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, Lewis took part in the BBC’s three-part documentary Being Beethoven and performed a piano concerto cycle over 3 concerts at Tanglewood in summer 2022, and then in Boston in 2023 with Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony . He has performed the cycle all over the world and was the first pianist to play the complete cycle in a single BBC Proms season in 2010. In May 2025 he will perform the cycle with the Oslo Philharmonic and Eivind Aadland.

Between 2022 and 2025, Lewis embarked on a Schubert Piano Sonata Series, presenting four programmes of the completed sonatas at over 40 venues around the world. In March 2025 he gave the world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Piano Sonata in Oviedo and will give the regional premiere of the piece in Austria, Czech Republic, Holland, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA.

In May 2025 Lewis will become the first non-American pianist to chair the jury of 2025 The Cliburn Piano Competition.

Beyond many award-winning Beethoven and Schubert 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, he works closely with tenor Mark Padmore in lied recitals around the world – they have recorded three Schubert song cycles together – and he is co-Artistic Director of Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in Buckinghamshire, UK.

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 founded the Academy's first ever International Cello Festival of which she is the curator. 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

Sonoko Miriam Welde - Violin

Sonoko Miriam Welde is one of the most exciting young violinists to emerge from Norway in recent years. Born in Bergen in 1996 she made her debut with the Bergen Philharmonic aged nine and has since gone on to win the Norwegian Soloist Prize, Virtuos competition and the Equinor Classical Music Scholarship.

Her appearances include concertos with Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Stavanger Symphony, Combattimento Consort Amsterdam, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Kremerata Baltica, Zagreb Soloists, Oslo Camerata, and the Estonian Chamber Orchestra with conductors including Andrew Litton, James Gaffigan, Joshua Weilerstein, Han-Na Chang, Marta Gardolińska and Edward Gardner.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Sonoko has been championed by Leif Ove Andsnes, with whom she performs regularly, and has also worked with Tabea Zimmermann, Clemens Hagen, Alisa Weilerstein, Jonathan Biss, Sergio Tiempo and Janine Jansen. She appears frequently at the Bergen International Festival and has performed at Risør Chamber Music Festival, ArtLink Belgrade, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, International Chamber Music Festival Utrecht, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, and Rosendal Festival.

Sonoko is a founding member of the string quartet Opus13 with whom she recently won 1st Prize at the 2025 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition, together with five other prestigious Prizes: The Haydn Prize; The Mozart Prize; The Bram Elderling 19th Century Prize; The Esterhazy Foundation Prize and the Leeds International Concert Season Prize. In 2022, Opus 13 won 2nd Prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition.

Sonoko plays a 1736 Antonio Stradivarius, the 'Spencer Dyke', generously on loan from Anders Sveaas' Almennyttige Fond.

Tim Horton - Piano

Tim Horton is one of the UK’s leading pianists, equally at home in solo and chamber repertoire. He is a founder member of both the Leonore Piano Trio and Ensemble 360 and has been a regular guest pianist with the Nash Ensemble. He was invited to make his solo debut at Wigmore Hall in 2016, and presents his complete Chopin Cycle there over the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 seasons.

Between 2011 and 2015 Tim presented a complete Beethoven Sonata cycle at Sheffield’s Crucible Studio for Music in the Round, who asked him to return for a cycle of Schubert Sonatas 2017-2019, and a Chopin cycle which he concluded in 2024.

Following two performances of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and at the Royal Festival Hall, London in 1995, at the recommendation of Alfred Brendel, Tim was asked to give concerts with the RLPO, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

The Leonore Piano Trio has produced seven discs for Hyperion, including the complete Parry Trios and the Piano Quartet. They have also recorded the complete Piano Trios of David Matthews for Toccata Classics and Huw Watkins’ Piano Trios for Resonus. With Ensemble 360, a mixed group of strings, wind and piano that took up residency at the Crucible Studio in Sheffield in 2005, Tim has performed to great acclaim throughout the UK and abroad. He is also a member of Trio Meister Raro alongside violist Rachel Roberts and clarinettist Robert Plane.

Sara Wolstenholme - Violin

A Mancunian by birth, Sara studied in her home town before flying the nest to London, Spain and Germany. Her performances with The Heath Quartet take her around the world and they enjoy rich and varied collaborations.

They have recorded for Harmonia Mundi, NMC, Wigmore Hall Live and Signum Records and have won awards including Gramophone, Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award and the Borletti Buttoni Trust. 

Passionate about teaching, she works with chamber groups at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Contemporary collaborations have seen her working with leading figures such as Jörg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, Brett Dean, Mark Anthony-Turnage and Helen Grime.  She is invited as Guest Leader and Co-Leader in a variety of UK orchestras.

Sara lives in the Chilterns with her husband and daughter, with whom she enjoys exploring the countryside and growing things to eat.

Maja Horvat - Violin

Maja Horvat communicates the impact of music in her performances so that everyone can find comfort in art. She explores the magic of her instrument, giving contemporary pieces a good start in life and playing unknown gems from the 20th century as well as celebrated masterpieces.

Maja made her Wigmore Hall debut as first violinist of the Brompton Quartet, of which she was a founding member. In 2024 she became a member of the Astatine Piano trio, an award winning group with whom they regularly perform in UK and abroad.

In 2019 she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize. Maja has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra and has performed as a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Oxford Philharmonic and Fidelio Orchestra. She was a Tillett Debut Scheme Artist for 2022/23.

In 2022 Maja graduated from the Royal College of Music London where she worked with internationally acclaimed performers including Maxim Vengerov, Alina Ibragimova, Ivry Gitlis, Nicola Benedetti, Daniel Rowland and Leonid Kerbel.

Annabelle Meare - Violin

Since studying with Yfrah Neamen in London and Lorand Fenyves in Toronto, Annabelle Meare has gone on to enjoy a varied career as both chamber musician and orchestral principal.  Annabelle has been a member of the Vertavo String Quartet for the past nine years. In other chamber formats she performs with such groups as the Nash Ensemble, the Kungsbacka piano trio, and the Schubert ensemble. She is also a regular guest at various chamber music festivals both in the UK and abroad.

She currently holds the position of principal second violin with the Philharmonia and English Chamber Orchestras with whom she tours and records extensively. In addition to this she is much in demand as a guest principal.

As a soloist, she performs regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra, the European Camerata and Canadian Chamber Orchestra. Annabelle has recorded the Bach Double Violin Concerto with Stephanie Gonley and the ECO. The violin Annabelle plays is by Francesco Goffriller. 

Meghan Cassidy - Viola

“Violist Meghan Cassidy stands out with a fine tone, a good feeling for chamber music and a real personality” (Tully Potter, The Strad).

Meghan enjoys a diverse musical career as a soloist with orchestra and as a chamber musician in festivals world wide. Performances in 2025 season includes tours to Europe, USA, United Arab Emirates and Japan.

Meghan was a member of the prizing winning Solstice Quartet (including prizes from the Park Lane Group, and the Royal Overseas League). Alongside a chamber music career Meghan is 1st Guest Principal Viola with The London Mozart Players, and Sub-Principal Viola with The Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra where she is looking forward to a return performance at Carnegie Hall in May 2025. Meghan records many soundtracks for Film, TV, and pop with London’s Studio Orchestras. She also performs Violin and Viola for the multi award winning musical Hamilton in the West End where she has been a member since 2024. In the spring 2019 she was made an Associate of The Royal Academy of Music. That same year Meghan was the Solo Violist for Hugh Jackman’s U.K. and European Arena Tour of The Man The Music the Show. To celebrate composer Malcolm Arnold’s Centenary in 2021 she performed his Viola Concerto with the Ealing Symphony Orchestra. As a passionate advocate for musical education, she is a Tutor for Nicola Benedetti’s Foundation. Meghan is Founder and Artistic Director of the Marylebone Music Festival in London. The Festival will enjoy its 10th Anniversary season 16th-22nd June 2025, all proceeds from the Festival go to Charity where over £56,000 has been raised. The Marylebone Music Festival, June 2020, released an Album with Air-Edel Besant Hall Records ‘Songs from the Marylebone Pleasure Gardens’ 

Ruth Gibson - Viola

Ruth loves communicating through music, taking on an open-minded approach to music-making, and pursuing a diversity of creative projects. As a Samaritan and qualified yoga teacher she strives for meaning and balance on and off the stage. Her recent collaborations have included a Mozart string quintet cycle with the Heath Quartet, Mozart piano quartets with the Linos Piano Trio, Reich and Harvey string quartets with the Hebrides Ensemble and a UK tour of Janacek’s Intimate Letters (from memory) and Written in Fire for quartet and electronics with the Singh Quartet. She is a member of Ensemble 360 and the Manchester Collective, and also regularly plays with Manchester Camerata, Nash Ensemble and the City of London Sinfonia. Ruth founded and directed the String Quartet Collective, the resident ensemble at the Royal College of Music (RCM) until 2016. In this innovative project, Ruth brought together players from different nationalities and generations for a week at a time, collaborating with RCM students and culminating with final performances, some of which were broadcast by the BBC. With the City of London Sinfonia, she is proud to be part of their outreach work year-round, creating music with young people with psychiatric illnesses and patients in palliative care.

Senja Rummukainen - Cello

Over the past decade, cellist Senja Rummukainen has grown from a very promising young cellist to the brightest focus among Finnish musicians. Born in Helsinki in 1994, Rummukainen's musical journey began in 2001 at the East Helsinki Music Institute under the guidance of Taru Aarnio and Allar Kaasik. In 2014, she became famous on the Finnish concert scene after winning first prize at the Turku National Cello Competition. Just a year later, she was awarded the title of finalist at Porto's Guilhermina Suggia Prize, and in 2019 she reached the final of the Tchaikovsky International Competition in Saint Petersburg, where she was awarded 6th prize.

As a chamber musician, Rummukainen is one of the most popular in Finland. For many years, she has been a part of the musical backbone at the most important Finnish festivals, such as Kuhmo Chamber Music, Turku Music Festival, and Oulu Music Festival. She has also been the artistic director of the Helsinki Chamber Summer Festival together with Johannes Piirto, Kasmir Uusitupa, Tami Pohjola, and Riina Piirilä from 2017 to 2021. Rummukainen has been performing all over Europe and has performed, for example, with Janine Jansen, Ilya Gringolts, and Augustin Hadelich. She has also given masterclasses at Cellofest in Helsinki and Porvoo Cello Academy, and she was a member of the jury in the Porvoo Cello Competition in 2021.

Rummukainen currently plays a David Tecchler cello from 1707 on loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Ashok Klouda - Cello

Ashok started to learn the cello at the age of eight, after requesting to learn the double bass, but being told that the family car was not big enough and that the repertoire for the cello was much better (the latter did not mean much to him at the time). Speaking of the car, it was those journeys to school, listening to recordings of Paul Tortelier's Bach and Christophe Coin's Haydn & Vivaldi that inspired him greatly. All these years later, Ashok is now indisputably recognised as the leading half Indian, quarter Irish, quarter Czech (but still actually British) cellist in Buckinghamshire.

Chamber music is a particular love of Ashok’s and has formed a large part of his life. Ashok has performed in ensembles such as the Artea Quartet, the Fibonacci Sequence, Ensemble 360, the Jigsaw Players, cello octet Cellophony, , and the Barbirolli Quartet. Ashok is also proud to have been a member of Chineke! - the UK's only orchestra and chamber ensemble made up predominantly of BAME musicians - since its inception in 2015.

As a cellist he has won various competitions and prizes, but the biggest ‘achievement’ by far that he continues to be a part of, is raising two children – Enzo & Anoushka – with his wife Natalie Klouda, whilst both of them continue to be performing musicians and jointly run the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival.

If he had to pick one favourite composer, it would be Bach. In the 2017-18 season, Ashok performed a complete cycle of Bach Cello Suites on baroque cello at London’s Conway Hall, all recorded and filmed and now available on YouTube.
Aside from Bach, and music in general, Ashok is a fan of science fiction, warm weather, Formula One racing, table tennis and spending time with his family.

Ashok has recorded for Nimbus Alliance, Decca, Edition Classics, Ambache Recordings and Champs Hill Records. In 2020, Ashok and Natalie set up ‘SoundKlouda.com’ and record remotely from their home studio for composers around the world. Ashok performs on a cello made in 2012 by Tibor Semmelweis.

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.