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The Players
Violin
Tamas Andras
 Hungarian
violinist Tamás András was born in Budapest and studied at the Ferenc
Liszt Academy of Music, as well as at the Royal Academy of Music in
London. His talent was recognised at the early age of nine when he won
first prize in the youth category of the National Violin Competition in
Hungary. This was the first of many prizes which followed years later.
In 1996 he was prize winner of the Carl Nielsen International Violin
Competition in Denmark, and received third prize at the Joseph Szigeti
International Violin Competition in 1997. His musical development was
influenced by great teachers such as György Pauk, Dénes Zsigmondy,
Ruggiero Ricci, and Mauricio Fuks among many others.
Ellie Fagg
 Ellie was a
foundation scholar at the Royal College of Music under Yossi Zivoni,
from where she graduated in 2005 with First Class Honours. As a soloist,
Ellie has performed recitals in venues across the UK, most recently at
the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, and concertos with orchestras
including the Amadeus Orchestra, Hertfordshire
Philharmonic, JRAM Symphony Orchestra and the National Children’s
Chamber Orchestra. Ellie is looking forward to many recitals in
2007/2008 across the UK with her award winning duo partner, Alasdair
Beatson, due to being awarded a place on the prestigious Countess of
Munster Recital Scheme for their next season. In 2001, Ellie was
appointed leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, after
having been a member for five years, and during her undergraduate at the
RCM led many of the orchestras and ensembles. She is now a very busy
freelance violinist in London, playing with many of the major symphony
and chamber orchestras including the LSO, LCO, LPO, European Camerata
and the Philharmonia as well as guest leadng smaller local orchestras.
Her musical life extends far and wide. She is an active supporter of
contemporary music, collaborating with composers such as Simon Speare
and John Cameron and is the solo violinist of the vibrant and eclectic
Avenue A ensemble who have just recorded their first album. In 2005,
Ellie won the ‘Emily English Scholarship’ awarded by the Musicians
Benevolent Fund to the most outstanding violinist heard at audition. She
has just completed her postgraduate studies at the RCM, under Yossi
Zivoni, as an Associated Board Scholar which included 5 months study
under Helmut Zehetmeir at the Mozarteum, Salzburg. This was all made
possible with generous sponsorship from the Countess of Munster Musical
Trust and from the Philharmonia Martin Musical Award scheme.
Tom Hankey
 Tom Hankey studied
the violin with David Takeno, Krzysztof Smietana, Levon Chilingirian and
Yossi Zivoni. As a chamber musician he has performed at major concert
halls and festivals in Europe. He is a member (as violinist and violist)
of the Aronowitz Ensemble who are currently on the radio 3 New
Generation Young Artist scheme. Thanks to this scheme they have
performed frequently on the radio. The group is committed to the
repertoire possibilities for string sextet and piano. Tom is also
committed to the performance of contemporary music. He was a member of
the Na Mara Ensemble which specialized in the repertoire for string trio
and piano quartet. The group was one of the winners of the 2005 Tunnell
Trust prize, a 2006 Kirckman Concert Society prize and the 2006 Royal
Over-Seas League chamber music prize. As a soloist he has performed
concertos by Beethoven (Triple Concerto), Prokofiev, Mendelssohn, Bruch,
Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi. He has been supported by the Countess of
Munster Musical Trust, the Abbado Trust and the South Square Trust.
Tadasuke Iijima
Tadasuke Iijima was
born in Japan. He has studied with Hitoshi Maezawa, Boris Kuschnir,
Toshiya Eto, Zakhar Bron, and Mayumi Fujikawa. Currently he is studying
with Rivka Golani in Trinity College of Music. In 1997 he won Second
Prize at Toshiya Eto Violin Competition (Group 1: Junior Artists, age
12-16). The next year he was winner of the highest award in Tokyo's"New
Stars of Music" audition. In 2000 he won First Prize at Toshiya Eto
Violin Competition (Group 2: Young Artists, age 17-26). In 2002 he won
First Prize in the audition for Soloist with the Hamamatu Philharmonic
Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 he won Special Prize in the Second Heifetz
International Violin Competition. He also won Harold Craxton Prize and
David Martin Concerto Prize at Royal Academy of Music. In 2007 he won
First Prize at Uralsk International Violin Competition in Kazakhstan. He
has appeared with the Japan Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo New
City Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Kanagawa Philharmonic Symphony
Orchestra, and West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra. He also founded
and directed Wakaba Ensemble in Tokyo.
Cerys Jones
 Born in 1981 in
Cardiff, South Wales, Cerys Jones is an award-winning violinist highly
sought after for her honest, fresh approach to the repertoire and her
dynamic musical personality. Equally in demand as a soloist, chamber
musician and orchestral leader, Cerys continues to perform extensively
across the UK and Europe. After spending the last two years studying
with Lewis Kaplan, Professor of Violin at the Juilliard School, in New
York City, Cerys returned to the Royal College of Music in London to
gain Distinction in the Artist Diploma studying with Gordan Nikolich.
Cerys originally graduated as a scholar from the R.C.M. in 2004, and
during her studentship she has won numerous prizes including the Sidney
Perry Award from the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Musical Scholarship
Fund, the Kenneth Loveland Gift, Artist of the Countess of Munster, the
Ryan Davies Award and the John Fussell Award for an outstanding UK Young
Artist. Cerys enjoys collaborating with a variety of distinguished
artists, including violinist Philippe Graffin, violist Asdis
Valdimarsdottir, cellists Colin Carr and Julian Lloyd Webber, and Sir
Andrew Lloyd Webber. Most recently Cerys has established a duo with
Welsh pianist Llyr Williams, giving their debut recital together at the
Brangwyn Hall in October 2006. Cerys' beautiful violin is a Testori
(1730), kindly on loan from San Domenico Fine Violins. Cerys is a strong
advocate of new music - a characteristic which is reflected in her
diverse programmes and her enthusiasm to premiere new works. This has
lead to invitations to perform in International Contemporary Music
Festivals in the UK, Holland, Italy and Lebanon. Cerys has won a BBC
Bursary Award to commission today’s eminent composers from the British
Isles and Ireland to write new works for her. This project will be
sponsored and promoted by the BBC, and will form part of a PhD that
Cerys will complete over the next four years. Cerys has recently become
the recipient of three prestigious awards - the Hattori Foundation have
offered a generous award to contribute to the BBC project, the Solti
Foundation have awarded a prize to facilitate the professional recording
of the new commissions, and Cerys has also been awarded a John Baker and
Friends of the Royal Academy Development Award which was presented to
her by the Award's president Dame Felicity Lott. "...astonishing
technical command, incredibly energetic and dynamic...she made the
violin sing out with such sweetness and urgency it seemed the instrument
was part of her...intoxicating!" Madeline Clements, Surrey Advertiser
Victoria Mavromoustaki
 Born in Limassol,
Cyprus, Victoria began studying violin at the age of three under
Professor Andreas Konstantinou, and made her début recital at the age of
seven in a concert series featuring music by Mozart. Showing a
precocious talent, she won numerous awards and prizes including, in
1999, a scholarship to study at the Purcell School of Music in UK.
During her time there she studied under Maciej Rakowsky. In 2001, she
enrolled at the Royal College of Music to study under professor Itzhak
Rashkovsky and graduated with a BMus (Honours) in 2005 and a
Postgraduate Diploma in advance performance in 2007. Victoria was an RCM
scholar and she received many awards including the MBF Myra Hess award,
the Kit and John Gander Award, the Joan Weller Award and the Philip Crawshaw memorial prize for a musician of promise from overseas, at the
Royal Overseas League annual Music competition in 2006. She was also
awarded a special prize at the Carl Flesh International Violin
Competition in Hungary 2008. Victoria has and performed in many
prestigious venues including Wigmore Hall, St. John's Smith Square, St.
James's Piccadilly, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Buckingham Palace and
Windsor Castle. She has given performances in Africa, Cyprus, Greece,
Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK and has performed in many festivals
such as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Commonwealth Resounds Arts
Festival which took part in Uganda, as part of the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting. Future engagements include concerto performances as
well as recitals with her sister and duo partner Eleni Mavromoustaki in
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and throughout the UK. She has
also recently got involved with charity work. She has donated several
recitals to help raise money for different Organisations and Trusts such
as Action on Addiction. Victoria plays on a fine instrument by Andrea
Guarneri made in Cremona in 1680.
Tom Norris
 Tom Norris has been a
member of the London Symphony Orchestra since 1997 and holds the
Co-Principal 2nd Violin position. Aside from his very busy schedule with
the LSO, Tom leads the Vuillaume Quartet, formed in 2001, who give many
concerts around London as part of the LSO Discovery programme. Tom was
born in Kent in 1971, and attended Chetham's School of Music, before
gaining his performance diploma from the Guildhall School of Music and
Drama. After a period of further study at the Banff Centre for the Arts,
in Canada, he was invited to join the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as
Principal Second Violin. He performed regularly in Canada as a chamber
musician and as a soloist with the WSO, before returning to the UK to
join the LSO. Tom is also a singer and songwriter.
Jonathan Stone
 Jonathan enjoys a
busy international schedule of concerts as a member of the Prometheus
Piano Trio and the Doric String Quartet. The Doric String Quartet
performs regularly in the UK as well as abroad in Europe and Asia. They
have performed at Wigmore Hall several times and are the resident
ensemble at the Wiltshire Music Centre. In June, they became First Prize
winners of the 6th Osaka Chamber Music Competition, in Japan. The
Prometheus Piano Trio was formed at the Royal Academy of Music in 2003.
They were the winners of the Thames Valley Young Musicians Platform, and
in 2005 they won the Anglo-Czechoslovak Award, as a result of which they
were invited to play at the Martinu Hall in Prague. Jonathan has
recently become a member of the ensemble Liquid Architecture, who will
make their debut recording next year. He also works regularly with the
Contemporary Consort with whom he appeared in the Kings Lynn Festival in
July. Jonathan teaches violin at Brunel University and is Co-Artistic
Director of the Bedford Chamber Music Festival. Jonathan started serious
tuition on the violin with David Angel of the Maggini String Quartet. He
then attended the classes of Grigory Zhislin at the Royal College of
Music where he won numerous prizes for his work in chamber music. After
obtaining his degree and leading the RCM’s orchestras and ensembles both
on tour and live on BBC Radio 3, he started working with some of the
UK’s top orchestras. In 2003, Jonathan was awarded a scholarship to
study with Howard Davis at the Royal Academy of Music where he received
not only the D M Lloyd and Paton awards but also the conservatoire’s
highest award for performance, the DipRAM.
www.doricstringquartet.com
Warren Zielinski
Warren was born in
Vancouver, Canada in 1975 began playing the violin at the age of 3. At
the age of 13, he commenced studies with Gwen Thompson (a disciple of
Gingold, Galamian & Heifetz) at the Vancouver Academy of Music. Many
Solo and Chamber music prizes followed, as well as leading all of the
Academy Orchestras. At 16, Warren was the youngest ever Leader of the
National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Warren is also an accomplished
pianist, having studied with a disciple of Rudolf Serkin from the age of
6. In 1994 Warren moved to London, England where he completed his BMus
with Felix Andrievsky in 1999. There was much success at the RCM
including an Exhibition scholarship, Concerto trials and numerous violin
prizes. Orchestral leadership would again be a highlight of Warren’s
years at the RCM, having led the Sinfonietta in only his second year and
the Symphony from his third year. In his final 2 years at the RCM,
Warren studied Baroque violin with Catherine Macintosh. Warren has
participated in masterclasses with such notable violinists as Joseph
Silverstein, Lorand Fenyves, Erick Friedman, Sydney Harth, Yuval Yaron,
Elmar Oliviera, Thomas Zehetmair, Jose-Louis Garcia, Levon Chilingirian,
Sylvia Rosenberg, and Aaron Rosand. Warren has been working
professionally since 1996 and has performed and recorded with the
English Chamber Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia,
BBC Symphony & Concert Orchestras, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the
John Wilson Orchestra. As a Baroque violinist, Warren has performed with
ensembles such as the New London Consort, La Serenissima, Gabrielli
Consort, Musicians of the Globe, Avison Ensemble and the Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment. Warren is also in demand for session work. He
has played on several hundred Pop tracks and some of the biggest and
well-known Hollywood film scores. Warren has performed in Belgium,
Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand,
Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States.
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Viola
Nicholas Bootiman
 Born in 1980 near
Munich, Germany, Nicholas Bootiman began learning piano and violin at an
early age. At 16 Nicholas won a scholarship to the Purcell School where
he took up viola, and continuing to the Royal College of Music in
London, he earned his Bachelor degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in
Performance with Distinction. During this time he participated in an
exchange to the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. In
2006 Nicholas completed a Masters Degree at the New England Conservatory
in Boston, U.S.A. His teachers were Kim Kashkashian, Milan Skampa, Ian
Jewel, and Andriy Viytovich. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has
been a member of prize-winning string quartets and works regularly with
many London-based ensembles. Recent performances include Bach’s 6th
Brandenburg Concerto with Emmanuella Reiter and the New Professionals
Orchestra in Manchester and Leeds, and the Penderecki Viola Concerto in
Jordan Hall, Boston, USA. As an orchestral musician Nicholas has worked
with all major symphony orchestras in London as well as orchestras
nationwide. He has recently been guest principal of the Philharmonia and
Royal Philharmonic Orchestras. Nicholas is currently on trial for the
Principal Viola posts at the B.B.C. National Orchestra of Wales and City
of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and for No. 2 in the Philharmonia
Orchestra. Also an award winning composer, Nicholas was the
composer-in-residence at the Festival du Larzac in France for the summer
2008. He is Founder and Joint Artistic Director of the Bedford Chamber
Music Festival. Nicholas was brought up in Bedford and learnt violin
locally with John Shayler for many years and piano with Deirdre Knight
and Richard Heyes. After progressing through the local youth orchestras
he led the viola section in the Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra for
a number of years.
Gwendolyn Fisher
 A native of Chicago,
IL, USA, Gwendolyn was eight years old when she decided to become a
professional musician after hearing the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
perform. Beginning her studies on violin at age five, Gwendolyn switched
to viola as a teenager. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in 2005
at the Peabody Conservatory, in Baltimore, MD, USA, and continued her
graduate studies at the New England Conservatory, in Boston, MA, USA.
Currently completing a Master of Music degree at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, her principal teachers have included
Victoria Chiang, Martha Katz, and Thomas Riebl. Gwendolyn is a several
year fellow of the Aspen Music Festival and School, in Aspen, CO, and
has worked with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She has also
participated in Le Domaine Forget Chamber Music Festival in Quebec,
Canada, and in the IMS Prussia Cove Master Classes in Cornwall, England.
Performing regularly with chamber ensembles and chamber orchestras
throughout Europe, Gwendolyn has worked with the Alesi Ensemble in
Lerici, Italy, with the Camerata Salzburg in Istanbul, Turkey, and with
the Salzburg Chamber Soloists at the Tonhalle in Zurich, Switzerland.
Aspiring to make London her home, Gwendolyn has been on trial with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra since April
of 2008. She is delighted to join the Jigsaw Players in their first
season!
Emmanuella Reiter
 Born into a family of
musicians in Jerusalem in 1981, Emmanuella Reiter began her musical
studies at the age of three with her father. After lessons in violin and
piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, France,
Emmanuella entered the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, USA. In
January 2001, discovering her passion for the viola, Miss Reiter entered
the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
There she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, and served for
three years as teaching assistant to Kim Kashkashian. Emmanuella has
participated in many festivals, has studied and played in masterclasses
with Karen Tuttle, Yuri Bashmet, Jean Sulem, Nobuko Imai and Roberto
Diaz. She has also performed with artists such as Ida Haendel, Peter
Frankl and Vladimir Mendelssohn. Emmanuella frequently performes solo
and chamber music in France, England, Germany, Italy, Switzerland,
Spain, and the United States. As a concerto soloist she has performed
with orchestras in England, Italy, France and the U.S.A. An experienced
chamber musician, she has been a part of prize winning string quartets.
Miss Reiter has recorded with Arsis in the U.S.A., Hessischer Rundfunk
in Germany and has appeared on Boston’s WGBH classical music radio. In
2005, Emmanuella recorded the duet for violin and viola by Zigmund Schul
in the Dvořák Hall, Prague, as part of the Terezin Music Anthology. Her
passion for teaching has recently led her to writing a thesis: Karen
Tuttle’s heritage: The Theory and Practice of Co-ordination, a technique
developed by Karen Tuttle, a pupil and assistant of William Primrose, to
help prevent and overcome playing-related injury as well as a way to
express musical line, gesture and sonority while playing the viola. mmanuella has been based in London since 2006 and has recently been
appointed in the London Philharmonic Orchestra and is the founding
Director of the Jigsaw Players Chamber Music Series in Wimbledon.
www.emmanuellareiter.co.uk
Nathan Selman
 American born violist
Nathan Selman started his musical studies at the age of five on the
violin and switched to the viola in 2001. In 2003, Mr. Selman entered
the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston,
MA , USA where he graduated brilliantly in 2007 with a Bachelor of
Music. He is currently working towards obtaining a Soloist Diploma at
the Conservatoire de Genève under the tutelage of Nobuko Imai. Nathan
has performed extensively in solo and chamber music in the USA, Canada,
Germany, Switzerland and England as well as in symphonic and chamber
orchestra settings in renowned halls such as Carnegie Hall (USA), Jordan
Hall, (USA) Meverson Center (USA) and Victoria Hall (Switzerland). Mr.
Selman has participated in prestigious festivals around the world
including the Takefu International Music Festival, Japan-2007, Taos
School of Music,USA- 2006, Pinchas Zukerman Young Artists Programme,USA-
2003, 2005 and has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists
such as Pinchas Zukerman, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Michael Tree, Roberto Diaz,
Paul Katz, Timothy Eddy, and Garth Knox. Nathan has won numerous prizes
including the First Prize- Dallas Symphonic Competition, Grand Prize-
Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Competition, and a Scholarship at the New
England Conservatory, Boston, MA.
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Cello
Rosalind Acton
 Rosalind studied with
Alexander Baillie, first in St Albans and London and then at the
Hochschule fur Kunste, Bremen. She left Bremen to study for a BA in
music at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and subsequently won the Winifred
Disney Award to attend the Royal Academy of Music. During her time at
the Academy she studied with Mats Lidstrom and was awarded the
Montefiore Prize, the Douglas Cameron Award for cello and piano duo and
a place on the LSO string scheme. In 2004 she was the winner of the
Penderecki Prize at the First International Solo Cello Competition, in
Katowice, Poland. As a chamber musician and soloist, Rosalind has
performed in France, Germany, Finland and the USA, as well as giving
regular performances in and around London. She is frequently in demand
as a continuo cellist and works regularly with Opera Della Luna and
Opera East. Rosalind also plays in the ensemble Parapar, a group built
around the voice of singer-songwriter Moushumi Bhowmik and which draws
its repertoire both from Moushumi's own compositions and the rich folk
heritage of Bengal. After a successful tour to Calcutta and Bangladesh
under commission from the British Council in 2005, the group plans to
return to Bangladesh in November 2008 and to record a debut album in
early 2009.
Oliver Coates
 Oliver Coates
attained the highest degree result in the Royal Academy of Music's
history and went on to achieve an MPhil with distinction at Oxford
University (New College). He plays as guest principal cello in the
London Sinfonietta, in the Ossian Ensemble (Leverhulme Junior Fellows in
Chamber Music at the Royal College of Music), the House of Bedlam (BMIC
Cutting Edge tour 2008), RADIUS (contemporary series - South Bank
Centre), and is artistic director of Sounds Underground, promoting
collaborative events between leading young composers and performers. He
is a winner of the 2006 Philip & Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert
Artists, awarded by the Making Music Federation. In 2007 he was a winner
at the Kirckman Society auditions. This season he also performs a solo
debut at the Wigmore Hall, March 8th, in a programme of Beethoven,
Rachmaninoff, a world premiere by Benjamin Britten, and further
premieres by Larry Goves and Martin Suckling.
www.olivercoates.com
Andrew Joyce
 Andrew Joyce was born
in Norwich in 1982 and began studying the cello at the age of 7 with
Barry Wright. At the age of 11 he was awarded a place at the Purcell
School of Music, where his teachers were Amanda Truelove and Michal
Kaznowski (Maggini Quartet). Andrew continued his studies at the Royal
College of Music as a Scholar supported by South Square Trust &
Frederick Johnston Awards and graduated with a BMus (Hons) and a PG Dip
with Distinction. Whilst there, he won several prizes and was principal
cellist of all the major RCM ensembles working with many eminent
musicians including Bernard Haitink & Gordan Nikolitch. He was also
accepted on the LSO String Experience Scheme and in July 2004 was
awarded the PROMIS award for the most outstanding potential shown on the
Scheme. Having been awarded the DAAD Scholarship, Andrew went on to
study in Lübeck with Troels Svane. Andrew has taken part in
masterclasses both in Britain & abroad with Alexander Baillie, David
Geringas, Bernard Greenhouse, Alexander Rudin, Karine Georgian, Natalia
Gutman, Leonid Gorokhov, the Kopelman Quartet & the Takacs
Quartet.Andrew has a busy performance schedule giving concerts across
the country both as soloist and chamber musician. Highlights include a
performance with Rainer Sonne (Concert Master of Berlin Philharmonic)
and Igor Sulyga (Kopelman Quartet) and a tour to Costa Rica with the
Covent Garden Soloists (Royal Opera House). Andrew has been on trial for
Principal Cello of Northern Sinfonia & with the London Symphony
Orchestra and freelances regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra,
London Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
www.andrewjoyce.co.uk
Gemma Rosefield
 Winner
of the prestigious Pierre Fournier Award at the Wigmore Hall in 2007,
Gemma made her concerto debut at age 16, when she won First Prize in the
European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, Norway, playing a
televised performance with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Other
successes include Kirckman and Making Music Awards, First Prize in the
Royal Over-Seas League String Competition and the Premier Prix Maurice
Ravel in France. She is supported by the Countess of Munster Recital
Scheme, and is a Tillett Trust Young Artist. Gemma has recently
completed her studies with Ralph Kirshbaum at the R.N.C.M., where she
has been awarded the coveted Gold Medal. She had previously graduated
with First Class Honours at the R.A.M. as a pupil of David Strange,
where she won the Vice-Principal's Special Prize. She has also studied
with Johannes Goritzki, Gary Hoffman, Bernard Greenhouse and Zara
Nelsova. Described by The Strad on her 2003 Wigmore Hall Debut as "a
mesmerising musical treasure" by the London Evening Standard in 2005 as
"a phenomenal talent", and featured in the BBC Music Magazine as "one to
watch" in 2007, Gemma has recently made her solo debut in the
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and in the Diligentia, The Hague in the New
Masters International Recital Series. She has recently returned from
Kenya, where she performed with the Nairobi Symphony Orchestra, and
whilst there she gave several highly successful Public Masterclasses.
Gemma has a deep interest in contemporary music, and works have been
written for her by David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, James Francis
Brown, Rhian Samuel, Julian Dawes and Michael Kamen. Gemma has recently
recorded CDs of the works of Rhian Samuel, and of James Francis Brown.
Gemma gave the highly successful 2008 Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Concert
in March at Wigmore Hall, together with Leos Cepicky and Michael Dussek,
with whom she appeared at the Belfast Festival, a concert broadcast on
Radio 3. She has been invited to give the 2009 Jacqueline du Pré
Memorial Concert at Wigmore Hall with the Wihan Quartet. Amongst other
future plans, Gemma will be giving a Wigmore Hall Sunday Morning Coffee
Concert in March 2009, and she will also be giving a series of recitals
in the UK, Belgium, France, Mexico and Japan.
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Harp
Sivan Magen
 Following
the Israeli harpist Sivan Magen’s performance at Alice Tully Hall, the
New-York Sun wrote: “Sivan Magen dazzled…Mr. Magen delivered a
dramatically charged, suitably mysterious, and stunningly strong-handed
realization…His tone was superb”. Sivan Magen is the First Prize winner
(as well as the winner of two special prizes) of the 16th International
Harp Contest in Israel (2006), and as such is the first Israeli to have
won this prestigious competition since it was founded in 1959. His
2008-2009 season will include recital and concerto performances in the
USA, Israel and Europe, Including debut recitals in NYC and in London's
Wigmore Hall, sponsored by the Victor Salvi Foundation, who will also
sponsor his debut solo CD recording. Besides his growing activity as a
soloist, Sivan is an avid chamber musician, in which capacity he
performed at Le Trianon and Salle Gaveau in Paris, recorded for Israeli
Radio and Television as well as New York’s WQXR and the French
television channel Mezzo, and participated in chamber-music festivals in
Marlboro(USA), Kuhmo (Finland), Giverny (France), Kfar-Blum and the
International Chamber Music Festival in Jerusalem, collaborating with
artists such as Kim Kashkashian, Nobuko Imai, Shmuel Ashkenazi, Vladimir
Mendelssohn, Franklin Cohen, David Soyer, Carol Wincenc and Emmanuel
Pahud. As a soloist he performed with all of the major Israeli
orchestras, including the Israeli Philharmonic. In the 2007-2008 season
Sivan performed in recitals and presented masterclasses in the USA,
Taiwan, Colombia, Italy, France and Israel, performed in the opening
concert of the 10th World Harp Congress in Amsterdam, and participated
in the premiere recording of Compline by Christopher Rouse for Koch
International. Born in Jerusalem, Sivan Magen studied the piano with
Professor Benjamin Oren and Talma Cohen and the harp with Irena
Kaganovsky at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. After finishing
his military service as an "Outstanding Musician" in 2001, he continued
his studies with Germaine Lorenzini in France and was accepted to
Isabelle Moretti’s harp class at the Paris Conservatory (CNSMDP) from
which he graduated in June 2005 with a “Premier Prix”. In May 2008 he
graduated with his Master’s degree from Nancy Allen’s studio in the
Juilliard School. Sivan Magen was a winner of the America-Israel
Cultural Foundation Scholarships from 1995-2008.
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Piano
Alasdair Beatson
 Highly regarded as an
individual and accomplished musician, Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson
continues to make an impact on the classical music scene. Highlights of
this season include the recording and release of his debut CD for SOMM
Recordings, and a tour of the UK with the Scottish Ensemble, performing
Shostakovich’s Concerto for Piano and Strings. As soloist, Alasdair
received awards from the Kirckman Concert Society, the Philip and
Dorothy Green (Making Music) Award for Young Artists, and in 2003 won
the 2nd Prize in the China Shanghai International Piano Competition. For
the Park Lane Group, Alasdair gave critically acclaimed recitals at the
Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room, receiving excellent reviews in five
national papers. Also a sought-after chamber musician, Alasdair was
invited to join the tours of International Musicians Seminar, Prussia
Cove, in the UK, and Musicians from Steans Institute, Ravinia Festival,
in the USA, after his participation in their masterclasses and concerts.
He was awarded major chamber and collaborative piano prizes from the
Royal Over-Seas League, in addition to the ROSL Ensemble Prize for his
chamber group Ensemble na Mara. Forthcoming performances include a tour
of New Zealand and Australia with the Royal Over-Seas League,
collaborations with the Doric String Quartet, chamber recitals in New
York’s Carnegie Hall and the Concertgebauw, Amsterdam, and a further
solo Wigmore Recital on 8th February 2009, presented by the Kirckman
Concert Society. Alasdair studied with John Blakely at the Royal College
of Music, London, graduating in 2002 with First Class Honours and a
Director’s Golden Jubilee Award. He subsequently completed a Performer’s
Diploma at Indiana University, studying with Menahem Pressler. In
masterclass he has played to Leon Fleisher, Alicia de Laroccha, John
Lill, Murray Perahia and Ferenc Rados.
Daniel Tong
 Daniel Tong studied
in London with Irina Zaritskaya and Paul Roberts. He enjoys a varied
career, performing frequently at Britain‘s major concert halls,
festivals and on BBC Radio 3. He performed solo recitals for the Park
Lane Group on the South Bank, at Steinway Hall and the Cheltenham
Festival. Concerto appearances have included works by Beethoven, Mozart,
Rachmaninov and Gershwin. His own group, The London Bridge Ensemble,
presents varied programmes of chamber music, often alongside song. They
have played in St John’s Smith Square, St George’s Bristol, the City of
London Festival and Kerry Chamber Music Festival. They are resident
ensemble at the Ponte de Lima Festival in Portugal. In 2005 they made
their debut at the Wigmore Hall with a programme that included a new
commission for Piano Quartet and baritone by David Matthews. They
recently released their debut CD recording of Frank Bridge chamber and
vocal works for Dutton Epoch. They returned to the Wigmore Hall in June
2007 for a programme of Schumann and Brahms. In 2008 they started a new
chamber music festival in Winchester. They have broadcast on BBC Radio 3
and Canal. In 2004 Daniel performed Dvorak’s Piano Quartets with the
Picander Ensemble in venues including Wigmore Hall, the South Bank and
Aldeburgh Festival to commemorate the composer’s centenary. They
recorded these works in 2005 for Merlin Classics. He regularly appears
in recitals with baritone Ivan Ludlow and has also partnered tenor
Charles Daniels, soprano Valerie Gabail and baritone Stephan Loges. He
performed and recorded works by Vaughan Williams and Michael Stimpson
with the Allegri String Quartet and tenor Paul Agnew. Daniel has a duo
with violinist Fiona McNaught. They have been recipients of awards from
the Craxton, Tunnell and Tillett Trusts and the Musicians’ Company. In
2002 they performed the complete Sonatas by Beethoven in several venues
around the country. He has given recitals with violinist Florence Cooke
and also Jennifer Pike including the Wigmore Hall and live on BBC Radio
3. In 2008/09 he has been performing Beethoven’s complete cello sonatas
with Pierre Doumenge. Daniel is artistic director of the annual Wye
Valley Chamber Music Festival, which recently celebrated it’s 10th year.
James Young
James Young enjoys a remarkably varied
career in music working as pianist, composer, educator and musical
curator on diverse projects around the capital. Whilst working for his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees as a scholar at the Royal College of
Music, James made his solo piano debut at the Edinburgh Festival and
performed as soloist with the National Children’s Wind Orchestra, the
East Riding Youth Orchestra and the RCM Big Band under John Wilson.
Since graduating James has worked with Charles Court Opera as assistant
director, musical director, pianist and company actor (notably in the
company’s two raucously successful pantomimes Cinderella and Aladdin in
2007 and 2008). Since 2005 he has been a Park Lane Group Young Artist as
half of the Eaton-Young piano duo, who have given acclaimed performances
at the Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. James’ Piccadilly,
the Bedford Chamber Music Festival, and Wigmore Hall. James is director
of the Warehouse Ensemble – a cross-genre music and music-theatre group
conducted by Edwin Roxburgh – and founder/director of the Rosemary
Branch Festival – an eclectic celebration of ancient and contemporary
music, theatre and comedy held in April above a pub in Islington. He
made his conducting debut at the John Cage MusiCircus at Tate Modern and
in 2007 conducted the world premiere of Edward Cowie’s Nymphaeas. James’
music has been performed at the Purcell Room, the Warehouse, Buxton
Opera House and in all the London Colleges, by the Galliard and Amphion
ensembles, the Warehouse Ensemble and the Charles Court Opera Chamber
Orchestra, and 2009 sees the premiere of The Grand Jamboree – Our
London, Our Voice, a work involving 80 children from London schools to
be given at the RCM in July – the culmination of a five-week
improvisation and composition course. Consistently engaged as a chamber
musician, James also plays with The Jigsaw Players, the London
Contemporary Music Group and the Contemporary Consort.
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Wind
Chi-Yu Mo, clarinet
 Chi-Yu graduated with
First Class Honours and a Ph.D in Chemistry from St. John’s College
Cambridge, before turning to a musical career. He then studied at the
Royal Academy of Music with Nicholas Rodwell, Angela Malsbury and
Richard Addison, where he graduated with a DipRAM and also won many
Prizes and Awards. In 1996, Chi-Yu was the winner of the Britten-Pears
Concerto Competition as well as a finalist in the Royal Overseas League
Competition for Woodwind. After leaving the Academy, Chi-Yu undertook
further studies with Thea King and Angela Malsbury, assisted by Myra
Hess and Ian Fleming Awards. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed
Principal E flat Clarinet of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
before joining the London Symphony Orchestra as Sub-Principal in 1998.
His freelance work includes playing as Guest Principal with the RLPO,
CBSO, Northern Sinfonia, BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony
Orchestras. He has also recently played Principal Clarinet with the Asia
Philharmonic Orchestra. Chi-Yu enjoys a varied spectrum of work with the
LSO, including playing Principal Clarinet and E Flat Clarinet for the
world’s top conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Sir Colin Davis, Pierre
Boulez, Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Haitink, Sir John Eliot Gardiner,
Myung Whun Chung and Daniel Harding. His Education Work has included
coaching wind players at London Conservatoires and Youth Orchestras from
New York to Almaty (Kazakhstan) as well as giving masterclasses in
Illinois, Florida, Spain and the UK. As a Chamber Musician, Chi-Yu has
played with Pianists Roger Vignoles, Piers Lane and Simon Lepper and has
also played with the Nash Ensemble and Endymion at venues including the
Wigmore Hall, St George’s Brandon Hill, LSO St Lukes and the Barbican
Hall.
Peter Cigleris
 Still
only twenty-nine, Peter Cigleris has enjoyed a wide and varied career.
He was already playing professionally at the age of fourteen! The Five
Pieces this evening are not the first music by Clive Jenkins he has
played. Clive was so impressed by Peter’s playing; he composed a
concerto for him. This was premiered in 2000 with the Southwest
Sinfonietta in Plymouth’s Guildhall. Peter studied at the Birmingham
Conservatoire from 1997 where his professors were Michael Harris and
Colin Parr. Whilst at the Conservatoire, Peter won the prestigious John
Ireland Chamber music award with a performance of that composer’s
Fantasy Sonata. He was also awarded a place on the City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra Training Scheme. At the Conservatoire Peter performed
numerous concertos with the college’s ensembles, he also developed an
interest in early clarinets, which led to a performance with the
Conservatoire’s Baroque Capelle Orchestra with the Chalumeau Concerto by
Fasch. Peter also premiered Guy Woolfenden’s arrangement of Malcolm
Arnold’s Pre-Goodman Rag for wind ensemble; he later performed the
complete Arnold Concerto with the Warwickshire Symphony under Guy
Woolfenden as part of the composer’s eightieth birthday celebrations.
Peter went on to graduate from the Royal College of Music in 2002 with a
PGDip. There his professors were Janet Hilton, Richard Hosford, Robert
Hill and Tim Lines. During the summer of that year, Peter was awarded
the Prix de Fossat and was invited to France to perform for Her Majesty
the Queen of Denmark at a private reception. As soloist he has performed
in many venues across the UK and Europe and premiered several new works
for the instrument as well as giving performances of concertos by
Mozart, Weber, Finzi and Arnold to name a few. Peter has been involved
with several major projects, most notably with the BBC as a member of
the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique in the BBC docu-drama 'Eroica’.
Peter was also awarded a place on the prestigious Jerwood Foundation
Scholarship for Young Players in association with the Orchestra in the
Age of Enlightenment. As an orchestral player he has worked with several
well-known English orchestras including the CBSO, WNO and Orchestra of
the Swan. As a chamber musician Peter works with the pianist
Jennie-Helen Moston. This four-year partnership has seen the duo perform
in the Windsor Festival and Wooburn Festival and also various music
clubs from Scotland to the South of England. Peter also plays with the
dynamic Canteloube Trio who were hand-picked for the Concert Promoters
Network. Forthcoming engagements for Canteloube include recitals in
Scotland, the north of England and St. George’s Bristol. Peter plays a
pair of Peter Eaton Elite clarinets made for him in November 2001.
Adam Walker
 BBC
Young Musician Concerto Finalist 2004, born in Retford, Nottinghamshire
in 1987, Adam Walker taught himself to play the flute at the age of 9. A
year later he entered Chetham's School of Music, where he studied with
Gitte Sorensen. In September 2005 he won a scholarship to the Royal
Academy of Music where he studies with Michael Cox and in 2007 he was
selected for representation by Young Concert Artists Trust (YCAT). In
2002 Adam became the youngest ever winner of the British Flute Society
Competition and in 2003 won the Royal Over-Seas League prize for the
woodwind player with the most promise. The following year he was a
Concerto Finalist in the 2004 BBC Young Musicians Competition performing
Nielsen's Flute Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
conducted by Ilan Volkov. As a soloist Adam has appeared with the Hallé
Orchestra at Bridgewater Hall, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at
Cadogan Hall and with the City of Birmingham and Bournemouth Symphony
Orchestras. His recital work has included his debut at the Festspiele
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany in 2007, appearances with Iain
Burnside at Cadogan Hall, with London Conchord at Conway Hall and with
harpist Sally Pryce and pianist John Reid throughout the UK including
concerts at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall and in Paris and Madrid. He
has given numerous radio broadcasts, including appearances on BBC Radio
3. Engagements during 2008/09 include return visits to Wigmore Hall,
concerts with Trevor Pinnock, a performance of Joe Duddell’s Flute and
Harp Concerto at the Presteigne Festival and recitals at St. George’s
Bristol and the Mozart BathFest. This summer he made his debut at the
BBC Proms in Messiaen's La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur
Jesus-Christ with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by
Thierry Fischer and appeared with the Academy of St.
Martin-in-the-Fields in the Barbican’s Mostly Mozart Festival. As an
orchestral player Adam has appeared as principal flute with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra and London Sinfonietta.
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Ensembles
The Galitzin Sting Quartet
First Prize Winners
of the 22nd Charles Hennen International Chamber Music Competition in
Holland, 2007, the Galitzin Quartet was formed in 2003 at the Royal
Academy of Music in London where they were Leverhulme Chamber Music
Fellows in 2007. After playing together for two months they won the ‘Sir
Edward Cooper Prize’ at the Academy for their performance of Brahms’ 2nd
String Quartet which led to a public masterclass at the Wigmore Hall,
London. Since this early achievement they continued their prizewinning
success, receiving the Marjorie Bunty Lempfert award for chamber music,
reaching the final of the Royal Overseas League Competition and winning
the ‘Sir Arthur Bliss Prize’ for their performance of Bliss’ Clarinet
Quintet with the critically acclaimed clarinettist Julian Bliss. The
quartet received a scholarship to attend the International Musicians
Seminar at Prussia Cove and has been fortunate to receive tuition from
members of some of the world’s leading quartets including the Amadeus,
Brandis, Fitzwilliam, Jerusalem, Keller, Maggini, Mosaiques, Škampa,
Vermeer and Wihan Quartets. Past performances in the UK include the
Bloomsbury, Leeds, Pinner, Tilford-Bach and Windsor Music Festivals, and
more recently St. John’s Smith Square. In the summer of 2006 they were
invited to Portugal, performing in the Caldas da Rainha Music Festival
and the “Fundação Eugénio de Almeida” in Évora. The quartet is committed
to charity work and has given concerts in the South of France and the UK
in aid of ‘Jessie’s Fund.’ The quartet was commissioned by the
contemporary English composer, Professor John Ramsay, to record three of
his string quartets and is honoured that he has dedicated his 3rd
Quartet in C to them. They gave the World Première of this quartet on
5th August 2006 in France. In 2007 the quartet completed separate tours
of Holland and France, and last March completed a tour of Germany
comprising eleven concerts as part of KlangKultTour, collaborating with
the Russian pianist Ksenia Rodionova. The Quartet were delighted to be
invited back to Germany for further concerts which took place in
October. Engagements in 2009 include a recording for Harmos Records and
a Mozart series in Portugal performing the six quartet’s dedicated to
Haydn. The Quartet is named after Prince Nicholas Galitzin of Saint
Petersburg, the dedicatee of three of Beethoven's late Quartets: Op.127,
130 and 132.
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Eaton-Young Piano Duo
 First
mooted in 1998, David and James finally got it together in 2005 when
they auditioned for the Park Lane Group, subsequently gaining excited
reviews for performances at the Purcell Room (“a virtuoso performance”
The Times) and Wigmore Hall. They made their concerto debut with the
London Amistad Orchestra in 2008 at the RCM with Poulenc’s Concerto for
Two Pianos and Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals. A combination of
composer and conductor, they specialise in contemporary music and
transcriptions of opera and orchestral music: to date they have
transcribed no less than 10 complete operas for piano duet, (including
Don Giovanni, Cosi fan Tutte, Der Schauspieldirektor, Mozart and Salieri
and a vast amount of Gilbert and Sullivan, performed by Charles Court
Opera and The Minotaur Music Theatre) and premiered their transcription
of Stravinsky’s piano roll recording of The Rite of Spring (“an
astounding beast” ClassicalSource) to wide acclaim, with critics noting
the duo’s virtuosity and editing skill. Recently the duo have been
surveying the piano duet music of Schubert and Mozart and have been
invited back to the Wigmore Hall in 2010 to perform rare works of
Schubert. At the invitation of Sir Norman Rosenthal the duo undertook
the mammoth task of preparing the Zemlinsky arrangement of Mahler’s
Sixth Symphony for a private performance at the home of Lady Valerie
Solti, a feat they will repeat at this year’s Rosemary Branch Festival.
The Doric String
Quartet
 The
Doric String Quartet is now firmly established as one of the outstanding
quartets of their generation. In 2008 they won 1st prize in the Osaka
International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, 2nd prize in the
Premio Paolo Borciani Competition in Italy, where they also received a
special mention for their performance of Haydn, and the Ensemble Prize
in the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, donated by the Nordmetall-Foundation.
Now in its 11th season the Quartet regularly performs at major festivals
and venues throughout the UK as well as abroad in Europe and Asia.
Highlights over the last year have included debut concerts in Germany (Festspiele
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Israel (Tel Aviv), Switzerland and France, a
BBC Radio 3 recording, collaborations with Piers Lane and Melvyn Tan,
masterclasses with György Kurtag and the closing concert in the Wigmore
Hall season. The Quartet was selected for representation by Young
Concert Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2006. During 2008/09 the Quartet appear
four times at Wigmore Hall including a recital in the hall’s Haydn
celebrations alongside such groups as the Arcanto, Hagen and Mosaiques
Quartets and a concert with Mark Padmore and Julius Drake. They also
make their debut at the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris, give recitals in
Lucerne, Frankfurt, the Isle of Man, East Neuk, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
and Schwetzinger Festivals, tour throughout Japan and return to Israel
and South East Asia. Formed in 1998 at Pro Corda, The National School
for Young Chamber Music Players, in Suffolk, since 2002 the Doric String
Quartet have been studying on the Paris-based ProQuartet Professional
Training Program, where they have worked with members of the Alban Berg,
Artemis, Hagen and LaSalle Quartets. The Quartet continue to study with
Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and Walter Levin (LaSalle Quartet) at the
Music Academy in Basel. In 2000 the Doric String Quartet won the
inaugural Bristol Millennium Chamber Music Competition. They were
subsequently made “Artists in Residence” at the Wiltshire Music Centre
in Bradford-on-Avon where they combine a concert series with education
work involving local primary schools. The Quartet made their Purcell
Room debut in 2001 in a Park Lane Group concert and since then has
appeared regularly at Wigmore Hall including concerts with Michael
Collins and Catherine Wyn-Rogers with whom they gave the premiere of a
new work by Gordon Kerry. They made their Edinburgh Festival debut in
2006 and have given recitals in the Associazione Alessandro Scarlatti
series in Naples, and at the ORF (Austrian Radio) Funkhaus in Vienna.
Alex Redington and Jonathan Stone completed their postgraduate studies
at the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 where they studied with Howard
Davis. Simon Tandree studied in Saarbrücken and Detmold with Dietmut
Poppen. John Myerscough graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge in 2003
and is now a Fellow of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he
studies with Louise Hopkins. The Doric String Quartet acknowledges the
generous support of an Anonymous Foundation.
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© The Jigsaw Players 2010
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"We have a lot of dreams for
the future, and here are a few of them... "
GETTING A PIANO
Christ Church does not own a grand piano, and we are going to need one
very quickly in order for us to be able to bring you a huge range of
chamber music. A new piano costs about £25 000, and that's not quite in
our budget yet! Do you have a piano in the living room? Do you never use
it? Would you be willing to loan it to Christ Church? Please let us know
if you do!
CHILDREN CONCERTS
We will be having 2 concerts a year which will be for children of all
ages. The Jigsaw Players will adapt one of the evening concerts for
children, they will interact with them, they will explain their
instruments and the children will have a chance to ask questions.
Another, on 2 other occasions children who play an instrument will be
able to perform in a concert reserved for them. It's the opportunity to
start playing in public and getting the cameras out!
AMATEUR WEEKEND
You play an instrument? You want to play chamber music? Then this is for
you. We will be having a concert during the season where YOU are the
performer. We will be auctioning out a weekend of coachings with members
of the Jigsaw Players and at the end of the weekend, you will be
performing. As a finale for the concert, we will all play together
(depending on the instruments we have of course!)
FESTIVAL WEEK
We would like to have a week of concerts: 6 days, 6 concerts,which would
be in conjunction with the Bedford Chamber Music Festival. You can find
out more about the by going to www.bedfordchambermusicfestival.com.
Young artists from the four corners of the world gather in Bedford to
perform wonderful chamber music pieces, and we want to share that with
you, our public in Wimbledon.
ESTABLISHED ARTISTS
When we have enough funding we would like to invite established artists.
We have all learnt, played with, had masterclasses with some of today's
most important artists and we would like you to be able to hear them
right here in Christ Church.
Get involved
You want to support
the Jigsaw Players? There is more than one way to do so!
DONATIONS
Like any group
or organization, we need funding! Please consider giving generously, and
if you want to know more about how we spend our donations please feel
free to contact us.
NO CASH?
You can still
help the Jigsaw Players. If you are a web designer, publicist, if you
know how to start running a corporation, if you would like to make the
cakes for the post concert reception, if you would like to be a
volunteer to pick up elderly people who could not otherwise come to the
concerts or if you have any skill which will help us get off the ground
we would like to talk to you about it. We'll appreciate any help we can
get!
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