Festival Artists
Festival Artists 2010
Nicholas Daniel – 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 working for three years in Leicester hospitals and learning to windsurf on Rutland water. He turned to a full-time music career in 1996. Concert appearances include Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (Manchester Camerata), The Seasons (St Louis Symphony, BBC Proms), Tippett’s The Knot Garden (Sir Andrew Davis), Christmas Oratorio (Zurich Tonhalle), St Matthew Passion (Concertgebouw), Belshazzar (Philharmonia Baroque), Pulcinella (Paris) and Joshua (Köln Kammerchor).
As a recitalist, he has appeared at several UK venues. In his partnership with the pianist Anna Tilbrook his many performances include Schumann Liederkreis, Finzi Till Earth Outwearsand Poulenc Metamorphoses for
Recent and future engagements include Frank Martin’s Der Sturm at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Bach Festival in Salzburg, Saul (Laeiszhalle, Hamburg), War Requiem (Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España), St Matthew Passion with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zürich King Arthur with Le Concert Spirituel, appearances at the Leicester and Maribor Festivals, On Wenlock Edge and Ludlow and Theme at the Leeds Lieder Festival, Messiah with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra and St Matthew Passion in Cologne. This year is James’ second year performing at the Leicester International Music Festival following a spell-binding performance in 2009. This year he sings more Schubert songs and Schubert’s masterpiece the song cycle Winterreise accompanied for the first time by renowned Schubertian Alexander Lonquich.
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 and, in July 2000, she launched her own festival – the Oxford Chamber Music Festival – of which she is Artistic Director. Last year illness prevented her performing in Leicester where she has been a regular member of Nicholas Daniel's ensemble. We wekcome her back with immense pleasure. 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 is 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 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 venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London and Berlin Konzerthaus.He has become a much loved regular performer in the Leicester International Music Festiv al and will be performing in a lunchtime concert with the newly formed Waldstein Ensemble on 21st. October 2010.
David Cohen – cello
David Cohen is one of the most successful young cellists in Europe and 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 and David has worked as a soloist with some of the most distinguished orchestras and conductors in the world.
David is a passionate Chamber Musician; he regularly performs in major festivals with the finest young talents of Europe. 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 .The ensemble is in Residence at PeterhouseCollege 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.
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
In complete harmony and accord in the musical shaping, the couple offered a brilliant firework display(…) Ruhr Nachrichten 2006
A few years ago the artistically versatile pianist
Cristina Barbuti studied music in
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
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
Carducci String Quartet
The Carducci Quartet is recognised as one of today’s most exciting young string quartets. Based in the UK, the quartet holds residencies at Trinity College of Music in London, Cardiff University and at the Cork School of Music in Ireland. The 2009-2010 season will see the quartet perform over 90 concerts worldwide, including performances at London’s Wigmore Hall and Washington’s Library of Congress. European tours include multiple stops in Spain, Portugal, Denmark, and France and throughout the UK, including their own festival in Highnam. In 2009 the quartet will also embark on debut tours of South America and Australia as well as engagements in North America including New York, Philadelphia, Santa Rosa, Los Angeles and Eureka.
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 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 trust, The Carducci Music Trust, the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust and West Cork Music. 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.
*Artists subject to change
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