David Adams violin
David Adams is the Concertmaster of the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, co-Artistic Director of the Penarth Chamber Music Festival and teaches at RWCMD.
In his role at WNO, he performs concertos with the orchestra and directs concerts from the violin. He has appeared as guest leader with most of the major orchestras in the UK most recently English National Opera, Royal Opera House and the Halle Orchestra.
Equally at home on violin and viola David has made guest appearances, recordings and broadcasts with the Nash Ensemble, Endellion String Quartet, Gould Piano Trio and Hebrides Ensemble including recording the Brahms Piano Quartets (Gould Piano Trio) and the Beethoven String Quintets (Endellion String Quartet). Previously a member of the London Bridge Trio and the Raphael Ensemble, his recordings of Schumann and Mendelssohn Piano Trios were received with critical acclaim and the London Bridge Trio’s live broadcast of Fanny Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio was selected to be the cover disc of BBC music magazine.
This year David will appear at the Winchester and Wye Valley chamber music festivals, and has directed a winter tour of concerts with WNO. He was honoured to be invited to participate in the IMS Prussia Cove 50th anniversary celebrations at the Wigmore Hall in 2022.
David belongs to a musical family – his father, John Adams, was Principal Viola of the Halle Orchestra and his wife is cellist Alice Neary.
Lucy Gould violin
Lucy is best known as the violinist and founder member of the Gould Piano Trio, one of the UK’s most respected ensembles.
Several international awards, a busy schedule and an impressive discography are testament to Lucy’s dedication to this genre since embarking on her career.
Lucy studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London and Indiana University, Bloomington with Gyorgy Pauk and Josef Gingold. In addition, masterclasses with Andras Schiff, Menahem Pressler and members of the Amadeus String Quartet at Prussia Cove and the Banff Centre for the Arts were a source of great inspiration in the early days. She enjoys all aspects of the repertoire, from sonatas with Benjamin Frith and Leon McCawley, clarinet trios with Robert Plane, to horn trios with David Pyatt, Richard Watkins and Alec Frank-Gemmill. Her experience has led to invitations to appear on international juries.
Lucy is a regular guest leader of many UK orchestras and holds the position of principal 2nd violin with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. As part of the COE Academy she often gives lessons and advice to up and coming violinists and has directed student performances of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms Symphonies. She lives in Cardiff and teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Magnus Johnston violin
Magnus Johnston's musical career began as a boy chorister in the choir of King's College, Cambridge.
He went on to study violin at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, and later at the Royal Northern College of Music. His professional career developed as a member, from 2004, of the Aronowitz Ensemble (string sextet and piano) and from 2010 with the Navarra Quartet – with these being recognised as BBC New Generation Artists and winning two Borletti-Buitoni awards for outstanding young musicians. The Navarra Quartet made appearances at major venues and festivals throughout the world, including at Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Lincoln Center, Berlin Konzerthaus, Sydney Opera House and at the BBC Proms and the Aix-en-Provence festival. Magnus has been Guest Leader and Principal with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, ENO, the Hallé, and both the Scottish and Australian chamber orchestras. He was recently appointed Concertmaster at the Royal Opera House.
Scott Dickinson viola
Now a Winchester resident, Scott Dickinson is Principal Viola of the Philharmonia Orchestra, Tutor at the Guildhall School of Music and Winchester College and an Artistic Advisor to the Tunnell Trust for Young Musicians.
He was born in Glasgow and studied in Manchester, London and Salzburg, where he won the 1996 Mozarteum Concerto Competition.
He has appeared with Ivry Gitlis, Steven Isserlis, Dorothea Röschmann , the Brodsky, Chilingirian, Elias, Maxwell and Navarra Quartets, regularly with the Hebrides, Nash and Wigmore Soloists Ensembles and as guest principal viola with numerous orchestras including the Australian Chamber, BBC Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Mahler Chamber, Royal Opera House, Scottish Chamber, Sinfonia of London, Swedish Radio Symphony, the John Wilson Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and the World Orchestra for Peace.
For five years he was a member of the Leopold String Trio with Kate, and for more than twenty he was principal viola of the BBC Scottish Symphony, with whom he also regularly appeared as soloist, including “Jubilus” by Jonathan Harvey on CD which was nominated for a Gramophone award.
Recent projects include commissions of duets for two violas and for flute and viola with his wife Susan Frank, with whom he also collaborates as a viola and piano duo and in a trio with harpist Lucy Wakeford .
Scott joined the Philharmonia in 2024. He loves people, wildernesses and words and is passionate about the benefits of music in all areas of society.
Richard Lester cello
Chamber-musician, solo-cellist, orchestral principal and renowned teacher,
Richard Lester was a member of the award-winning Florestan Trio, a founder-member of the ensemble Domus and was a member of Hausmusik and the London Haydn Quartet. He was principal cello with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and has been principal with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe since 1989. Currently, he is a member of the Gould Piano Trio.
He has made over forty discs of chamber music, including the complete works of Mendelssohn for cello and piano, and a disc of Boccherini sonatas on period instruments. Together with violinist Anthony Marwood, he is co-director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival in East Sussex. He teaches at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School in London.
When not performing or teaching, Richard is happiest cooking, eating and drinking, preferably on a boat.
Ronan Dunne double bass
Ronan is a professor of double bass at the Royal Northern College of Music. In conjunction with the RNCM, he has given masterclasses at many overseas Conservatoires, including in China and Sweden.
Ronan began his musical training as a chorister with the Palestrina choir in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral. He then took up the double bass and aged eighteen, went on to study in London and later, in Vienna.
He spent a couple of wonderful years touring Ireland as a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra before becoming a member of the BBC Philharmonic, where he has played since 2002 and was appointed principal bass in 2015. As well as enjoying touring to Europe and the far east, he is hugely enthusiastic about the wide variety of repertoire the orchestra performs and records each season.
As a guest principal bass, he plays regularly with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Philharmonia orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, The Hallé, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Opera North.
As a chamber musician, he has enjoyed many interesting collaborations, including regular concerts with Ensemble 360 as well as such quartets as the Voglers and the Callinas.
Zenith Quartet Emerging Quartet-in-Residence
The Zenith Quartet are a dynamic young quartet composed of Jamaican and Honduran-British violinist Chloe Bowers-Soriano, Polish violinist Jonasz Szachtmajer, Spanish violist Andrea Fages, and Lithuanian-American cellist Julius Maknickas.
All scholarship winning third year undergraduates at the Royal Academy of Music, they enter their second year by audition on the Frost-ASSET scheme for string quartets under the mentorship of Ying Xue of the Doric String Quartet with whom they also regularly receive coaching. They have been grateful to have been the recipients of numerous coaching opportunities playing for the Doric String Quartet, Barbican Quartet, Castalian String Quartet, Corina Belcea of the Belcea Quartet, Lawrence Power, Anthony Marwood, and Alasdair Tait.
They have recently returned from an Academy SIDE-BY-SIDE project taking place in the months of October-December where they joined the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Semyon Bychkov for a two-part tour of the Czech Republic, Toronto, and New York City where they performed orchestral and chamber concerts at Carnegie Hall and Bohemian National Hall as part of Carnegie Hall’s Czech Music Week celebrating 2024 the Year of Czech Music. These concerts included performances with renowned soloists Yo-Yo Ma, Gil Shaham, and Daniil Trifonov. Most recently as part of this opportunity they participated in a cultural exchange of music, bringing Elgar’s String Quartet to “Young International Stars Open New York’s Czech Week” a chamber recital presented by Carnegie Hall and the Czech Philharmonic.
Matthew Featherstone flute
Principal flute of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Matthew has also appeared as Guest Principal flute with Britten Sinfonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Matthew was awarded the Royal Overseas League Wind Prize in February 2012. As a solo recitalist he has enjoyed travelling round the UK with his colorful programming of flute and piano repertoire launched by his Uk tour with the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. He has made concerto appearances with various orchestras in the UK and abroad in France and China, including the Liebermann and Nielsen Flute concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Mozart harp and flute concerto with Catrin Finch. A keen chamber musician, Matthew enjoys performing with his flute harp and viola Trio, Trio Anima who are released their debut album entitled ‘Between Earth and Sea’ with TyCerdd in November 2022.
Robert Plane clarinet & Family Concert Presenter
Robert Plane’s hugely varied career has seen concerto appearances in Europe, Asia and the USA, with performances of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in Madrid with the City of London Sinfonia, Beijing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and in the USA with the Virginia Symphony.
In 1992 he won the overall Gold Medal at the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition and he made his BBC Proms concerto debut at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011.
Rob has tirelessly pursued a particular passion for British clarinet music in concert and on disc, his Gramophone Award winning account of Finzi’s Concerto and Gramophone Award-shortlisted Bax Sonatas being just two of a large collection of recordings of works by the great English Romantics.
Rob has explored the clarinet quintet repertoire with a number of the finest string quartets, opening BBC Radio 3’s ‘Brahms Experience’ with a live broadcast from St. George’s Bristol of the Brahms Quintet with the Skampa Quartet. He has given concerts in Germany and the USA with the Mandelring Quartet and has partnered the Elias Quartet at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and at the Wigmore Hall.
Rob is Head of Woodwind at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Simon Crawford-Phillips piano
Simon Crawford-Phillips has built a unique career as a pianist, conductor and creative programmer.
Passionate about contemporary music Simon has given world premieres of music by Thomas Adès, Britta Byström, Helen Grime, Steve Reich and Mark-Anthony Turnage amongst others.
He has held positions as Chief Conductor of Västerås Sinfonietta (2016-2028) and Conductor Fellow of the NDR Elbphilharmonie and in 2023 made a critically acclaimed debut with the Stockholm Royal Opera conducting Britten’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Other recent debuts include the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Gävle Symfoniorkester, Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
As pianist in the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, Nash Ensemble, Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble, Moore/Crawford-Phillips Duo and Colin Currie Group he has performed worldwide and made several recordings for BIS, Orchid, Hyperion and Deutsche Grammophon. Upcoming releases include music by Daniel Börtz, Sebastian Fagerlund, Djuro Zivkovic and a piano duo album of Schubert and Bach/Kurtag.
Regular collaborators include Malin Broman, Daniel Hope, Pekka Kuusisto, Anne Soe von Otter, Lawrence Power, Torleif Thedéen, the Elias String Quartet and Academy of St.Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble. Many of these have performed with Simon in his role as artistic director of the ‘Change Music Festival’ and co-director of the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival.
An avid teacher he has held positions at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was recently awarded a Professorship at the Mälardalen University in Västerås, Sweden.
Philip Moore piano
Philip Moore has appeared as concerto soloist with the Hallé, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
He is perhaps best known for his piano duo with Simon Crawford-Phillips, which has won international prizes and awards, including a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2004. They gave the world premieres of Anna Meredith’s Concerto for Two Pianos at the BBC Proms; and Steve Reich’s Quartet for two pianos and two vibraphones, with Colin Currie and Sam Walton, at Carnegie Hall NY (listed as one of “The Ten Best Classical Performances of 2014” by New York Magazine), Tokyo Opera City, Kölner Philharmonie, Cité de la Musique Paris, and other major international venues. Their recording for Nonesuch was one of Andrew Clement’s “Top 10 classical releases of 2018” in the Guardian.
Philip plays orchestral piano with all of the London orchestras, and is a member of the Colin Currie Group, the former pianist of Hebrides Ensemble, and a frequent guest of London Sinfonietta, the Nash Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In 2017 he joined the LSO for Sir Simon Rattle’s inaugural concerts as Music Director, giving performances of Petrushka in London (recorded for LSO Live) and Paris.
ZRI Silent Film Band
ZRI take their name from Zum Roten Igel, the legendary Viennese venue in the times when Brahms and Schubert were alive; a serious classical concert hall on one side, and a space where composers drank and caroused on the other.
Born out of a passion for the great classics, each ZRI performance feeds off the intensity of the music when it was new and shouting to make itself heard.
ZRI began with their radical re-scoring of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet to include accordion and santouri (dulcimer), as heard on their first album, ‘Brahms and the Gypsy’. This developed into captivating programs re-imagining Schubert’s great C major quintet, heard on ‘Schubert at the Red Hedgehog Tavern’, adventuring with Charlie Chaplin, and dancing with Bach and Taylor Swift on their third album, ‘Cellar Sessions’, drawing the audience into a world where they are free to let go of genre distinctions and simply experience the concert story.
ZRI are five world-class musicians drawing together a wealth of collective experience with international orchestras, improvising, and cross-cultural collaborations into a single focus. Recent festivals include Rosendal in Norway and collaborations with Simon Crawford-Philips and the Vásterås Sinfonietta in Sweden. Their fourth album, ‘Café Danube’ exploring the roots of the Viennese classics in the traditions east along the river, has just been released by Naxos. In an interconnected world, classical becomes radical.
Neil Valentine Schools Workshop Leader
Neil Valentine is a composer, conductor, viola player, educator, and facilitator who specializes in helping groups create new music that belongs to them.
His passion for how music can enrich lives is a hallmark of his work. Neil has delivered music projects, workshops, and performances with organizations such as Turner Sims, Philharmonia Orchestra, Winchester Chamber Music Festival, LSO, RPO, London Music Masters, Hatfield Chamber Music Festival, Spitalfields Music, Music for Youth, BBC SO, BBC Proms, Voces8, Wigmore Hall, St Paul’s Sinfonia, music services and hubs across the country, and many other arts organizations.
He specializes in using music to unlock creativity, confidence, community, and well-being.
Neil helps the groups he works with create the music they want to make, often by facilitating the composition of new works. He is also an Associate Musician of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Passionate about music-making in all settings and with all groups of people, Neil believes that everyone is musical and that anyone can make music with anyone else. He considers it a privilege to facilitate this process, which continues to be a source of unending inspiration and enjoyment.