharmonia and the S.Gubbaidulina recording with the BBC Symphony will soon follow this year.
David plays on a magnificient Dominicus Montagnana cello circa 1735 thanks to the kindness and generosity of Mrs Pat Morton and the help from the Razumovsky trust.
“…David Cohen, one of the most talented young cellists I know. He was a student at my School for some years, and is altogether a remarkable young man, a remarkable performer and already an outstanding cellist.” Lord Menuhin (dec. 98)
Lars Hoefs (cello)
Lars Hoefs hails from Appleton, WI. He attended high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts, received a B.M. from Northwestern University under Hans Jørgen Jensen, and both Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Southern California, studying cello with Ronald Leonard. At USC, Lars was teaching assistant for the Contemporary Music Ensemble, winner of LA Weekly’s “Ensemble of the Year.”
Lars has performed and taught on four continents. He returns every August to Brazil for the Rio International Cello Encounters, and spent a half-dozen summers under the midnight sun at festivals in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Lars is cellist of the California Quartet and the Connections Chamber Music Series. Honors include top prizes in the Fischoff, MTNA, Coleman, and Peninsula Chamber Music Competitions. In demand as a writer, Lars was the program annotator for the Pasadena Symphony.
Lars spent 2009 as Assistant Principal Cellist of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro, where he researched Villa-Lobos and performed tango and solo Bach with dancers..
Charles Owen (piano)
Charles Owen began his musical studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Seta Tanyel and continued at the Royal College of Music under the guidance of Irina Zaritskaya. While at the college he won all the major piano prizes before completing his studies with Imogen Cooper. He received the Silver Medal at the Scottish International Piano Competition (1995) and was a finalist in the 1996 London Philharmonic/Pioneer Young Soloist of the Year competition. In 1997 he won the prestigious Parkhouse Award in partnership with violinist Katharine Gowers.
Charles has performed in many of Britain’s leading concert halls including the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Internationally, he has appeared at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, Vienna’s Musikverein, the Paris Louvre, the St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Moscow Conservatoire.
As well as his solo recitals, Charles has performed with celebrated orchestras including the Philharmonia, Royal Scottish National, English Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Lodz Filharmonia and the Moscow State Academic Symphony. He has also collaborated with many outstanding artists including violinists Julian Rachlin, Chloe Hanslip, Henning Kraggerud, Jack Liebeck, Renaud Capucon and Catherine Leonard as well as cellists Adrian Brendel, Natalie Clein, Guy Johnston and the Wihan, Vertavo and Vogler quartets.
As a solo recitalist and chamber musician he has played for numerous concert societies and established festivals in the UK and internationally including the Homecoming Festival in Moscow, Ireland’s West Cork Chamber Music Festival and the Vogler Spring Festival in County Sligo, the Perth International Music Festival in Western Australia, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, the Elverum Festival in Norway, the Leicester International Festival, Sheffield’s Music in the Round, the Worcester Three Choirs Festival and festivals in Bath, Cheltenham, Chester and Harrogate.
His first solo disc for SOMM featuring the piano music of Leos Janácek was listed as a “key” recording in The Penguin Good CD Guide followed by a highly acclaimed disc of works by Poulenc, selected as Editor’s Choice in the June 2004 edition of Gramophone. A disc of the 13 Nocturnes by Fauré, on the Avie label was released in 2008 to outstanding critical acclaim.Together with Natalie Clein, he has recorded cello and piano sonatas by Brahms, Schubert, Rachmaninoff and Chopin for EMI.
Charles Owen is a Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Alexander Lonquich (piano)
Born in Trier (Germany) Alexander Lonquich started his international career winning the First Prize at the International Piano Competition ‘Antonio Casagrande’ in Terni, Italy at the age of sixteen.
Lonquich performs in Japan, United States, Australia as well as at the most important European music centres and regularly appears at prestigious Festivals, such as Salzburg Festival, “Mozartwoche Salzburg”, Piano-Festival Ruhr, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Lucerne Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Lockenhaus, Beethoven Festival in Bonn and Warsaw.
Alexander Lonquich’ concerts as soloist & conductor have been highly praised by the international media and audiences. Highlights of the past season were concerts as soloist of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as soloist /conductor of the hr-Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, the Slovenian Philharmonic, recitals all over Europe and a series of concerts in New York.
Alexander Lonquich is profoundly committed to chamber music working regularly with Renaud and Gautier Capuçons , Veronika Hagen, Heinz Holliger, Steven Isserlis, Leonidas Kavakos, Isabelle van Keulen, Sabine Meyer, Heinrich Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff, the Auryn Quartet, and Cristina Barbuti.
His recordings of Mozart and Schubert for EMI have received outstanding reviews and awards as was his solo CD titled “Plainte Calme” dedicated to French Music. (ECM RECORDS.
Cristina Barbuti (piano)
Cristina Barbuti studied music in Ferrara and Brescia, philosophy and teaching at the University of Florenz as well as undergoing a training in classical and contemporary dance at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. She herself had been teaching at the UCLA (University California Los Angeles in lecture-recitals from 1988 to 1991.
Cristina Barbuti performs regularly in Italy, Germany, Belgium, the US and Israel. She is very much in demand as a chamber music partner and guest of numerous international chamber music festivals.
Together with the actress Vincenza Modica and Alexander Lonquich she has been teaching in Workshops for music and theatre for children and young adults for example at the Campus Internazionale – Sermoneta, Scuola di Musica – Fiesole and the Accademia pianistica – Imola.
A few years ago she founded the Ensemble Villon, a groupe that not only realizes concerts and lectures but also “chambermusic theatre”. Productions so far have been: „Hyle“ (1999), Nocturnall“ (2002), „Co’stell’azioni“ (2003), „Incantations – sublimes“ (2004, with a video on Michele Dantini).
The Piano Duo Alexander Lonquich /Cristina Barbuti has been giving recitals in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Norway and the U.S. As soloists the Duo has performed with orchestras like the Camerata Salzburg, the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova and others.
Carducci String Quartet
Matthew Denton - violin
Michelle Fleming - violin
Eoin Schmidt-Martin – viola
Emma Denton - cello
'…playing of constant variety, a masterclass in unanimity of musical purpose.’
The Strad
'...technical rigour, penetrative musical insight and lively yet unified individualism...winning in every sense of the word...'
The Irish Times
The Carducci Quartet is recognised as one of today’s most exciting young string quartets. Based in the UK, the quartet holds residencies at Cardiff University and Dean Close School and is visiting quartet in residence at Trinity College of Music in London, Repton School and the Cork School of Music in Ireland. This season will see the quartet perform over 90 concerts worldwide, including performances at London’s Wigmore Hall and for the Dubai Concerts Committee. European tours include multiple stops in Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France and throughout the UK, including their own festival in Highnam. In 2010 the quartet will also embark on its debut tour of Australia as well as engagements in South America and North America (including New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, Los Angeles and Chautauqua).
Winners of the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York, the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition and major prizes at the Bordeaux, London and Osaka competitions, the Anglo-Irish Carducci quartet has established an enthusiastic international following. The Quartet was short-listed for the 2008 Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Music Award and has recently collaborated with such internationally renowned musicians as Nicholas Daniel, Julius Drake, Graham Oppenheimer, Charles Owen, Kazuki Sawa, Julian Bliss, Simon Rowland-Jones, James Gilchrist and Patricia Rosario. Other highlights include appearances at Carnegie Hall, Washington’s Library of Congress, the Verbier, West Cork and Wratislavia Cantans Festivals, an Aldeburgh residency, broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, RTE Lyric FM and BBC television, a cycle of the complete Bartok quartets and a Naxos recording of the Philip Glass quartets.
They have received wide critical acclaim for recordings on their own record label 'Carducci Classics', launched with a CD of Haydn String Quartets. Two world premiere recordings featuring C20th works by G. Whettam ('recording of the month' MusicWeb International) and J. Horovitz (‘beautifully crafted works…excellent performances’, BBC Music Magazine) were released in 2008. The complete quartets by Irish composer Brian Boydell was released this year, presented with funding from the Music Network/ Arts Council of Ireland Recording Scheme. The Carduccis have also recorded (Vivaldi and Piazzolla) with the Katona Twins Guitar Duo for Channel Classics.
The quartet has gained an enviable reputation for their performances of contemporary works and this season, the quartet premiere new commissions from David Matthews, Adrian Williams, Simon Rowland Jones and Huang Ruo and perform in the ‘New Music, New Places’ series, New York. They have also performed to great acclaim the works of Peter Maxwell-Davies, Anthony Powers, Michael Zev-Gordon and Joe Duddell, amongst others. The quartet has embraced collaborations with other disciplines, working alongside the Henri Oguike and Random Dance companies and sarod player, Wajahat Khan. They also have performed with composer John Metcalfe and cellist Matthew Barley at Kings Place, London.
The Carducci Quartet’s international engagements have taken them to the USA, Japan and throughout Europe, including Italy, where after performing numerous concerts at the Castagnetto-Carducci Festival in 1997 the quartet adopted the name “Carducci” with the blessing of the Mayor. The quartet studied with members of the Amadeus, Alban Berg, Chilingirian, Takacs and Vanbrugh quartets and, as part of the ProQuartet professional training programme in France, studied with Gyorgy Kurtag, Walter Levin and Paul Katz.
The quartet are passionate about taking classical music to the next generation and run chamber music courses for young musicians in the UK, France and Ireland. Their educational work continues with performances for school children supported by their own charity, The Carducci Music Trust, and for the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and West Cork Music. The quartet has also visited Gloucestershire primary schools, supported by the Summerfield Trust. They also regularly coach on the National Youth String Quartet Weekend, run by the London String Quartet Foundation at Chetham’s School of Music. The Carducci Quartet gratefully acknowledges the support of the Coln Trust.
www.carducciquartet.co.uk