Paul Lewis - Piano

Paul Lewis is one of the foremost interpreters of the Central European piano repertoire, his performances and recordings of Beethoven and Schubert receiving universal critical acclaim. He was awarded CBE for his services to music, and the sincerity and depth of his musical approach have won him fans around the world.

This global popularity is reflected in the world-class orchestras with whom he works, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Philharmonia, Bavarian Radio Symphony, NHK Symphony, New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw and Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestras. His close relationship with Boston Symphony Orchestra led to his selection as the 2020 Koussevitzky Artist at Tanglewood.

With a natural affinity for Beethoven, he took part in the BBC’s three-part documentary Being Beethoven and performed a concerto cycle at Tanglewood in summer 2022. He has performed the cycle all over the world, and was the first pianist to play the complete cycle in a single season at the BBC Proms in 2010.

Beyond many award-winning Beethoven recordings, his discography with Harmonia Mundi also demonstrates his characteristic depth of approach in Romantic repertoire such as Schumann, Mussorgsky, Brahms and Liszt.

In chamber music, Paul Lewis works closely with tenor Mark Padmore in lied recitals around the world – they have recorded three Schubert song cycles together. Between 2022 and 2024, Paul Lewis embarked on a new Schubert Piano Sonata Series where he will present the completed sonatas from the last 12 years of Schubert’s life at venues around the world. Lewis is co-Artistic Director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Awards: Royal Philharmonic Society Instrumentalist of the Year; two Edison awards; three Gramophone awards; Diapason d’Or de l’Annee; South Bank Show Classical Music Award; honorary degrees from Liverpool, Edge Hill and Southampton Universities; appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

www.paullewispiano.co.uk

Bjørg Lewis - Cello

Bjørg Lewis is one of Norway’s most highly esteemed cellists.  As a soloist, she played with the Oslo Philharmonic as well as many other orchestras throughout Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Baltics.

Bjørg is a founder member of the Vertavo String Quartet, an internationally-acclaimed ensemble, which has received numerous awards including Norway’s prestigious Grieg Prize. Vertavo launched their own chamber music festival, Vertavofestivalen in 2016.

A busy performance schedule takes Bjørg throughout Europe and North America. A frequent participant in many international chamber music festivals, Bjørg was also been regularly invited to join the Nash Ensemble for Wigmore Hall concerts and tours. She was Artistic Director of the Elverum Festival in Norway from 2001- 2015 and co-Artistic Director of Midsummer Music since its inception in 2009.

Since 2018, Bjørg has held the position of Associate Professor of Cello at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. In 2024 she curated athe Academy's first ever International Cello Festival. She is frequently invited to give masterclasses and be a jury member at many international chamber music competitions

Bjørg plays on a 1748 Gennaro Gagliano cello provided for her by the Dextra Musica Foundation, previously played by Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet

www.vertavo.com

Imogen Cooper - Piano

Regarded as one of the finest interpreters of Classical and Romantic repertoire, Imogen Cooper is internationally renowned for her virtuosity and lyricism. Recent and future concerto performances include the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle, Sydney Symphony with Simone Young and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard.

Imogen has a widespread international career and has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Boston, Cleveland, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Budapest Festival, NHK and London Symphony Orchestras. Her most recent recital appearances have included Tokyo, Hong Kong, New York, Singapore, Paris, Vienna, Prague and the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg.

As a supporter of new music, Imogen has premiered two works at the Cheltenham International Festival; Traced Overhead by Thomas Adès (1996) and Decorated Skin by Deirdre Gribbin (2003). In 1996, she also collaborated with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker in the premiere of the piano quintet, Voices for Angels.

Imogen is a committed chamber musician and performs regularly with Henning Kraggerud and Adrian Brendel. As a Lieder recitalist, she has had a long collaboration with Wolfgang Holzmair in both the concert hall and recording studio. Her recent solo recordings for Chandos Records feature music by Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Wagner and Robert and Clara Schumann.

Imogen received a CBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2007 and was the recipient of an award from the Royal Philharmonic Society the following year. In 1997 she was awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music and in 1999 she was made a Doctor of Music at Exeter University. Imogen was the Humanitas Visiting Professor in Classical Music and Music Education at the University of Oxford for 2012- 13. The Imogen Cooper Music Trust was founded in 2015, to support young pianists at the cusp of their careers, and give them time in an environment of peace and beauty. 

http://www.imogen-cooper.com

Mark Padmore - Tenor

Mark Padmore was born in London and studied at King’s College, Cambridge. He has established an international career in opera, concert and recital. His appearances in Bach Passions have gained particular notice, especially his renowned performances as Evangelist in the St Matthew and St John Passions with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Simon Rattle, staged by Peter Sellars.

A highlight of Mark's 2021/22 season is a residency at Wigmore Hall where he celebrates his relationship with pianists Till Fellner, Imogen Cooper, Mitsuko Uchida and Paul Lewis. He will also appear in recital in Brussels with Simon Lepper, Madrid with Kristian Bezuidenhout and in a six-concert US tour with Mitsuko Uchida.
Other appearances in this busy season include a staged Britten War Requiem at the Liceu Barcelona, Evangelist St Matthew Passion at the Bayerische Rundfunk conducted by Simon Rattle, and directing performances of St John Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment.

Mark recently appeared in a new Royal Opera House, Covent Garden production of Britten’s Death in Venice, where his performance was described as a “tour de force” and “exquisite of voice, [presenting] Aschenbach’s physical and spiritual breakdown with extraordinary detail and insight”. Other opera roles have included the leading roles in Harrison Birtwistle The Corridor and The Cure at the Aldeburgh Festival; Captain Vere in Britten Billy Budd and Evangelist in a staging of St Matthew Passion both for Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the world premiere of Tansy Davies Cave with the London Sinfonietta.
In concert Mark performs with the world’s leading orchestras. He was Artist in Residence for the 2017/18 Season with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and held a similar position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra for 2016/17. His work with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has involved projects exploring both Bach St John and St Matthew Passions and has attracted worldwide acclaim.

His extensive discography includes Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Haydn Die Schöpfung with Bernard Haitink and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on BR Klassik and Lieder by Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart with Kristian Bezuidenhout for Harmonia Mundi. Other Harmonia Mundi recordings; Schubert cycles with Paul Lewis (Winterreise won the 2010 Gramophone magazine Vocal Award); Schumann Dichterliebe with Kristian Bezuidenhout (2011 Edison Klassiek Award) and Britten Serenade, Nocturne and Finzi Dies Natalis with the Britten Sinfonia (ECHO/Klassik 2013 award).

Mark was voted 2016 Vocalist of the Year by Musical America and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Kent University in 2014. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queens’ Birthday Honours List. 

www.markpadmore.com

Élisabeth Pion - Piano

A curious and innovative artist, pianist Élisabeth Pion leads an imaginative career as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic collaborator. Recent highlights: the release of her first recording titled « Femmes de légende » with ATMA Classique, her debut with the Orchestre Métropolitain & Kensho Watanabe in a series of concerts highlighting Garuta’s concerto, as well as obtaining the 3rd prize of the 2023 Rio Piano Festival - Tribute to Nelson Freire, playing Rachmaninov 3rd Concerto with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira & Roberto Tibiriçá. Her second recording, a collaboration with Arion Orchestre Baroque on period instruments (Montgeroult & Mozart) will be released in June 2024. 

Élisabeth is a regular guest artist of many orchestras, such as the Toledo Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal and Arion Orchestre Baroque.  She has also collaborated closely with Thomas Leduc-Moreau and the Ensemble Volte.

Élisabeth has appeared as a recitalist in several major venues, including Wigmore Hall, as well as Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. She can also often be heard on CBC/Radio-Classique and BBC Radio 3.

Élisabeth is an alumna of the Imogen Cooper Trust and an alumna of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she studied with Ronan O'Hora, and where she was appointed Junior Fellow in 2022/2023, having previously obtained the Artist Diploma and the Artist Masters with the highest mention. Élisabeth is the 2022 recipient of the Choquette-Symcox Prize from the Fondation Jeunesses Musicales Canada. 

Élisabeth continues her artistic development with Benedetto Lupo, and benefits from the mentorship of Gabriela Montero.

Her strong interests in literature, writing, composition, repertoire research and Tai Chi nourish her musical practice.

Leon Bosch - Double Bass

Leon Bosch conducts chamber and symphonic ensembles around the world and is one of the few double bass players to direct concertos from the instrument.

Having worked with the finest conductors for 30 years as a member of groups such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia and Hallé, he learnt the repertoire and conductor’s craft from inside the orchestra, and finally made the transition to the podium in 2015, when he left Academy of St Martin in the Fields and went to study in St Petersburg with Alexander Polishchuk. Since then he has conducted orchestras across the UK, Europe, India, South Africa and Mozambique.

During his playing career, he performed concertos around the world and served as a guest with ensembles such as the Lindsays, Brodsky Quartet and Zukerman Chamber Players.

Leon is committed to rediscovering neglected music, as well as expanding and diversifying the double bass repertoire, and has recorded 19 CDs of wide-ranging programmes, with more in planning.

Throughout his career he has worked with leading composers, and his latest project is to revive the sonatina form for a programme he will tour and record for Meridian Records in 2024. He also commissions chamber arrangements of well-known symphonic classics for his ensemble I Musicanti, and set up I Musicanti Publishing in order to distribute these works.

He is professor of double bass at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and gives masterclasses in the US, Europe, South Africa, and the Far East. He has also served as double bass coach for youth orchestras including the I, Culture Orchestra, National Youth String Orchestra, Miagi Orchestra and Buskaid. He has contributed to programmes on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and written for The Strad and Classical Music magazines.

 Leon grew up in South Africa, the son of the political activist Jonas Fred Bosch, and spent time in a police cell for organising protests while at school. He left the apartheid regime behind to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

 He became a British citizen in 2000. In recent years he has returned to his roots, musically, forming the Ubuntu Ensemble with other UK-based South African musicians, and commissioning music for the South African Double Bass project, the first CD of which was released in 2020. He also acts as a mentor for South African musicians worldwide.

Vertavo - String Quartet

Øyvor Volle violin

Annabelle Meare violin

Berit Cardas viola

Bjørg Lewis cello

Vertavo Quartet is internationally recognised as one of the most masterful string quartets playing today. Since their formation in Norway in 1984, their dynamic and deeply thoughtful performances have captivated audiences world-wide. 

They have collaborated with many of the world’s finest musicians including an acclaimed quintet tour with Paul Lewis and opened the London Proms Chamber Music season.

The quartet’s discography includes Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Debussy, Bartok, Nielsen, Asheim and late Beethoven, as well as the Mozart clarinet quintet with Martin Fröst. Their Debussy and Grieg recording received the Diapason d’Or. 

Vertavo Quartet has been honoured with the Grieg-Prize - Norway’s highest recognition of musical excellence and achievement. 

Vertavo were Artistic Directors of the Elverum Music Festival in Norway for many years and now run their own chamber music festival - Vertavofestivalen.

Kenny Keppel - Clarinet

Kenny Keppel is one of the leading young clarinetists of his generation. After initial studies in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, he began a two-year intensive in Melbourne on full scholarship at the Australian National Academy of Music. Following this, he moved to Oslo and completed studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music, studying with Fredrik Fors and Björn Nyman.

In 2020 Kenny began his full-time position as Solo Clarinet with Arctic Philharmonic (the world's northernmost orchestral ensemble) where he remained until 2023. He had previously substituted as Principal in Finland's Turku Philharmonic during Leif Segerstam's final season as music director, and has also performed principal roles with the Royal Opera House, Bergen Philharmonic, and Auckland Philharmonia. An accomplished bass clarinetist, Kenny has also appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, Oslo Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lille. Kenny now lives in London, where he enjoys a diverse and rewarding freelance career.

Juliana Koch - Oboe

Juliana Koch is Principal Oboe of the London Symphony Orchestra, and since the ARD International Music Competition 2017 in demand as a soloist all over Europe. She was appointed Professor of Oboe at the Royal College of Music, London, in 2018.

For her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2019, Juliana performed the Richard Strauss Oboe concerto together with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Other concerto engagements include appearances with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks at the Philharmonie im Gasteig (Munich), the London Symphony Orchestra, the Münchener Kammerorchester, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Sinfonia Lahti and the Hungarian National Philharmonic, among others.

Juliana has recorded for Chandos, BIS, Wergo, cpo and LSO Live labels - including first recordings of the Ruth Gipps and Enjott Schneider oboe concertos. Her recording of the Dutilleux oboe Sonata has been selected for a BBC Music Magazine Award.

Juliana has studied with François Leleux in Munich and Fabian Menzel in Frankfurt. Additionally she has worked with Jacques Tys in Paris. In her time in Munich, she also studied Baroque Oboe with Saskia Fikentscher.

 Juliana plays a Marigaux M2 Oboe.

Julie Price - Bassoon

An orchestral musician, chamber musician, soloist, and teacher, Julie Price has held positions as Principal Bassoon with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been Principal Bassoon of the English Chamber Orchestra since 1994 and Co-Principal, now Principal Bassoon, of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 2001. In 2019 she was also appointed Principal Bassoon of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

With conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Ralf Gothóni, Andrew Litton, Edward Gardner, and Douglas Boyd she has appeared as a soloist at the Barbican, Cadogan Hall and Royal Festival Hall as well as many venues outside London and abroad. As a chamber musician she has appeared with such groups as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, the Nash, Gaudier, and Razumovsky ensembles, Conchord, London Winds, I Musicanti, Ensemble 360 and the Lindsay and Chilingirian string quartets, at venues throughout the UK and abroad.

She first studied the bassoon with Sonja Smith, then with Edward Warren and William Waterhouse whilst at the University of Manchester and Royal Northern College of Music, and later with Roger Birnstingl in Geneva. Julie Price was a Professor at the Royal College of Music in London for 23 years, giving master-classes there and at other institutions. She is now a Visiting Professor of Bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music. Her discography includes recordings of Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto and Sinfonia concertante and Elgar’s Romance, all with the English Chamber Orchestra and Strauss’ Duett-Concertino with Michael Collins and the BBCSO.

Alexei Watkins - Horn

Alexei Watkins graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with a Master of Arts Degree (Distncton) in 2018, having been awarded the Dennis Brain Prize. As a soloist, Alexei has performed recitals extensively across the UK at venues including St John’s Smith Square, the Buxton Internatonal Festval, Blackheath Halls, the Lincolnshire Internatonal Chamber Music Festval and Hampton Court Palace. He has recently performed concertos by Strauss, Mozart, Gregson, Arnold and in February performed the Gipps Horn Concerto at Cadogan Hall.

Last Summer Alexei recorded several pieces for Horn and Strings as soloist with the Chamber Ensemble of London and was an artst-in-residence at Presteigne Festval, performing the Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings and the Brahms Horn Trio amongst others.

Alexei is a keen orchestral player and has played Principal Horn with the Hallé, English Natonal Opera, Britten Sinfonia and Glyndebourne Sinfonia. He is currently on trial for Principal Horn with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and for 3rd Horn with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also regularly plays with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and English Chamber Orchestra. Alexei’s playing can also be heard on various film and television soundtracks including the recent James Bond film, “No Time To Die”.