Pianist Danny Driver is recognised internationally as an artist of sophistication, insight and musical depth. His studies at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music inspired his holistic approach to performance, from which he derives a vibrant brand of programming that he brings to concert halls and music festivals across the UK, Europe, Asia and North America. His breadth of repertoire and musical curiosity are also reflected in his recordings for Hyperion, in which he has explored both mainstream and neglected music from the baroque period through to the present day, recently releasing Ligeti’s complete Études for Piano to widespread international acclaim.
British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor is internationally recognized for his sonorous lyricism and understated brilliance at the keyboard. His virtuosic interpretations are underpinned by a unique balance of technical mastery and intense musicality. Grosvenor is regarded as one of the most important pianists to emerge in several decades, with Gramophone recently acknowledging him as one of the top 50 pianists ever on record.
Concerto highlights in the 23/24 season include his much-anticipated debuts with DSO Berlin and Iceland Symphony Orchestra featuring Busoni’s Piano Concerto in the composer’s anniversary year.
Born in Seoul, So-Ock Kim moved to London at the age of three. At 15, she was the youngest ever winner of the gold medal in the prestigious Shell/LSO Competition playing the Tchaikovsky concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall. At 19, So-Ock was selected for the Young Concert Artists Trust as a soloist and member of the Emperor piano trio.
British cellist Josephine Knight is among the most sought-after performers of her generation. Since her sell-out debut at London`s Wigmore Hall, British cellist Josephine Knight has gone on to a highly acclaimed international career spanning over 25 years.
Winner of Nikolai Rubinstein Piano Competition, pupil of Maria João Pires and Dmitri Alexeev, award-winning British pianist Petr Limonov is increasingly sought-after both as a soloist and a chamber musician worldwide. His notable appearances include La Roque d’Antheron festival (broadcast by radio France Musique), Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre,
Hyeyoon Park is an artist of outstanding focus and virtuosity, combining effortlessly rich sonority with musical integrity. The youngest ever winner of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 2009, she is in demand as both a soloist and chamber musician.
Forthcoming highlights this season include performances of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto at the opening of the Night Serenades International Music Festival, Georgia and Paul Klee Centre, Bern.
Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams is widely admired for his profound musical intelligence, and for the expressive and communicative nature of his interpretations. He has performed with all the major UK orchestras under conductors including Michael Tilson Thomas, Jiří Bělohlávek, Carlo Rizzi, Vasily Petrenko, Jaime Martín, Osmo Vanska , Joseph Swensen, Grant Llewellyn and Jac Van Steen, and he has a particularly longstanding relationship with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he has in recent seasons performed concertos ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Bartók and Mathias.
From 2002 until Spring 2022, Gordon Back was the Artistic Director of the Menuhin Competition. For 20 years, he channelled his creative energy into defining it as a unique international event. It now is a major violin festival featuring all jury members as performers and provides an educational forum to all participants and visiting musicians. The competition was hosted in Oslo 2010, Beijing 2012, Austin 2014 and celebrated the Menuhin Centenary in London in 2016. The following competitions were hosted in Geneva 2018 and most recently Richmond, VA 2021. The 2021 event was the first ever entirely virtual Menuhin Competition. Streamed globally from 14 – 23 May 2021 it attracted more than six million viewers on its streaming channel.
The pianist Mariam Batsashvili gained international recognition at the 10th Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht 2014. Her musicianship seems to connect directly with one’s heart and her colours of sound, thoughtful interpretations and stupendous touch move and delight her audiences. As BBC New Generation Artist, she made her debuts at the Cheltenham Festival, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and with the Ulster Orchestra at the BBC Proms. The summer of 2019 saw the release of her first album for Warner Classics and her second album has already been recorded.
Thanks to prolific careers both as pianist and award-winning broadcaster, Iain Burnside is one of the UK’s best known musicians. Iain has worked with a huge number of international singers, notably Dame Margaret Price, Rosa Feola, Ailish Tynan, Joyce DiDonato, Laurence Brownlee, Roderick Williams, and Bryn Terfel, among many others. He has recorded more than 60 CDs, often created around neglected composers, where his curatorial skills are displayed to the full.
Megan Clarke was born in 2006 and is a music scholar at the Lady Eleanor Holles School. She has attended the Royal College of Music Junior Department since the age of 8 where she is currently studying the cello with Leandro Silvera and the piano with Clara Rodriguez. Megan gave her debut solo recital in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall at the RCMJD in 2014 and in the same year she was invited to her first of many performances in Italy.
Will Everitt is an 18-year-old trumpeter and composer, performing and writing in both classical and jazz mediums. He began playing cornet with his local brass band at age 6, and attended the Junior Guildhall School of Music from age 12. He has previously played with the National Children’s Orchestra, and enjoyed performances at Cadogan Hall and the Hideaway Jazz Club as a music scholar at Reed’s School, Cobham.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sasha Grynyuk studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Sasha was described by legendary Charles Rosen as “an impressive artist with remarkable, unfailing musicality always moving with the most natural, electrifying, and satisfying interpretations”.
Sophie Kauer is a British-German cellist and actress, born in London in 2001. She is currently studying for a BA in Classical Cello Performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, in the class of world-renowned cellist Torleif Thedeén. She started cello lessons aged 8 and, just 18 months later, was accepted into the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music in London where she received a scholarship and had won all available prizes by the age of 16. From the ages of 13 to 18, she was also a private student of distinguished cello professor, Melissa Phelps.
Pianist Stefanija Nikolich started studying with Ruth Nye at age 11. Two years later, in 2017, she joined the Yehudi Menuhin School, graduating in July before embarking on a gap year. In the past 5 years, Stefanija has taken part in three tours of Scotland, the Amsterdam Piano Duo Festival in 2018, and the Augustin Aponte Piano Competition. She played at the Menuhin Leavers concert at Wigmore Hall in 2019 and won the 2022 Woking Young Musician of the Year competition.
Alison Rhind is recognised as one of the leading collaborative pianists specialising in the repertoire for piano and strings. Her ability to accompany was recognised and nurtured at an early age whilst still at Chetham’s School of Music and she became increasingly in demand throughout her time at Oxford University where she read Music at Wadham College. Chetham’s invited her back immediately she had finished her degree but she completed her studies with Edith Vogel at the Guildhall School of Music before returning there.
Hailed by The Times as a “remarkable cellist” and described by Gramophone as “sheer perfection”, Kian Soltani’s playing is characterised by a depth of expression, sense of individuality and technical mastery, alongside a charismatic stage presence and ability to create an immediate emotional connection with his audience. He is now invited by the world’s leading orchestras, conductors, and recital promoters, propelling him from rising star to one of the most talked about cellists performing today.
Rhia Thomas, 18, is a sixth form student and music scholar at Guildford High School. She started playing violin at the age of 4, having heard her brother play amazing pieces that she wanted to play too! Rhia continues to study the violin with her inspirational teacher, Lucy Ellen Spencer.
Roderick Williams is one of the most sought after baritones of his generation and performs a wide repertoire from baroque to contemporary music in the opera house, on the concert platform and in recital. He enjoys relationships with all the major UK opera houses and has sung world premieres of operas by, among others, David Sawer, Sally Beamish, Michel van der Aa, Robert Saxton and Alexander Knaifel. He performs regularly with all the BBC orchestras, and many other ensembles including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Keila Wakao was awarded the 1st prize and the Junior Composer Award in the 2021 Menuhin International Violin Competition. She was also the 1st prize winner of the Stulberg International String Competition and was awarded the Bach prize in 2021.
Born in 2006, 16 year old violinist Keila Wakao is from Boston, MA and began playing the violin at the age of 3. At age 6, the late Mr. Joseph Silverstein accepted Keila as a student. Currently, she is an eleventh grader at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and studies with Donald Weilerstein and Soovin Kim at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School. Keila has also been receiving Kyoko Takezawa's private instruction in Japan.
Craig White is a versatile and highly acclaimed chamber musician with a focus on both instrumental and vocal repertoire. After his studies at St Catherine’s College, Oxford he completed a Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Michael Dussek and Diana Ketler. Craig has since been based as Fellow in Piano Accompaniment at the Royal College of Music and now works with the string department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.