Martin James Bartlett possesses a fearless technique and plays with a maturity and elegance far beyond his years. The British pianist is the inaugural recipient of the Prix Serdang in 2022, a Swiss prize curated by Rudolf Buchbinder in recognition of the achievements of a promising young pianist while forging and international solo career. Bartlett is an exclusive recording artist with Warner Classics and his discs have received 5 star reviews and critical acclaim.
Isang Enders has quickly established himself as a dynamic artist in search of new-concepts and works for the violoncello. Born into a German-Korean musician family in Frankfurt in 1988, Isang Enders began studying with Michael Sanderling at the age of twelve. His playing has since been influenced by his studies with Gustav Rivinius, Truls Mørk, and above all, by the mentoring of the American cellist Lynn Harrell.
Miriam Grant was born in 2007 and is a music scholar at Guildford High School, currently studying for her A-levels. Miriam started learning the violin at the age of six, studying with Natasha Boyarsky and then with Lutsia Ibragimova and Alison Rhind. She has been a student at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music since 2019. This season Miriam has given performances of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto both with her school orchestra and the Horsham Symphony Orchestra, and will give a solo recital at the Albert Hall’s Elgar Room in March.
Rinchen Posel began her music studies in Singapore at the age of four, then continued her studies at the Bard College Preparatory Division in upstate New York. She studied there under Janara Khassenova for six years, and had the opportunity to perform several solo concerts. She achieved First Prize in the Young Pianist Division of the Nazareth University Piano Competition in 2020 and was a prizewinner at the King’s Peak Online International Music Competition and London Youth Piano Competition in 2021.
Inez Karlsson began playing the cello at the age of 6 and since the age of 10 she has been studying at the Royal College of Music Junior Department. For five years she studied with the late Michal Kaznowski, and from autumn 2023 she started to study with Professor Melissa Phelps. In 2023 at age 15 she made her concerto debut performing the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, conducted by Delyana Lazarova.
Praised for his unfailingly communicative playing, British pianist Leon McCawley has been delighting audiences worldwide since winning, in 1993, First Prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. His many concert performances and extensive discography have established him as a pianist of great integrity and variety, bringing freshness and vitality to Classical, Romantic and 20th century repertoire. McCawley’s 2024 release ‘Natural Connection’ for SOMM Recordings is no exception: “This scintillatingly varied recital combines sensuous virtuosity, compelling charm and musical probity. Highly recommended.” (Gramophone, February 2024).
From early on in her career Margaret Roberts has worked as a piano accompanist, playing for some of the first BBC Young Musician of the Year competitions. As a music student at Brasenose College (Oxford) she specialised in piano performance and as organ exhibitioner, directed the chapel choir and played for college services and concerts.
Wu Qian was born in Shanghai, where she received her early training before joining the Yehudi Menuhin School at thirteen.
In 2000, she played her debut recital at the South Bank Purcell Room and has played at international venues including London’s St John’s Smith Square, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Kennedy Centre, Washington DC. She has played with the Brussels Philarmonic and Munchen Symphoniker.
Simon Zhu is a rising violinist with a versatile repertoire. His successes are remarkable. In October 2023, he won 1st prize at the 2023 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini” in Genoa, Italy, and the special prize for the best Paganini concerto, as well as a number of important concert engagements – including the rare opportunity to perform on Paganini’s own violin “Cannone”. By Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù from 1743.
Alexander Sitkovetsky was recently announced as the Artistic Director of the renowned NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra Wroclaw, Poland, taking up his position from the 2023-24 season.
Alexander was born in Moscow into a family with a well-established musical tradition. He made his concerto debut at the age of eight, and the same year moved to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School where he is now an Associate Artist. Lord Menuhin was his inspiration throughout his school years, and they performed together on several occasions.
The Sitkovetsky Trio has established itself as an outstanding piano trio. With its thoughtful and committed approach, the ensemble is critically acclaimed and has been invited to perform in the most prestigious concert halls worldwide – including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Musée du Louvre in Paris, the Auditori in Barcelona, Wigmore Hall in London and the Lincoln Center in New York.
Nicholas Yang, born in 2010, is a music scholar at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. Taking up the piano at a young age, Nicholas’s passion for the instrument has grown over the intervening years and has recently gained a place at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music where he learns with Konstantin Lapshin. Nicholas is also a passionate cellist and currently taught by Robin Thompson-Clarke.
Han-Wen Jennifer Yu, a native of Taichung, Taiwan. She earned a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the Tunghai University (Taiwan), where she graduated with the highest honors with Dr. Juanelva Rose and Dr. Thomas Linde; a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano with Dr. Cameron Stowe, Dr. Pei-Shan Lee and Prof. Jonathan Feldman from New England Conservatory; and a Konzertexamen (equal as doctor program in Taiwan) at the HMT Leipzig with professor Gudrun Franke in piano chamber music, and minor in solo piano with professor Gerald Fauth.