Soloists. Conductors. Biographies
Daniel Hill, Principal Conductor
Daniel began playing the violin at the age of 5 and the piano at age 8. He studied at the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Margaret Norris and Penelope Stirling, respectively, alongside his education at Tiffin School in London. Daniel was leader of the Tiffin Orchestra, and co-principal of the London School's Symphony Orchestra, going on several tours and working with distinguished soloists. In 2004 he gained an Instrumental Scholarship to Cambridge, where he read Music at Emmanuel College, graduating last year.
Whilst at Cambridge Daniel has played violin in the University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, as well as giving many recitals as both a soloist and as a chamber musician with his IAS quartets. Highlights included performances in West Road Concert Hall, King's College Chapel, Trinity Chapel, and performing Schumann's Op. 41 No. 2 in the Instrumental Award Showcase Concert. Last year he lead the Opera Societies' orchestra in its production of Les Mamelles de Tiresiaes, and has guest lead many other orchestras in Cambridge. Daniel has also been President of the Emmanuel College Music Society, and the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra, as well as being on the committee for the Opera Society.
At Cambridge Daniel has won the CUMS Conducting Competition two years running, working with both CUMS I and II. Highlights include conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Violin Concerto, rehearsals of Messiaen's Turangallila Symphony with Baldur Bronimman, and Borodin's Polovotsian Dances with the CUMS Chorus. He has also conducted the Emmanuel College Orchestra, the Cambridge Beethoven Players and various smaller ensembles. He has had masterclasses with Baldur Bronimman and George Hirst. Daniel is continuing his study on the violin with Nicholas Miller.
Gareth John, baritone
Gareth John (baritone) has performed widely in Cambridge and London, with performances including the St John and St Matthew Passions, the Mozart, Haydn and Fauré Requiems, Schubert Masses, the Messiah in St Martin in the Fields and Vaughan WIlliams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols in St John's, Smith Square and Philharmonic Hall, Ljubljana. Gareth also has a keen interest in song repertoire, most recently performing Schumann's setting of the Harper's Songs (Op.98a) in the David Josefowitz Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music.
In addition to concert work, Gareth's opera roles have included the Gendarme in the CUOS production of Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias; Elian in Samuel Hogarth's modern chamber opera David and Goliath; the title role in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi with Clare College Music Society as part of the Cambridge Summer Music Festival; and the title role in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with CUOS in West Road Concert Hall. Last summer he played Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute with Shadwell Opera in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The production won an Angel award from the Herald newspaper. Most recently, Gareth played Mizgir in a set of scenes taken from Rimsky-Korsakov's Snegurochka.
Gareth graduated in 2007 from St John's College, Cambridge where he was a Choral Scholar and subsequently a Lay Clerk under David Hill and Andrew Nethsingha. During his five years with the Choir, he toured twelve countries and participated in six CD recordings (as a soloist on three), and fifteen BBC radio broadcasts. He studied with David Lowe for the past five years and is now continuing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Mark Wildman. He has been awarded the Norman McCann Scholarship and the Alec Rowley Award and is kindly supported by the Josephine Baker Trust.
Robin Green and Antoine Françoise, pianos
From a shared passion of the 20th century music repertoire, Antoine as a pianist-composer and Robin as a pianist-conductor started their collaboration in 2008 with the performance of George Crumb's 'Music for a summer's evening'.
Both winners of the RCM contemporary piano price, they met at the Royal College of Music having studied piano with Yonty Solomon and Andrew Ball. They are now currently studying with Ashley Wass and Imre Rohmann respectively.
Antoine and Robin have performed in the Lincolnshire International Chamber music festival, and the Exhibition Road Music Day festival including the world premiere of 'Mechanical Cabaret', a commission for piano 4 hands by the composer Gavin Higgins. During July 2009, they took part in the City of London Festival and played most of the Beethoven symphonies on 'street pianos' placed around the city. The duo enjoys a very productive career on the contemporary music stage and has collaborated with many different artists and improvisers such as the Mercury Quartet where Antoine is a member and Robin guest conductor. The duo has also developed a strong collaboration with electronic composer Michael Oliva.
Apart from the contemporary repertoire, the Francoise-Green piano duo specialise in the performance of the orchestral repertoire arranged for piano. In September 2009, they performed the complete Beethoven symphony cycle for one piano, four hands in Switzerland with the Neuchatel university choir for the Ninth Symphony.
As a duo, they have played for the conducting classes of Benjamin Zander, Peter Stark, Robin O'Neill and Jorge Rotter and had been supported by Diego Masson.
Future projects include the collaboration with a Swiss Ballet company in a performance of the 3 major Stravinsky Ballets, Rite of Spring, Petrouchka and the Firebird arranged by the duo for 2 pianos.
Arisa Fujita, violin
Versatile violinist Arisa Fujita is in great demand both as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as teaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Born in Japan, Arisa came to England in 1985 to study with David Takeno. In 1988, she won the Audi Junior Musician Competition. She entered Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1991 (where she now teaches) and won all available violin prizes, Rose Bowl, Sheriff's Prize and a Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians.
She graduated with B.Mus (Hons) First Class Degree in 1995 and gained Concert Recital Diploma (Premier Prix) in 1998. Arisa was also a recipient of the Emily English Award, Maisie Lewis Young Artists Award and the Boise Foundation Scholarship. She was also a semi-finalist in the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1998.
Arisa has performed concertos in numerous venues including the Barbican Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St.John's Smith Square, Purcell Room, also, in Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Montana (Switzerland), and Bucharest, Brasov (Romania). With her two sisters as the Fujita Piano Trio, she has performed the Beethoven Triple Concertos numerous times including a live TV and Radio broadcast with the Romanian National Radio Orchestra in Bucharest. She has performed in many countries around the world including France, Sweden, Switzerland, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Canada, Romania, Turkey, Morocco, Japan and the UK, also a tour of Rome, Morocco and Egypt organized by the Japan Foundation.
Arisa has being attending the Open Chamber Music Seminar of the IMS Prussia Cove and has also taken part in their national tour. Arisa performed in concerts with the cellist Steven Isserlis performing the Saint-Saens "La muse et le poete" for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in Oxford, Bath and Swindon.
In June 2003, Arisa with her sister Megumi made a highly acclaimed recital at the Wigmore Hall performing a programme, and in 2006 toured Sweden with Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. Arisa has recorded the Takemitsu Chamber works (ASV), Tchaikovsky Piano Trio, Ysaye Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Shostakovich/Ravel Trios, Schubert Piano Trios and Dvorak/Smetana Piano Trios with the Swedish label Intim Musik.
Future engagements include concerts in Sweden and throughout the UK.
Cordelia Williams, piano
Hearing her mother teach piano, Cordelia wanted to learn to play too, and began lessons at home as soon as she could climb onto the piano stool. She gave her first public piano recital to celebrate her eighth birthday. Since then, she has given many recitals in Great Britain and France, and enjoys introducing the music to the audience.
Cordelia spent seven years at Chethams School of Music in Manchester, where she studied with Murray McLachlan and then Bernard Roberts. She now studies with Hamish Milne in London. She is also reading Theology at Clare College, Cambridge, where she holds an Instrumental Award. Cordelia very much enjoys chamber music - she has performed many works with colleagues from Chethams and Cambridge, and recently played Elgar's Piano Quintet in a concert for The Elgar Society. In May 2008 she appeared with the Endellion String Quartet to play Brahms' Piano Quintet.
Cordelia has commissioned three new piano pieces by the Australian composer Wendy Hiscocks. The 2001 world premiere of the third piece, Tarantella, was recorded by Naim Audio and released on CD, along with her performances of Bach and Debussy at the same concert. She also recently commissioned Oxford composer Hugh Brunt to write for her. She premiered his 'Absentia' in a BBC television broadcast performance at The Sage, Gateshead. 'Sphere' was premiered at her London debut at the Wigmore Hall in September 2006, and a third piece, 'Fracture' will be first performed next spring.
Cordelia has already given many concerto performances, including works by Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saens, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and Gershwin. Her acclaimed debut at The Wiltshire Music Centre, playing Beethoven's 3rd Concerto, brought an immediate invitation to return there for a solo recital, to a full house, in July 2006. That year also saw her Wigmore Hall debut and her first foreign tour in the Gulf States, with concerts and workshops in Oman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
2007 included recitals at Turner Sims Hall, Southampton, at St. George's, Bristol, and at the Guiting Festival. She appeared at the 2007 Thaxted Festival in Beethoven's 3rd Concerto with the City of London Sinfonia. Her 'BBC Young Musician 2006 Final' performance of Saint-Saens 2nd Concerto with The Northern Sinfonia under Yan Pascal Tortelier led to an invitation from the orchestra to return in 2008 for Shostakovich's 1st Concerto with conductor Thomas Zehetmair. Forthcoming engagements include performances of Beethoven's Choral Fantasia and Fourth Piano Concerto, and Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto.
Ceri Owen, Piano
Born in North Wales, Ceri was educated at the Royal Northern College of Music before studying privately with Martin Roscoe at the Royal Academy of Music while reading music at Magdalen College, Oxford. During her time at the Royal Northern, she gave solo and chamber recitals all over the North West, including a performance at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. Awarded the instrumental scholarship at Magdalen, her performances at Oxford featured solo recitals and concerto appearances at venues including the Holywell Music Room and the Sheldonian Theatre, as well as live solo broadcasts for BBC Radio 3.
On graduating with first class honours in 2006, she undertook a postgraduate year at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she continued her studies with Martin Roscoe while also working with Graham Johnson. She then spent a year at Clare College, Cambridge, where she read for an MPhil. in musicology, graduating with Distinction in 2008.
She has studied intermittently with Bernard Roberts, Yonty Soloman, Ronan O'Hora, and Caroline Palmer, and has participated in master-classes with artists including Melvyn Tan, Arnaldo Cohen, Christopher Elton, and Renna Kellaway, as well as receiving coaching as a song accompanist from Dame Ann Murray and from Roderick Williams. Now back at Oxford, she is writing a DPhil. on English music (funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council), and continues to pursue her career as a performer.
Matthijs Broersma, Cello
Matthijs Broersma was born in Holland in 1987 and began playing the cello at the age of four. In 2000 he was awarded a bursary for Excellent Young Musicians by the Dutch Government to assist with the cost of specialist tuition and in 2001 he gained a place at The Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied with Leonid Gorokhov and Louise Hopkins.
He was awarded numerous scholarships by the VandenEnde Foundation, Fonds voor de Podiumkunsten and the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds, enabling him to study at The Yehudi Menuhin School. More recently he received support from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and The Musicians Benevolent Fund who awarded him a Geoffrey Shaw Scholarship in 2005 and an Education Award in 2006.
He participated in masterclasses at IMS Prussia Cove and elsewhere with Colin Carr, Bernard Greenhouse, Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis, Arto Noras and Eleonore Schoenfeld and has taken part in several festivals including the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, the Menuhin Festival in Switzerland and The International Holland Music Sessions.
As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed extensively throughout Europe, performing in venues such as the Concertgebouw and the Wigmore Hall. In March 2006 he performed the Brahms B major Piano Trio Op 8 with Zakhar Bron and later that year he worked with Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies, preparing his piano trio; "A voyage to Fair Isle." Recently he performed the Elgar Concerto with the New English Concert Orchestra and chamber music with Martin Roscoe and Krzysztof Smietana.
Future concerts will include both the Shostakovich Piano Trios in the Barbican in October and a recital in the Royal Festival Hall in April 2009.
He is currently studying with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London.
Rosie Ventris, Viola
Recently described as a 'remarkable talent' for her performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with violinist Tasmin Little, twenty-one year old British violist Rosalind Ventris is quickly emerging as one of the most promising young artists of her generation. Rosalind performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician in the UK and throughout Europe, playing in venues such as St.John's Smith Square, the Barbican, and the Wigmore Hall. She graduated from Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University, in 2009. Whilst at Cambridge, she won all the University's major prizes for musical performance, including the Nigel Brown prize (2008). She now studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno.
Aged 17, Rosalind was the youngest competitor at the 2006 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition where she received the Gwynne Edwards memorial prize for the most promising British entrant, and the prize of an engagement with the European Union Chamber Orchestra She made her London concerto debut a year later, and has since frequently performed as a concerto soloist: recently, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Tasmin Little, Hindemith's Trauermusik with the EUCO, Bartok's viola concerto with Thomas Blunt and CUCO, Bruch's Double Concerto with Tom Gould, Daniel Hill, and the Beethoven Ensemble, and Walton's Viola Concerto with Peter Stark and CUMS I. Rosalind has won awards from the Aidan Woodcock Charity, the Musician's Benevolent Fund Award, the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, in support of her studies. The latter Trust has recently invited Rosalind to take part in their Recital Scheme for the coming year. Also a keen chamber musician, Rosalind has performed with the Dante, and Endellion string quartets.
Forthcoming concerts include a recital for the Young Performers Concert Series, and a recital at the Royal Festival Hall. For latest details of these events, please visit http://www.rosalindventris.com.
Thomas Gould, Violin
Chosen by the Evening Standard as a rising star of 2008, Thomas Gould enjoys a busy and varied career as soloist, recitalist and orchestral leader. In 2008/9 he makes his Barbican and Bridgewater Hall debuts as soloist in Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending, returns to the Wigmore Hall for a third lunchtime recital, gives recitals at Perth Concert Hall and Birmingham Town Hall, and guest leads the McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal. Thomas also maintains a strong profile in London's orchestral life as leader of Aurora Orchestra and Manning Camerata, and co-leader of Britten Sinfonia.
Born in London in 1983, Thomas Gould began violin lessons at the age of three with Sheila Nelson. At eighteen Thomas entered the Royal Academy of Music on a scholarship where his principal teacher was György Pauk. During this time he was a member of the Artea String Quartet and also founded a duo with the pianist John Reid. Thomas and John continue to perform regularly together in recitals across the UK at venues including the Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Bridgewater Hall, St. George's Bristol and the Wigmore Hall.
Since making his concerto debut with Kammerphilharmonie Graz in 2004, Thomas has appeared frequently as soloist with orchestras including the Gävle Symfoniorkester, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra da Camera, Bath Philharmonia and the London Soloists Chamber Orchestra. In 2008 Thomas premiered Seeing Is Believing, a concerto for electric violin by Nico Muhly, with Aurora Orchestra, and also performed Thomas Ades's violin concerto in LSO St. Luke's with London Contemporary Orchestra.
Thomas can be heard on recordings for the Hyperion and Meridian labels in repertoire by Joseph Jongen and Herbert Howells. Recordings of Bach's concerto in A minor with the Senesino Players and a new violin concerto by Christopher Ball with the Emerald Concert Orchestra are due for imminent release.
Thomas is represented by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) and plays a violin made by Gennaro Gagliano in 1754, made possible by a generous loan from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
Guy Button, Violin
Guy Button has played the violin since the age of 6. He attended the Purcell school of music from the age of eleven where he studied with Maciej Rakowski and Erik Houston. He led the school symphony orchestra and won several prizes for chamber music which led to performances at the Wigmore hall.
Guy made his concerto debut with the Solent Symphony Orchestra, aged 17, performing the Mendelssohn concerto as a prize for his performances in the Portsmouth Music festival. He has also achieved success in the Wessex String Prize, North London, Three Rivers and Lincoln Haydn festivals.
Guy is currently reading music at Robinson College and studying violin with Yossi Zivoni. He is an instrumental award holder and principal second violin in CUCO, the university chamber orchestra. For the academic year 2007-8, Guy is president of Cambridge University Music Club. He has been lucky enough to receive a BBC Fame Academy Bursary which has enabled him to fund his musical education for the next three years. The violin which he is playing was bought as a result of this prize and is by Hippollyte Silvestre, 1860s.
Alice Gledhill, Clarinet
Alice completed her Undergraduate and Postgraduate degrees at the Royal College of Music, studying under Richard Hosford and Michael Collins. She held a full Founder Scholarship for 4 years, becoming the Sir Arthur Bliss Scholar, supported by a South Square Trust Award in her Postgraduate year. During this time, Alice played in the Britten-Pears Young Artists programme for the Aldeburgh Festival, and took part in the London Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Academy.
Her recent professional engagements include playing principal clarinet with the English National Ballet, touring the country with Prokfiev's The Snow Queen and performing in a Prom with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Boulez. She has played on many live Radio 2 broadcasts of Friday Night is Music Night with the BBC Concert Orchestra, with artists ranging from Beverley Knight to Sir Willard White! She is also on the Extras List of the English National Opera, Bouremouth Symphony Orchestraand the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Other professional work includes Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Norway, European Chamber Opera, Opera UK and Worthing Symphony Orchestra.
Alice regularly plays clarinet and saxophone in the West End production of Les Miserables, played for the Trevor Nunn production of Porgy and Bess at the Savoy Theatre, London and has performed with the Showbiz Pops Orchestra and the London Metropolitan Orchestra, the session orchestra whose recent recordings include the film 'Stardust'. She appeared as the solo clarinettist on the BBC4 documentary, 'Scouting for Boys' presented by Ian Hislop.
Aside from playing, Alice is a keen music educator - taking part in projects with the Royal Opera House, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra. She is the Orchestral Manager for the National Children's Wind and Chamber Orchestras of Great Britain, runs Music Activity courses for Musicale Holidays, and enjoys teaching at Putney High School for Girls.