Click HERE for the Orchestra List Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music 2008 List of Conductors and Solo Artists: Some of the best young musical talents are represented here. Biographies:
Jacques Cohen, music director Jacques is Music Director and Principal Conductor of one of the UK 's finest orchestras, the Isis Ensemble. He has recently conducted concerts with Romania 's premier orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest and is Principal Guest Conductor with the City of Oxford Orchestra . He has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bombay Chamber Orchestra and guest conducted literally dozens of orchestras both in the UK and abroad. He has also been Music Director of several major opera productions and was recently appointed Music Director of the Seychelles International Music Festival. He has recorded CDs for a variety of labels, notably Meridian, with whom he recently recorded the sensational Music for Strings CD with the Isis Ensemble. He has conducted performances of both his own music and that of other composers on radio and television including a momentous performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Three Screaming Popes for BBC Radio 3. Jacques conducts an extremely wide repertoire from Monteverdi to the present day and is a passionate advocate of music by living composers. At the same time his performances of the mainstream classical and romantic repertoire have been widely acclaimed for their uniquely fresh and exciting quality and this has made him popular with both listeners and fellow musicians. He is also an enthusiastic communicator and has a growing reputation for his ability to explain music in an entertaining way and get audiences more involved in concerts. His many compositions include: Yigdal , premiered by the Isis Ensemble last year and subsequently performed by the Yehudi Menuhin Orchestra both here and abroad; Quiet Music which is regularly performed by British and American orchestras; Three Nottingham Dances , commissioned by the Nottingham Philharmonic and performed to great acclaim; a Tuba Concerto , commissioned by the great tuba player Oren Marshall; and a one-act opera, Magic Potions. Fantasias, Canons & Fugues, premiered by the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, and Elegy on a Floating Chord, winner of the Surrey Sinfonietta Composition Prize, have both been performed and broadcast several times in Europe and in America . Serenata Malinconica for Violin, Viola or Cello and small orchestra has become very popular. His large-scale Songs of Innocence and Experience for chorus and orchestra was premiered at St John Smith's Square in 2005. Serenade for Saxophones was commissioned by the Northern Saxophone Quartet the same year, as was the very exciting Pantheon by the National Youth Wind Ensemble. He has also written several award winning works for choir including Jubilate, commissioned by Berkhamsted Choral Society and a set of Christmas choral pieces, known collectively as Cohen's Carols . Other works have been performed at the South Bank in London and at the Royal Albert Hall and he has also written music for BBC television. Future projects include a new major commission for choir and orchestra for 2009, controversially setting part of the St Matthew Passion , and a huge orchestral piece, Adventures in the Twilight Zone which Jacques hopes to complete next year. He is also arranging Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for strings and Brahms's First Clarinet Sonata as a concerto for the soloist Sarah Williamson. Jacques read music at Oxford where he conducted the main university orchestra and performed several of his own compositions. When leaving Oxford , he was awarded the Conducting Scholarship at the Royal College of Music where he later won the Tagore Gold Medal, the College's prize for its most outstanding student. Since then he has won several other awards including the August Manns Conducting Prize, Surrey Sinfonietta Composition Prize and the Constant and Kit Lambert Award. He took First Prize in the British Reserve Conducting Competition and was also a prize winner in the Leeds Conductors' Competition.
Benjamin Ellin, music director British Conductor and Composer Benjamin Ellin is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of EMFEB (Every Music For EveryBody), Music Director of the Seychelles International Festival of Music, Principal Conductor of the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra and Director of Music at the Pembroke Academy of Music, London. In 2007 he was awarded the Public Prize and the highest prize from the first ever Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Luxembourg. Benjamin subsequently made his debut with the Luxembourg Philharmonic conducting Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony. In 2007 Benjamin became the first classical composer to sign a deal with the Prince’s Trust Music Publishing whilst also featuring in BBC Music Magazine in their Rising Stars feature. Benjamin has worked with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, New Russian Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and has accompanied Pianist Ingrid Filter, Soprano Elizabeth Watts and Violists Rivka Golani and Maxim Rysanov amongst others. Immediate and future plans include appearances with St Petersburg Philharmonic, Montpellier Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra National De Lille, Orchestra National De Montreal, Ural Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and appearances at the Tokyo ‘FOLLE JOURNÉE’. This is in addition to his conducting commitments with the Seychelles Festival and the Slaithwaite Philharmonic. Immediate composition projects include the recording and touring of his Concerto for Ney and Orchestra Tafahum (2008), a major concert work for Violist Rivka Golani (2008), a trio for the Luxembourg based Ni Ensemble (2008) as well as continued work on his first opera, Welcome To Deen. Benjamin is dedicated to promoting music from the 20th Century and contemporary music and he has drawn on composers to produce works for nearly all of his concerts. He is also passionate about working with music and musicians from other cultures. Most recently Benjamin collaborated with Syrian musician Louai Alhenawi on a project aimed at combining the musical traditions from the Middle East and Western Musical Traditions using the EMFEB Symphony Orchestra, Syrian Folk Ensemble Al-Farabiand the Pembroke Academy of Music. Noted for his work with audiences, Benjamin has a diverse repertoire and offers a fresh and undaunted approach to the more standard greats whilst promoting unnecessarily neglected works and the works of British composers. Work with his own organisation, EMFEB, based in London, has received great acclaim for their performances and presentations of old and new music in unfamiliar venues drawing in new audiences to classical music both in the UK and abroad. This passion for high class music to all is mirrored in Benjamin’s work as an educator, animateur and figurehead. Since January 2006 he has been Director of Music at Pembroke Academy of Music, (Walworth) London. During his tenure the Academy has doubled in size. He has also strengthened the link between the Academy and Pembroke College Cambridge, resulting in an annual concert with both groups. Benjamin maintains a strong link with the National Youth Orchestra with whom he was a member from 1996-1998 and from whom he was awarded the John Fletcher Memorial Prize. Benjamin regularly works with the National Youth Orchestra Sinfonietta and works alongside the composition department of the organisation with Composer in residence Paul Patterson. In 2002 Benjamin was a key member of the National Youth Orchestra’s In School Projects. Additionally in 2002, he collaborated with the creative writing team at HMP Pentonville Prison on a set of texts which he used as the basis for his choral work, Verses from the Other World. Born in Bolton (1980), Benjamin studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where he graduated in 2002 after studying composition with John Woolrich. Benjamin has been awarded the Neil Vint bursary from Chetham’s School of Music (2002), Leslie Chester Prize For Outstanding Commitment from Chetham’s School of Music (1998) and the John Fletcher Award from the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (1998). Benjamin has taken part in conducting master classes with Gianandrea Noseda in Stresa, Italy (2006), and with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (2005). He has studied privately with Sir Colin Davis since 2002 and in 2003 received tuition from Bernard Haitink KBE. In 2001 Benjamin participated in the International Workshop for Conductors in St. Petersburg, Russia, studying with Alexandre Polistchuk and Michail Kukuchkin with support from HRH The Prince of Wales. Benjamin has worked with cellist Robert Cohen, Violinists Alena Baeva, Thomas Gould and Harriet Mackenzie and he has conducted in the Czech Republic, Germany, America, Holland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Russia and at venues including the Philharmonie (Luxembourg), Konzerthaus (Berlin), the Hermitage Theatre (St Petersburg), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre (Moscow) and throughout the United Kingdom. Recent commissions have included works for Violinist Harriet Mackenzie (2007), Royal Academy of Music and Conductor James Watson (2007) and leading trio Triptych (2006). His chamber ensemble work Damas commissioned by tubist Nick Etheridge has recently been released on the Brass Classics CD, One Clear Call. Benjamin’s theatre scores have been used by the Sheffield Crucible, RADA, GSMD and Rose Bruford College with concert premieres taking place as far a field as Los Angeles, Prague as well as at venues including the Barbican Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Julian Gregory, Concertmaster Julian Gregory “fell in love” with the violin at the age of seven and never considered another career from then onwards. His quick early progress won him a scholarship to Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, where he led the senior orchestra, performed concertos, recitals, and was also Leader of the school’s illustrious Palm Court Trio. Julian Gregory continued his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, winning a post-graduate scholarship in performance before joining the BBC Northern Symphony in 1984. He has been a first violin with the BBC Philharmonic for the past fifteen years, and regularly performs solo parts for the orchestra. He gave the world première of Maxwell Davis’s Celtic piece “ Beltane Fire” in the Boston Symphony Hall and at the BBC Proms. He performed John Casken’s “Broken Consort” for electric violin and orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in the 2005 BBC Proms. Julian Gregory’s special interest in chamber music led to his position as founder of the Bradford Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as a regular Guest Leader for the Manchester Mozart Players, as well as many festival orchestras across the North West of England. As a regular artist on radio, Julian Gregory has written, produced and presented many programmes on Radio 3, 4 and 5, as well as appearing regularly on air as a jazz soloist with his Trio “ Swing Persuasion”. His light music duo with conductor and violinist, Jan Pascal Tortellier, was featured on the Radio 2 Arts programme and subsequently performed at festivals and venues across the UK. He is much in demand as an accurate exponent of many violin styles, as diverse as Indian classical music and Bluegrass fiddle. He has played live on TV at the Mercury Music Award, and at venues as varied as St. Mark’s Square in Venice and the Orkney Festival Club. Julian Gregory has recently finished filming the part of a Romany violinist for a forthcoming BBC 1 television drama.
Sarah Moule, soprano Born in London, Sarah Moule read English at Cambridge University. In 2006 she was awarded a scholarship by Finzi Trust to study singing in Bologna and Venice. In London she has trained on ENO’s The Nack with a Lilian Baylis bursary and further studies have been supported by Madeline Finden Memorial Trust and the Concordia Foundation. As a compelling and versatile concert artist, her performances have included Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in Rome, Italy. Further concerts have included operatic arias at LSO St. Luke’s and the Anghirari Festival, Tuscany, and Mozart’s arias in Lausanne, St. John’s Smith Square, London and St. Carolus Boromeus, Antwerp. Miss Moule has given performances of Haydn’s Nelson Mass in the Bath International Concert Series, and American cabaret songs in Bangkok, representing the United Kingdom in a gala celebration of young musicians. Miss Moule’s rare sensitivity to song is demonstrated in recitals of diverse and adventurous programmes. Her recent recital to a capacity audience at St. John’s Smith Square included Handel, Mozart, Lieder spanning two centuries, twentieth century French song and the world première of 8 one-minute songs by the awarding-winning composer, Joseph Atkins. She is a regular guest recitalist at Handel House, London, and other venues, which include the Austrian Cultural Forum, Leighton House Holland Park, the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, and as part of the Young Concert Artists’ Series for the New London Orchestra on the Southbank Sinfonia. Sarah Moule has developed excellent working relationships with composers, several of whom write especially with her voice in mind. She has recently given contemporary premières at St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Wigmore Hall. Her opera roles include Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress for the Dartington International Festival, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Polly Peachum, in The Threepenny Opera and Morgana in Alcina. This summer she will play Fräulein Silberklang in Mozart’s short comic opera, The Impressario and in early 2008 Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, both for English Chamber Opera
Charles Humphries, countertenor As a soloist Charles Humphries has worked with numerous distinguished conductors and music directors, including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hicocks, Paul McCreech, Robert King, Rinaldo Allessandrini, Nicholas McGegan, James O’Donnell, Trevor Pinnock and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. He continues to perform with all the major ensembles in the UK and throughout Europe and has performed as guest soloist with The Kings Consort, the Gabrieli Consort, the Ulster Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, St. James’ Baroque Players and Concert Copenhagen. Engagements for Charles Humphries’ 2007 season and beyond include Music by Purcell at the Chapel Royal, with the Kings Consort throughout the UK and Europe, recitals and concerts in the newly created Larvik Early Music Festival, Norway. He made his début at the National Opera of Lithuania performing the Alto role in J. S. Bach’s St. Johannes Passion (co-production with Le Chatelet, Paris). He returned to the Lufthansa Festival of Music in Westminster Abbey, singing Cantatas of J.S. Bach with St. James Baroque Orchestra. In late summer 2007 Charles Humphries performed solo roles in Monteverdi’s Vespers and La Spozolizio, (a Venetian reconstruction for the marriage of the Lagoon to the Doge in Venice) at the Nuremberg Festival. This followed by a performance of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, in Beijing, China. Further engagements in the Baltic States throughout last summer included recitals of Opera arias in the Black House, Riga and the title role in Vivaldi’s Il Guistino. In 2008, he will re-appear at the Opera House in Lithuania before going on a European tour performing J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. He will also appear as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music, perform chamber music from his extensive Baroque repertoire and give an open lecture on the Baroque period at the International Conference Centre. On the opera front, new roles will include Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Nights Dream. Past operatic engagements have included the role of Delfa in Cavalli’s Giasone at the Meragon in Athens, the title role of Pompeo in Pompeo Magno at the Varazdin Festival of Baroque Music, Croatia. He has appeared in Lichas in Hercules at the Hans-Otto Theater, Potsdam, Lucio Silla in Lucio Silla at Händel Festival Karlsruhe, Tamerlano in Tamerlano, The Sorceress in Dido and Aenas, Ptolemeo in Guilio Cesare with the Norwegian National Opera, and Hamor in Händel’s Jephta with the English National Opera. Charles Humphries’ ever expanding discography includes Jephtha and Judas Maccabaeus (K & K Verlagsanstalt), Messiah (Capriccio), Vivaldi’s Cantatas (AVS), Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, as well as the “Venetian re-constructions” with the Gabrieli Consort and The Kings Consort. Archival television performances include Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus recorded for Slovenian television and Cavalli’s Pompeo Magna for Croation television.
Dario Balzanelli, tenor Born in Rome Dario Balzanelli has won numerous international competitions, such as the “Mario del Monaco” at Trapani and the “Flaviano Labo” of Piacenza. After his début at Teatro di Marsala in the role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, he performed numerous title roles in the lyrical repertoire, including Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Macduff in Macbeth and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, achieving great success. Dario Balzanelli has made numerous international appearances in the title role of Rodolfo in La Bohème in Austria and several German cities. He took part in the acclaimed tour of La Fenice Teatro to Copenhagen, where he performed the role of Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, under the baton of Yuri Ahronovitch, with whom he also collaborated in the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Teatro La Fenice, directed by Bob Wilson. He was selected by Claudo Abbado to perform in a new production of Simon Bocanegra at Teatro Communale, Ferrara, at Teatro Regio, Parma and in Bolzano; it was subsequently repeated for the opening season at Teatro La Fenice and for the Tokyo tour under the baton of Maestro Palumbo. He made his début at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi with Daniele Callegari and Ismaele in Nabucco at Konzert und Theater St. Galen. In the concert hall Dario Balzanelli has performed with great success internationally in countries such Austria, Germany, France, Latvia, Canada, Spain and the USA. He sang Verdi’s Requiem Mass in Klagenfurt Cathedral and in Imola. He has performed in recital along side Fiorenza Cedolins at Teatro Filarmonico, Verona and in a concert in memory of Renato Bruson at Teatro Carrani, Modena. He was recently a guest artist at the Sacred Music Festival in Palermo, where he sang Verdi’s Ave Maria and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle. He has made a DVD recording in the title role of Puccini’s Edgar at the Euro Mediterranean Festival, Rome. He has also made a CD of “Arie Verdiane” for Verdi’s centenary anniversary celebration entitled “Va Pensiero Day 2004”. In July 1006 Dario Balzanelli performed at the 500th anniversary celebration of St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in the presence of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, conducted by Maestro Alberto Veronesi. In May 2008, Dario Balzanelli is appearing as the Guest Soloist at the Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music, at the invitation of the patron of the festival to take part in the celebration of the life of Luciano Pavarotti, the greatest tenor of all times.
Sean Clayton, tenor Born in Wolverhampton, Sean Clayton began his training at the Birmingham Conservatoire and after further studies he graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, where he was a Van Beugel Scholar. Operatic engagements have included Toby, in The Medium and Rupert Burns, in The Impresario for Second Movement, The Merry Wives of Windsor for Opera South and Monsieur Prospect, in Not in front of the Waiter at the Jubilee Hall, Alderburgh. Further roles have included Giocondo in La pietra del paragone, Fenton in Fallstaff for Standley Hall Opera, Elder Gleaton in Susanna, Don Eusebio in L’occasione fa il ladro for Wrexford Festival Opera and Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at the Wrexford Festival Scenes. Recent concert highlights include J S Bach’s St. John Passion and Mozart’s Requiem at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, St. John Passion with the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra, St Matthew Passion and Messiah at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. Further performances include Beethoven’s Mass in C with the London Mozart Players at the Exeter Festival, Britten’s Spring Symphony at the Southampton Guildhall, and St. Nicholas’ in Exeter and Rippon Cathedrals. Sean Clayton performed Messiah for the World Festival Choir and the Gåvle Symphony Orchestra and also with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Mozart’s Requiem was performed at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool and St. Martin-in-the-Field. The Fairy Queen for the Armonico Consort, The Crucifixion in Bath Abbey and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music for the Concordia Foundation at the Queen Elizabeth Hall. His broadcasts have included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Handel’s Susanna for RTE Lyric FM. Sean Clayton’s current engagements in operatic roles are Beppe in Pagliacci for Lakeland Opera, Brother in Orfeo and Sailor in Dido and Aenas for English Touring Opera, Pastore in L’Orfeo for the English Bach Festival Trust, Sandy in The Lighthouse at the Cantiere Internationale di Montepulciano, Italy. Further engagements are Aurelius in King Arthur with Der Lautten Kompagney, Berlin and several other venues across Germany and Nanki-Poo in the Mikodo for Surrey Opera. Current engagements in concerts are J S Bach’s B minor Mass for Nottingham Bach Choir, Magnificat at Durham Cathedral, St. John Passion at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, on tour with the Irish Baroque Orchestra in Exeter and Winchester Cathedrals. Further engagements include St. Matthew Passion in Bury St. Edmund’s Cathedral, Messiah for Billingshurst Choral Society, Nelson Mass for “Concerts from Scratch”, in Seville, Spain, and Carmina Burana at the Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, as well as with the Young Yanacek Philharmonia in Bologna and Forli, Italy.
Richard Strivens, bass-baritone Richard Strivens, originally from Kent, grew up in Belgium and graduated in Chemistry from Oxford University. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, EurOpera Studio, Milan and the National Opera Studio. He has sung Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for English Touring Company, Strojnik, the Stage Technician in The Makropulos Case for Glynebourne Festival Opera, Don Giovanni and Figaro for Ryedale Festival Opera, Colline for Scottish Opera on Tour and Tergisto in Pallavincino’s Messalina at the Batignano Festival in Ttaly. Other Mozart roles include the Count for Pimlico Opera, Masetto at Cologne Opera and Simone in the Classical Opera Company’s La finta semplice. Handel’s roles have included Tiridate in Radamisto and Melisso from Alcina; also Zoroastro in Orlondo and Ariodate in Xerxes for the Cambridge Handel Opera Group. He sung Zuniga in Clonte Opera Farm’s Carmen, Don Quichotte for Opera Omnibus. Richard Strivens also sings Rossini’s Assur in Semiramide and Le Gouverneur in Le Comte Ory. He appeared as Giovanni in Channel 4’s Don Giovanni’s Masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen. More modern roles include Vermeer in Birtwistle’s The Second Miss Kong. Håkon in The Martyrdom of St. Magnus of William Davies, for The Opera Group, Boatman/Lightning in Julian Philip’s newly commissioned children’s opera Dolfin for WNO, Inspector Grayling in Glynebourne’s children’s opera Misper, Balthazar in Amah and the Night Visitors with RLPO Ensemble 21 and Britten’s Noah, Collatinus and Hel Helson. Last year Richard Strivens created the role of Abbott Samson in Judith Bingham’s The Ivory Tree. He has recently sung in the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Pucinella conducted by Barry Wordsworth. Richard Striven’s concert repertoire and reviews can be found at www.richardstrivens.com, which includes Bach’s Ich habe genung with Nicholas Daniel and the Britten Sinfonia, and also with Richard Simpson and the Goldberg Ensemble. He has sung St. Matthew Passion with Nicholas Cleobury and the Britten Sinfonia. Bach’s Magnificat with the Northern Sinfonia and Nicholas MCGegan, the Christmas Oratorio and the Dream of Gerontius at St. David’s Cathedral Festival; The Apostles at Eton College with Ralph Allwood. With the Joyful Company of Singers, he recorded Strauss’ Deutsche Motette and Messiah. He is regularly invited to sing Elijah, The creation, the Bach’s Passions, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle, Ein deutsche’s Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem, which he sang with combined North-West Choral Societies at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.
Michelle Solomon, piano Born in Israel, Michelle Solomon began her piano studies at the age of eight, and upon moving to New York with her family, she continued her studies with Dr Donald Pirone of the Aaron Copland School of Music. Throughout her high school years at La-Guarda High School for Performing Arts, and her college studies at Aaron Copeland School of Music, she performed as a soloist with a number of orchestras in New York, including the Five Towns Symphony Orchestra and the Classicists’ Symphony Orchestra. She also took part in many piano competitions, including the Oberlin International Piano Competition in Ohio. Miss Solomon returned to Israel in 1996 to continue her studies at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University with Professor Yonatan Zak and subsequently graduated. She has performed numerous piano recitals, chamber music concerts, as well as performing concertos with several orchestras internationally, including the Hasharon Orchestra and Campus Orchestra in Tel Aviv. In 2006 she performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Seychelles InterFest Symphony Orchestra at the official opening concert of the Seychelles festival. Further experienced gained was her appointment as music director and her participation in a number of “off-Broadway” musical productions in New York, including Sweeney Todd and Guys and Dolls. Miss Solomon is making her third appearance as a soloist and chamber musician at the Seychelles InterFest of Classical Music
Dominika Anna Rosiek, violin Dominika Anna Rosiek was born in Poland and started her violin studies at the age of four. Within a year she had recorded pieces for Polish Radio and also taking part in national and international competitions and festivals. She won many prizes, including a special prize in the Russian Music Festival, with a special invitation to perform at the Castle in Warsaw. Twice, she was awarded the National Sponsorship for Especially Talented Children and was invited to play to a special audience for Pope John Paul II. In September 1997, Miss Rosiek received a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School, in London. She went on to complete her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she graduated with a First Class Honours BMus and a Pg D. At the Royal Academy, she recorded a CD of chamber music with the Academy Soloists and won the J. Beare, Bow Prize for outstanding player. Miss Rosiek studied with Mateja Marinkovic and took part in numerous master classes with Zenon Brzewski, Vladmimir Spivakov, Detlef Hahn, Petru Munteanu, Eric Friedman, Marina Jaszwili, Dorothy DeLay, Ruggiero Ricci, Viktor Tryetiakov, Zahar Bron, Mauricio Fuks, Sylvia Rosenberg and Thomas Brandis. She has won several prizes; the Guivier Prize for Outstanding String Player, Alfred Brendel Prize and Wilton Cole Prize. She has also won several awards such as, the Martin Musical Scholarship, the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Craxton Prize, Hattori Foundation and Musician Benevolent Fund. Miss Rosiek has been finalist in many international competitions. Miss Rosiek has performed at several prestigious venues, such as South bank Centre, St. Martin in the Fields, the Wigmore Hall, St.John’s Smiths Square, St.James’s Piccadilly. She has also performed at many festivals, such as Prussia Cove, Holland Music Sessions, Spittalfield Festival, Verbier Academy, Encuentro De Musica De Santander, Aspen Music Festival, Menuhin Festival, G. Kurtag Festival and N. Paganini Festival. Miss Rosiek has a varied music interest. She has led several orchestras, such as European Youth Orchestra, London Chamber Players, Verdandi Camerata and many others. Currently, she is a member of Arlequin Piano Trio and also performs regularly, as a soloist and chamber musician in the UK, Switzerland, Poland, Holland and Germany.
Harriet Mackenzie, violin Harriet Mackenzie has toured Europe, America and Japan as a soloist and chamber musician. In 2004 she gave her highly acclaimed Wigmore Hall début as part of the Park Lane Young Artists Series. Since then she has given recitals in places such as, the “Marble Hall” in Budapest, the National Portrait Gallery, as part of the McCann Series, the Beers Van Berlage Hall in Amsterdam, the Expo Dome in Japan, the British Library, the Purcell Room, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Furthermore she was invited to return to the Wigmore Hall for the closing concert of the Saint-Saëns Festival, playing with the Florestan Trio. She has broadcast recitals live for the BBC Radio 3 and Hungarian National Radio. She has played Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Ukraine Philharmonic at the Chernigiv Festival. Miss Mackenzie studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with First Class Honours and a DipRAM. She has received awards by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, the Hattori Foundation and is a recipient of the Manoug Parikan and the Elise Ower Awards. Her professors at the RAM were Sheila Nelson, Howard Davis, Maurice Hasson, Hermann Krebbers and Marianne Thorsen. She has also played with some of the best Gypsy violinists during her studies in the USA and has an extensive knowledge of Greek music, through her family connection with Greece. She has collaborated with composers, such as Anthony Payne, David Matthews, Robert Fokkens, Mauricio Kagel, and Gyorgg Kurtag. Robert Fokkens is currently composing a violin concerto for her to be premièred in the “Fresh Series” at the South Bank. Other highlights of her engagements have included performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and a recital for the Chernigiv Festival in Ukraine, the unpublished Bax Sonata at the Purcell Room and Mozart’s concertos and sonatas in Beijing with the ContempoAir Ensemble for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Miss Mackenzie is a member of the Seychelles InterFest String Quartet and the Seychelles InterFest Ensemble; they have come together for promoting the Seychelles festival internationally.
Xandi van Dijk, viola Xandi van Dijk was born in Cape Town into a musical family, comprising numerous generations of singers, composers and violists. After completing his studies at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town with Prof. Jack de Wet, Xandi became a founding member of the Cape Town-based Sontonga Quartet, and held the viola position from the quartet’s inception in 2002 till December 2006. In this time, the Sontonga Quartet toured extensively both in South Africa and internationally, including performances at venues such as the Old Fort at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg; the Barbican Centre, London; Lincoln Centre and Central Park, New York and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne as an adjunct to the Commonwealth Games 2006. As a member of the Sontonga Quartet, Xandi has premiered over 30 South African works, as well as giving the South African premieres of works by Terry Riley, Osvaldo Golijov and Kevin Volans (with whom the quartet has worked), Pärt and Gòrecki. More recently, Xandi has performed at the Purcell Room in London with the electronica artist Mira Calix, and in Cape Town with London Philharmonic concertmaster Pieter Schoeman and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. Since the beginning of 2008 Xandi has been a member the Cologne-based Signum Quartett, with whom he took third prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani 2008 in Reggio Emilia, and was invited to the Académie Européene de Musique at the Festival d’Aix-en Provence, where the quartet worked with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The Signum Quartett has been invited to continue their studies with Prof. Günther Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reína Sofia in Madrid
Gemma Rosefield, cello Born in London, Gemma Rosefield who studied with Ralp Kirshbaum completed her M.Mus (Performance) at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2006, and having previously graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with First Class Honours, as a pupil of Gavin Strange. She has also studied with Johannes Gotrizki, Oleg Kogan, Zara Nelsova and taken part in master classes with Bernard Greenhouse, Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis, and Gabor Takacs-Nagy. Major competition successes include First Prize in the European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, the Royal Over-Seas League String Quartet Competition, Making Music Young Concert Artists Award and Prix Académie Maurice Ravel in St. Jean de Luz, France. In 2006 Miss Rosefield was selected for the Tillett Trust Young Artists Platform. In 2004 she made her Wigmore Hall début under the auspices of the Kirckman Concert Society. Her numerous concert appearances have included the South Bank, Barbican Hall, The Diligentia and the Concertgebouw in Holland, in the New Masters International Recital Series. She has also given recitals throughout the UK, as part of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. A committed chamber musician, Gemma Rosefield has worked with Gary Hoffman, Stephen Kovacevich, György Pauk, Menachen Pressler, and is a founder member of the Fidelio Piano Quartet. Miss Rosefield is a member of the Seychelles InterFest String Quartet and InterFest Ensemble. They have come together to promote the Seychelles festival internationally
Sîan Holland, double bass Sîan Holland graduated from the University of Birmingham with a Bmus Honours degree before completing her studies with Corin Long at the Royal Northern College of Music. She received support from the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and a RNCM bursary and completed her Master’s degree (performance) with distinction. After graduating from the RNCM, Miss Holland spent three months as Assistant Principal double bass with the Orquestra d’Algarve before returning to Manchester to work as a freelance double bass player. She regularly performs with The Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera, The Philharmonia and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin.
Mhairi Simpson, double bass Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Mhairi Simpson began her musical studies as a cellist. She became interested in the double bass at 18years old while studying at Aberdeen University. She went on to study the double bass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Miss Simpson completed her undergraduate studies, graduating with a Bmus (Hons.) degree and continued at the RNCM for postgraduate studies in double bass performance. During her time at the RNCM, she studied with Corin Long and principally with Jiri Hudec of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Since leaving the RNCM, Miss Simpson is based in Manchester, where she freelances with orchestras based in the north of England, including the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia and also with Scottish Opera. In 2006 she toured the UK and Ireland with Opus 1 Opera company giving performances of Puccini’s La Bohème, Tosca and Verdi’s Il Trovatore. In 2007 she toured Ireland with the UK Production of South Pacific. Miss Simpson is also interested in Gamelan music in which she was trained by the Hallé Orchestra’s Education Department in conjunction with Youth Music. As a trainee tutor she worked with family groups as well as with young offenders and school groups. Miss Simpson is looking forward to her experience with the InterFest Symphony Orchestra as well as visiting the Seychelles.
Elena Cicinskaite, theorbo Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Elena Cicinskaite sang in various choirs and took part in several music festivals in Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Finland and Poland. She started her lute playing in an early music ensemble, “ Banchetto Musicale” while studying for a B.Phil degree in psychology at the State University of Vilnius. In 1997, she won the Marco Fodello Foundation Scholarship to study the lute with Prof. Paul Beier at the Music Academy in Milan and subsequently went on to advance studies in lute and theorbo at the State Institute of F.Vittadini in Pavia with Prof. Massimo Lonardi. Miss Cicinskaite pursues a busy professional career, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has worked with acclaimed soloists such as soprano, Kathrine Brandt, violinist, Silvia Colli, with Renaissance and Baroque music groups, such as the Francesca Caccini Ensemble, Del Suonar di Corde e di Fiato, Academia Antica Montenverdi and Il Concento Ecclesiastico. She has taken part in several international music festivals, such Borghi e Valli d’Oltrepo, the International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo, Amager Musikfestival in Copenhagen, the Chamber Music Festival in Tarnow, Poland, Banchetto Musicale and Surgrizimai in Vilnius, and Sacred Music Festival in Sospel, France. Miss Cicinskaite has also taken part in several master classes and master courses held by internationally acclaimed specialists, such as Paul O’Dette, Hopkinson Smith, Christopher Wilson, Rolf Lieslevand. In July 2006 she attended the Dartington International Summer School in the United Kingdom and took part in the lute master classes by Martin Eastwell. As an accompanist she supported singers in master classes run by Emma Kirkby and Nicholas Clapton. She also worked with Michael Fields and Evelyn Tubb in the singing master classes and lute song workshops.
Anna Stokes, flute
Bethan Roberts, oboe Bethan Roberts first took up the oboe at the age of nine, having previously studied the piano for several years. After progressing through the Surrey County School service and studying with Donald Humphries, she went on to the University of Manchester in 1996, where she studied with Valerie Taylor, and graduated with a MusB (Hons) degree in 1999. Miss Roberts next progression was to embark on post-graduate courses at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she gained a Post-graduate Diploma and MusM degree under the guidance of Thomas Davey and Mary Gilbert. Miss Roberts has built a successful career as a freelance musician throughout the UK and performs regularly both as a soloist and an orchestral player. She has appeared with several major orchestras, such as the BBC Philharmonic, The Ulster Orchestra and Manchester Camerata. She has recently completed a tour with Mid Wales Opera performing Smetana’s Bartered Bride throughout the country, and regularly plays principal oboe for Sinfonia Cymru. In 2006 Bethan Roberts was appointed the Principal oboe and cor anglais, with the Seychelles InterFest Symphony Orchestra. Her solo engagements have included recitals across the South of England and taking the principal role in Bach’s First Brandenburg Concerto. More recently she performed the Albinoni Double Oboe Concerto in F major with the Cantilena Orchestra in Congleton. Miss Roberts is involved with many chamber ensembles. She is a member of the Langdale Ensemble, a highly rated wind quintet that has given concerts throughout the North West of England, as well as broadcasting live on BBC Radio 3. The Langdale Ensemble was awarded a distinction in the RNCM’s prestigious Professional Recital. Since 2001 the Ensemble has been part of the Live Music Now Scheme and has enjoyed performing widely. Having founded the Langdale Ensemble, Bethan Roberts went on to form the Menai Oboe Quartet specialising in British music, and subsequently the Whitworth Winds Oboe Trio. She is a keen composer, as well as a successful teacher, having had some of her students’ compositions performed by the Lindsay String Quartet.
Rosalie Philips, oboe Rosalie Philips completed her studies at the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, with a first class Honours Bmus and Mmus respectively, in orchestral training. She held Principal positions in the RCM and GSMD Symphony and Opera Orchestras. She is presently co-Principal oboe with the London Southbank Sinfonia. Her orchestral playing has taken her across Europe, including a tour of Vienna and Helsinki under Sir Colin Davis as a member of the European Academies’ Symphony Orchestra. Miss Philips’ chamber music and solo work have taken her to venues, such as the Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Geroge’s, Hanover Square, with performances of Strauss’ Oboe Concerto, Bach’s Oboe and Violin Conceto and Vivaldi’s Concerto For Many Instruments.
Benjamin Hudson, bassoon
Timothy Barber, trumpet
Victoria Davies, harp Victoria studied the harp under Daphne Boden at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and at the Royal Academy of Music with Skaila Kanga, where her studies were generously supported by a Star Award from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. She also read Music at Christ Church, Oxford, where she was an Academic Scholar and Instrumental Exhibitioner. While at the RAM she won the Guy McGrath Harp Prize and received the Katie Thomas Memorial Fund award, graduating in June 2005 with a Postgraduate Diploma with distinction. She was winner of the London Harp Competition in 1999 and 2001, and in 2000 was Principal Harp of the National Youth Orchestra. In 2005 she won the Harriet Cohen Award as the Oxford University nominee, against competitors from the Royal College, Glasgow, and Trinity Colleges of Music. Victoria has worked extensively with the Cathedral Choir of Christ Church, Oxford, with whom she has made 3 CDs, and gave the premiere of Howard Goodall's Winter Lullabies at SJSS in December 2006, as well as featuring on the recent recording of Goodall's Requiem. She has also performed as soloist and accompanist on BBC radio and television, including the BBC Radio 3 programme 'In Tune'. From January 2006-July 2007 Victoria was a resident harpist and teacher at the Tamnak Prathom Harp School in Bangkok, Thailand, where she gave solo and chamber performances, and toured with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and Opera. In February 2007 she recorded a CD of Asian and European contemporary harp duet music with the harpist Ema Mitarai, with whom she gave concerts in Japan and the UK in April 2007. Victoria is currently a participating artist in the 2007-08 and '08-09 Countess of Munster recital scheme, as soloist and with fellow ex-Christ Church and Cohen award-winner, oboist James Turnbull, with whom she will be recording a CD of contemporary works for harp and oboe in 2008. She is represented by Val Fancourt Music Management.
Alistair Watson, continuo Alistair Watson was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and studied music and arts at Otago University, obtaining his Master’s degree and LRSM, both with distinction. Alistair Watson has made numerous solo appearances with several orchestras, including Dunedin Sinfonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 he won the Christchurch National Piano Competition, playing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. After completing his studies, he worked in the capacity of accompanist and coach to senior performance students at the music department of Otaga University. In 2002 Alistair Watson travelled to the United Kingdom to study piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, London, with Nigel Clayton and Roderick Earle. He also completed Post-graduate training as repetiteur at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, both on full scholarship. Presently, Alistair Watson works as a freelance musician in London. He is in much demand as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist and coach. Recent highlights include performing Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto with the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra at Cadogan Hall. His newly formed trio has had a successful run of performances in 2006, and has recorded a CD at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2007 Alistair Watson made a return trip to New Zealand, where he was repetiteur for Otago University’s production of Carmen. He has taken up an appointment with Trinity-Guildhall, and travelled to South East Asia to perform some of Trinity piano syllabus and gave tutorials and master classes. Alistair Watson sings regularly with many professional church choirs in London, and has toured with both the New London Chamber Choir and Southwark Cathedral Choir

Click HERE for the Orchestra List

Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music 2008

List of Conductors and Solo Artists:

Some of the best young musical talents are represented here.

Biographies:

Jacques Cohen, music director

Jacques is Music Director and Principal Conductor of one of the UK 's finest orchestras, the Isis Ensemble. He has recently conducted concerts with Romania 's premier orchestra, the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest and is Principal Guest Conductor with the City of Oxford Orchestra . He has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bombay Chamber Orchestra and guest conducted literally dozens of orchestras both in the UK and abroad. He has also been Music Director of several major opera productions and was recently appointed Music Director of the Seychelles International Music Festival.

He has recorded CDs for a variety of labels, notably Meridian, with whom he recently recorded the sensational Music for Strings CD with the Isis Ensemble. He has conducted performances of both his own music and that of other composers on radio and television including a momentous performance of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Three Screaming Popes for BBC Radio 3.

Jacques conducts an extremely wide repertoire from Monteverdi to the present day and is a passionate advocate of music by living composers. At the same time his performances of the mainstream classical and romantic repertoire have been widely acclaimed for their uniquely fresh and exciting quality and this has made him popular with both listeners and fellow musicians. He is also an enthusiastic communicator and has a growing reputation for his ability to explain music in an entertaining way and get audiences more involved in concerts.

His many compositions include: Yigdal , premiered by the Isis Ensemble last year and subsequently performed by the Yehudi Menuhin Orchestra both here and abroad; Quiet Music which is regularly performed by British and American orchestras; Three Nottingham Dances , commissioned by the Nottingham Philharmonic and performed to great acclaim; a Tuba Concerto , commissioned by the great tuba player Oren Marshall; and a one-act opera, Magic Potions. Fantasias, Canons & Fugues, premiered by the Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra, and Elegy on a Floating Chord, winner of the Surrey Sinfonietta Composition Prize, have both been performed and broadcast several times in Europe and in America . Serenata Malinconica for Violin, Viola or Cello and small orchestra has become very popular. His large-scale Songs of Innocence and Experience for chorus and orchestra was premiered at St John Smith's Square in 2005. Serenade for Saxophones was commissioned by the Northern Saxophone Quartet the same year, as was the very exciting Pantheon by the National Youth Wind Ensemble. He has also written several award winning works for choir including Jubilate, commissioned by Berkhamsted Choral Society and a set of Christmas choral pieces, known collectively as Cohen's Carols . Other works have been performed at the South Bank in London and at the Royal Albert Hall and he has also written music for BBC television.

Future projects include a new major commission for choir and orchestra for 2009, controversially setting part of the St Matthew Passion , and a huge orchestral piece, Adventures in the Twilight Zone which Jacques hopes to complete next year. He is also arranging Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for strings and Brahms's First Clarinet Sonata as a concerto for the soloist Sarah Williamson.

Jacques read music at Oxford where he conducted the main university orchestra and performed several of his own compositions. When leaving Oxford , he was awarded the Conducting Scholarship at the Royal College of Music where he later won the Tagore Gold Medal, the College's prize for its most outstanding student. Since then he has won several other awards including the August Manns Conducting Prize, Surrey Sinfonietta Composition Prize and the Constant and Kit Lambert Award. He took First Prize in the British Reserve Conducting Competition and was also a prize winner in the Leeds Conductors' Competition.

Benjamin Ellin, music director

British Conductor and Composer Benjamin Ellin is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of EMFEB (Every Music For EveryBody), Music Director of the Seychelles International Festival of Music, Principal Conductor of the Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra and Director of Music at the Pembroke Academy of Music, London. In 2007 he was awarded the Public Prize and the highest prize from the first ever Evgeny Svetlanov International Conducting Competition in Luxembourg. Benjamin subsequently made his debut with the Luxembourg Philharmonic conducting Rachmaninov’s 2nd Symphony. In 2007 Benjamin became the first classical composer to sign a deal with the Prince’s Trust Music Publishing whilst also featuring in BBC Music Magazine in their Rising Stars feature.

Benjamin has worked with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, New Russian Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Philharmonic and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and has accompanied Pianist Ingrid Filter, Soprano Elizabeth Watts and Violists Rivka Golani and Maxim Rysanov amongst others. Immediate and future plans include appearances with St Petersburg Philharmonic, Montpellier Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra National De Lille, Orchestra National De Montreal, Ural Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and appearances at the Tokyo ‘FOLLE JOURNÉE’. This is in addition to his conducting commitments with the Seychelles Festival and the Slaithwaite Philharmonic.

Immediate composition projects include the recording and touring of his Concerto for Ney and Orchestra Tafahum (2008), a major concert work for Violist Rivka Golani (2008), a trio for the Luxembourg based Ni Ensemble (2008) as well as continued work on his first opera, Welcome To Deen.

Benjamin is dedicated to promoting music from the 20th Century and contemporary music and he has drawn on composers to produce works for nearly all of his concerts. He is also passionate about working with music and musicians from other cultures. Most recently Benjamin collaborated with Syrian musician Louai Alhenawi on a project aimed at combining the musical traditions from the Middle East and Western Musical Traditions using the EMFEB Symphony Orchestra, Syrian Folk Ensemble Al-Farabiand the Pembroke Academy of Music.

Noted for his work with audiences, Benjamin has a diverse repertoire and offers a fresh and undaunted approach to the more standard greats whilst promoting unnecessarily neglected works and the works of British composers. Work with his own organisation, EMFEB, based in London, has received great acclaim for their performances and presentations of old and new music in unfamiliar venues drawing in new audiences to classical music both in the UK and abroad. This passion for high class music to all is mirrored in Benjamin’s work as an educator, animateur and figurehead. Since January 2006 he has been Director of Music at Pembroke Academy of Music, (Walworth) London. During his tenure the Academy has doubled in size. He has also strengthened the link between the Academy and Pembroke College Cambridge, resulting in an annual concert with both groups. Benjamin maintains a strong link with the National Youth Orchestra with whom he was a member from 1996-1998 and from whom he was awarded the John Fletcher Memorial Prize. Benjamin regularly works with the National Youth Orchestra Sinfonietta and works alongside the composition department of the organisation with Composer in residence Paul Patterson. In 2002 Benjamin was a key member of the National Youth Orchestra’s In School Projects. Additionally in 2002, he collaborated with the creative writing team at HMP Pentonville Prison on a set of texts which he used as the basis for his choral work, Verses from the Other World.

Born in Bolton (1980), Benjamin studied at Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, where he graduated in 2002 after studying composition with John Woolrich. Benjamin has been awarded the Neil Vint bursary from Chetham’s School of Music (2002), Leslie Chester Prize For Outstanding Commitment from Chetham’s School of Music (1998) and the John Fletcher Award from the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (1998). Benjamin has taken part in conducting master classes with Gianandrea Noseda in Stresa, Italy (2006), and with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (2005). He has studied privately with Sir Colin Davis since 2002 and in 2003 received tuition from Bernard Haitink KBE. In 2001 Benjamin participated in the International Workshop for Conductors in St. Petersburg, Russia, studying with Alexandre Polistchuk and Michail Kukuchkin with support from HRH The Prince of Wales.

Benjamin has worked with cellist Robert Cohen, Violinists Alena Baeva, Thomas Gould and Harriet Mackenzie and he has conducted in the Czech Republic, Germany, America, Holland, Spain, Italy, Luxembourg and Russia and at venues including the Philharmonie (Luxembourg), Konzerthaus (Berlin), the Hermitage Theatre (St Petersburg), the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory and the Moscow International Performing Arts Centre (Moscow) and throughout the United Kingdom. Recent commissions have included works for Violinist Harriet Mackenzie (2007), Royal Academy of Music and Conductor James Watson (2007) and leading trio Triptych (2006). His chamber ensemble work Damas commissioned by tubist Nick Etheridge has recently been released on the Brass Classics CD, One Clear Call. Benjamin’s theatre scores have been used by the Sheffield Crucible, RADA, GSMD and Rose Bruford College with concert premieres taking place as far a field as Los Angeles, Prague as well as at venues including the Barbican Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Julian Gregory, Concertmaster

Julian Gregory “fell in love” with the violin at the age of seven and never considered another career from then onwards. His quick early progress won him a scholarship to Chetham’s School of Music, Manchester, where he led the senior orchestra, performed concertos, recitals, and was also Leader of the school’s illustrious Palm Court Trio.

Julian Gregory continued his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, winning a post-graduate scholarship in performance before joining the BBC Northern Symphony in 1984. He has been a first violin with the BBC Philharmonic for the past fifteen years, and regularly performs solo parts for the orchestra. He gave the world première of Maxwell Davis’s Celtic piece “ Beltane Fire” in the Boston Symphony Hall and at the BBC Proms. He performed John Casken’s “Broken Consort” for electric violin and orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in the 2005 BBC Proms.

Julian Gregory’s special interest in chamber music led to his position as founder of the Bradford Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared as a regular Guest Leader for the Manchester Mozart Players, as well as many festival orchestras across the North West of England.

As a regular artist on radio, Julian Gregory has written, produced and presented many programmes on Radio 3, 4 and 5, as well as appearing regularly on air as a jazz soloist with his Trio “ Swing Persuasion”. His light music duo with conductor and violinist, Jan Pascal Tortellier, was featured on the Radio 2 Arts programme and subsequently performed at festivals and venues across the UK. He is much in demand as an accurate exponent of many violin styles, as diverse as Indian classical music and Bluegrass fiddle. He has played live on TV at the Mercury Music Award, and at venues as varied as St. Mark’s Square in Venice and the Orkney Festival Club. Julian Gregory has recently finished filming the part of a Romany violinist for a forthcoming BBC 1 television drama.

Sarah Moule, soprano

Born in London, Sarah Moule read English at Cambridge University. In 2006 she was awarded a scholarship by Finzi Trust to study singing in Bologna and Venice. In London she has trained on ENO’s The Nack with a Lilian Baylis bursary and further studies have been supported by Madeline Finden Memorial Trust and the Concordia Foundation.

As a compelling and versatile concert artist, her performances have included Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in Rome, Italy. Further concerts have included operatic arias at LSO St. Luke’s and the Anghirari Festival, Tuscany, and Mozart’s arias in Lausanne, St. John’s Smith Square, London and St. Carolus Boromeus, Antwerp. Miss Moule has given performances of Haydn’s Nelson Mass in the Bath International Concert Series, and American cabaret songs in Bangkok, representing the United Kingdom in a gala celebration of young musicians.

Miss Moule’s rare sensitivity to song is demonstrated in recitals of diverse and adventurous programmes. Her recent recital to a capacity audience at St. John’s Smith Square included Handel, Mozart, Lieder spanning two centuries, twentieth century French song and the world première of 8 one-minute songs by the awarding-winning composer, Joseph Atkins.

She is a regular guest recitalist at Handel House, London, and other venues, which include the Austrian Cultural Forum, Leighton House Holland Park, the Holywell Music Room, Oxford, and as part of the Young Concert Artists’ Series for the New London Orchestra on the Southbank Sinfonia. Sarah Moule has developed excellent working relationships with composers, several of whom write especially with her voice in mind. She has recently given contemporary premières at St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Wigmore Hall.

Her opera roles include Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress for the Dartington International Festival, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Polly Peachum, in The Threepenny Opera and Morgana in Alcina. This summer she will play Fräulein Silberklang in Mozart’s short comic opera, The Impressario and in early 2008 Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, both for English Chamber Opera

Charles Humphries, countertenor

As a soloist Charles Humphries has worked with numerous distinguished conductors and music directors, including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Richard Hicocks, Paul McCreech,
Robert King, Rinaldo Allessandrini, Nicholas McGegan, James O’Donnell, Trevor Pinnock and Lars Ulrik Mortensen. He continues to perform with all the major ensembles in the UK and throughout Europe and has performed as guest soloist with The Kings Consort, the Gabrieli Consort, the Ulster Orchestra, the Northern Chamber Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, St. James’ Baroque Players and Concert Copenhagen.

Engagements for Charles Humphries’ 2007 season and beyond include Music by Purcell at the Chapel Royal, with the Kings Consort throughout the UK and Europe, recitals and concerts in the newly created Larvik Early Music Festival, Norway. He made his début at the National Opera of Lithuania performing the Alto role in J. S. Bach’s St. Johannes Passion (co-production with Le Chatelet, Paris). He returned to the Lufthansa Festival of Music in Westminster Abbey, singing Cantatas of J.S. Bach with St. James Baroque Orchestra.

In late summer 2007 Charles Humphries performed solo roles in Monteverdi’s Vespers and La Spozolizio, (a Venetian reconstruction for the marriage of the Lagoon to the Doge in Venice) at the Nuremberg Festival. This followed by a performance of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor, in Beijing, China. Further engagements in the Baltic States throughout last summer included recitals of Opera arias in the Black House, Riga and the title role in Vivaldi’s Il Guistino. In 2008, he will re-appear at the Opera House in Lithuania before going on a European tour performing J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. He will also appear as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah at the Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music, perform chamber music from his extensive Baroque repertoire and give an open lecture on the Baroque period at the International Conference Centre.

On the opera front, new roles will include Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Nights Dream.
Past operatic engagements have included the role of Delfa in Cavalli’s Giasone at the Meragon in Athens, the title role of Pompeo in Pompeo Magno at the Varazdin Festival of Baroque Music, Croatia. He has appeared in Lichas in Hercules at the Hans-Otto Theater, Potsdam, Lucio Silla in Lucio Silla at Händel Festival Karlsruhe, Tamerlano in Tamerlano, The Sorceress in Dido and Aenas, Ptolemeo in Guilio Cesare with the Norwegian National Opera, and Hamor in Händel’s Jephta with the English National Opera.

Charles Humphries’ ever expanding discography includes Jephtha and Judas Maccabaeus (K & K Verlagsanstalt), Messiah (Capriccio), Vivaldi’s Cantatas (AVS), Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, as well as the “Venetian re-constructions” with the Gabrieli Consort and The Kings Consort. Archival television performances include Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus recorded for Slovenian television and Cavalli’s Pompeo Magna for Croation television.

Dario Balzanelli, tenor

Born in Rome Dario Balzanelli has won numerous international competitions, such as the “Mario del Monaco” at Trapani and the “Flaviano Labo” of Piacenza. After his début at Teatro di Marsala in the role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, he performed numerous title roles in the lyrical repertoire, including Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Macduff in Macbeth and Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, achieving great success.

Dario Balzanelli has made numerous international appearances in the title role of Rodolfo in La Bohème in Austria and several German cities. He took part in the acclaimed tour of La Fenice Teatro to Copenhagen, where he performed the role of Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, under the baton of Yuri Ahronovitch, with whom he also collaborated in the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at Teatro La Fenice, directed by Bob Wilson.

He was selected by Claudo Abbado to perform in a new production of Simon Bocanegra at Teatro Communale, Ferrara, at Teatro Regio, Parma and in Bolzano; it was subsequently repeated for the opening season at Teatro La Fenice and for the Tokyo tour under the baton of Maestro Palumbo. He made his début at the Teatro Massimo, Palermo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi with Daniele Callegari and Ismaele in Nabucco at Konzert und Theater St. Galen.

In the concert hall Dario Balzanelli has performed with great success internationally in countries such Austria, Germany, France, Latvia, Canada, Spain and the USA. He sang Verdi’s Requiem Mass in Klagenfurt Cathedral and in Imola. He has performed in recital along side Fiorenza Cedolins at Teatro Filarmonico, Verona and in a concert in memory of Renato Bruson at Teatro Carrani, Modena. He was recently a guest artist at the Sacred Music Festival in Palermo, where he sang Verdi’s Ave Maria and Rossini’s Petite Messe solennelle.

He has made a DVD recording in the title role of Puccini’s Edgar at the Euro Mediterranean Festival, Rome. He has also made a CD of “Arie Verdiane” for Verdi’s centenary anniversary celebration entitled “Va Pensiero Day 2004”.

In July 1006 Dario Balzanelli performed at the 500th anniversary celebration of St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, in the presence of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, conducted by Maestro Alberto Veronesi.

In May 2008, Dario Balzanelli is appearing as the Guest Soloist at the Seychelles International Festival of Classical Music, at the invitation of the patron of the festival to take part in the celebration of the life of Luciano Pavarotti, the greatest tenor of all times.

Sean Clayton, tenor

Born in Wolverhampton, Sean Clayton began his training at the Birmingham Conservatoire and after further studies he graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, where he was a Van Beugel Scholar. Operatic engagements have included Toby, in The Medium and Rupert Burns, in The Impresario for Second Movement, The Merry Wives of Windsor for Opera South and Monsieur Prospect, in Not in front of the Waiter at the Jubilee Hall, Alderburgh.
Further roles have included Giocondo in La pietra del paragone, Fenton in Fallstaff for Standley Hall Opera, Elder Gleaton in Susanna, Don Eusebio in L’occasione fa il ladro for Wrexford Festival Opera and Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at the Wrexford Festival Scenes.

Recent concert highlights include J S Bach’s St. John Passion and Mozart’s Requiem at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, St. John Passion with the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra, St Matthew Passion and Messiah at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. Further
performances include Beethoven’s Mass in C with the London Mozart Players at the Exeter Festival, Britten’s Spring Symphony at the Southampton Guildhall, and St. Nicholas’ in Exeter and Rippon Cathedrals. Sean Clayton performed Messiah for the World Festival Choir and the Gåvle Symphony Orchestra and also with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. Mozart’s Requiem was performed at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool and St. Martin-in-the-Field. The Fairy Queen for the Armonico Consort, The Crucifixion in Bath Abbey and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music for the Concordia Foundation at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

His broadcasts have included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Handel’s Susanna for RTE Lyric FM.

Sean Clayton’s current engagements in operatic roles are Beppe in Pagliacci for Lakeland Opera, Brother in Orfeo and Sailor in Dido and Aenas for English Touring Opera, Pastore in L’Orfeo for the English Bach Festival Trust, Sandy in The Lighthouse at the Cantiere Internationale di Montepulciano, Italy. Further engagements are Aurelius in King Arthur with Der Lautten Kompagney, Berlin and several other venues across Germany and Nanki-Poo in the Mikodo for Surrey Opera.

Current engagements in concerts are J S Bach’s B minor Mass for Nottingham Bach Choir, Magnificat at Durham Cathedral, St. John Passion at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, on tour with the Irish Baroque Orchestra in Exeter and Winchester Cathedrals. Further engagements include St. Matthew Passion in Bury St. Edmund’s Cathedral, Messiah for Billingshurst Choral Society, Nelson Mass for “Concerts from Scratch”, in Seville, Spain, and Carmina Burana at the Swan Theatre, High Wycombe, as well as with the Young Yanacek Philharmonia in Bologna and Forli, Italy.

Richard Strivens, bass-baritone

Richard Strivens, originally from Kent, grew up in Belgium and graduated in Chemistry from Oxford University. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, EurOpera Studio, Milan and the National Opera Studio.

He has sung Nick Shadow in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for English Touring Company, Strojnik, the Stage Technician in The Makropulos Case for Glynebourne Festival Opera, Don Giovanni and Figaro for Ryedale Festival Opera, Colline for Scottish Opera on Tour and Tergisto in Pallavincino’s Messalina at the Batignano Festival in Ttaly. Other Mozart roles include the Count for Pimlico Opera, Masetto at Cologne Opera and Simone in the Classical Opera Company’s La finta semplice. Handel’s roles have included Tiridate in Radamisto and Melisso from Alcina; also Zoroastro in Orlondo and Ariodate in Xerxes for the Cambridge Handel Opera Group.
He sung Zuniga in Clonte Opera Farm’s Carmen, Don Quichotte for Opera Omnibus.
Richard Strivens also sings Rossini’s Assur in Semiramide and Le Gouverneur in Le Comte Ory. He appeared as Giovanni in Channel 4’s Don Giovanni’s Masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen.

More modern roles include Vermeer in Birtwistle’s The Second Miss Kong. Håkon in The Martyrdom of St. Magnus of William Davies, for The Opera Group, Boatman/Lightning in Julian Philip’s newly commissioned children’s opera Dolfin for WNO, Inspector Grayling in Glynebourne’s children’s opera Misper, Balthazar in Amah and the Night Visitors with RLPO Ensemble 21 and Britten’s Noah, Collatinus and Hel Helson. Last year Richard Strivens created the role of Abbott Samson in Judith Bingham’s The Ivory Tree. He has recently sung in the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Pucinella conducted by Barry Wordsworth.

Richard Striven’s concert repertoire and reviews can be found at www.richardstrivens.com, which includes Bach’s Ich habe genung with Nicholas Daniel and the Britten Sinfonia, and also with Richard Simpson and the Goldberg Ensemble. He has sung St. Matthew Passion with Nicholas Cleobury and the Britten Sinfonia. Bach’s Magnificat with the Northern Sinfonia and Nicholas MCGegan, the Christmas Oratorio and the Dream of Gerontius at St. David’s Cathedral Festival; The Apostles at Eton College with Ralph Allwood. With the Joyful Company of Singers, he recorded Strauss’ Deutsche Motette and Messiah. He is regularly invited to sing Elijah, The creation, the Bach’s Passions, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle, Ein deutsche’s Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem, which he sang with combined North-West Choral Societies at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

Michelle Solomon, piano

Born in Israel, Michelle Solomon began her piano studies at the age of eight, and upon moving to New York with her family, she continued her studies with Dr Donald Pirone of the Aaron Copland School of Music. Throughout her high school years at La-Guarda High School for Performing Arts, and her college studies at Aaron Copeland School of Music, she performed as a soloist with a number of orchestras in New York, including the Five Towns Symphony Orchestra and the Classicists’ Symphony Orchestra. She also took part in many piano competitions, including the Oberlin International Piano Competition in Ohio.

Miss Solomon returned to Israel in 1996 to continue her studies at the Rubin Academy of Music, Tel Aviv University with Professor Yonatan Zak and subsequently graduated. She has performed numerous piano recitals, chamber music concerts, as well as performing concertos with several orchestras internationally, including the Hasharon Orchestra and Campus Orchestra in Tel Aviv. In 2006 she performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Seychelles InterFest Symphony Orchestra at the official opening concert of the Seychelles festival.

Further experienced gained was her appointment as music director and her participation in a number of “off-Broadway” musical productions in New York, including Sweeney Todd and Guys and Dolls.

Miss Solomon is making her third appearance as a soloist and chamber musician at the Seychelles InterFest of Classical Music

Dominika Anna Rosiek, violin

Dominika Anna Rosiek was born in Poland and started her violin studies at the age of four. Within a year she had recorded pieces for Polish Radio and also taking part in national and international competitions and festivals. She won many prizes, including a special prize in the Russian Music Festival, with a special invitation to perform at the Castle in Warsaw. Twice, she was awarded the National Sponsorship for Especially Talented Children and was invited to play to a special audience for Pope John Paul II.

In September 1997, Miss Rosiek received a full scholarship to study at the Purcell School, in London. She went on to complete her studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she graduated with a First Class Honours BMus and a Pg D. At the Royal Academy, she recorded a CD of chamber music with the Academy Soloists and won the J. Beare, Bow Prize for outstanding player.

Miss Rosiek studied with Mateja Marinkovic and took part in numerous master classes with Zenon Brzewski, Vladmimir Spivakov, Detlef Hahn, Petru Munteanu, Eric Friedman, Marina Jaszwili, Dorothy DeLay, Ruggiero Ricci, Viktor Tryetiakov, Zahar Bron, Mauricio Fuks, Sylvia Rosenberg and Thomas Brandis.

She has won several prizes; the Guivier Prize for Outstanding String Player, Alfred Brendel Prize and Wilton Cole Prize. She has also won several awards such as, the Martin Musical Scholarship, the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Craxton Prize, Hattori Foundation and Musician Benevolent Fund. Miss Rosiek has been finalist in many international competitions.

Miss Rosiek has performed at several prestigious venues, such as South bank Centre, St. Martin in the Fields, the Wigmore Hall, St.John’s Smiths Square, St.James’s Piccadilly. She has also performed at many festivals, such as Prussia Cove, Holland Music Sessions, Spittalfield Festival, Verbier Academy, Encuentro De Musica De Santander, Aspen Music Festival, Menuhin Festival, G. Kurtag Festival and N. Paganini Festival.

Miss Rosiek has a varied music interest. She has led several orchestras, such as European Youth Orchestra, London Chamber Players, Verdandi Camerata and many others. Currently, she is a member of Arlequin Piano Trio and also performs regularly, as a soloist and chamber musician in the UK, Switzerland, Poland, Holland and Germany.

Harriet Mackenzie, violin

Harriet Mackenzie has toured Europe, America and Japan as a soloist and chamber musician. In 2004 she gave her highly acclaimed Wigmore Hall début as part of the Park Lane Young Artists Series. Since then she has given recitals in places such as, the “Marble Hall” in Budapest, the National Portrait Gallery, as part of the McCann Series, the Beers Van Berlage Hall in Amsterdam, the Expo Dome in Japan, the British Library, the Purcell Room, and St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Furthermore she was invited to return to the Wigmore Hall for the closing concert of the Saint-Saëns Festival, playing with the Florestan Trio. She has broadcast recitals live for the BBC Radio 3 and Hungarian National Radio. She has played Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Ukraine Philharmonic at the Chernigiv Festival.

Miss Mackenzie studied at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating with First Class Honours and a DipRAM. She has received awards by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, the Hattori Foundation and is a recipient of the Manoug Parikan and the Elise Ower Awards. Her professors at the RAM were Sheila Nelson, Howard Davis, Maurice Hasson, Hermann Krebbers and Marianne Thorsen. She has also played with some of the best Gypsy violinists during her studies in the USA and has an extensive knowledge of Greek music, through her family connection with Greece.

She has collaborated with composers, such as Anthony Payne, David Matthews, Robert Fokkens, Mauricio Kagel, and Gyorgg Kurtag. Robert Fokkens is currently composing a violin concerto for her to be premièred in the “Fresh Series” at the South Bank.

Other highlights of her engagements have included performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto and a recital for the Chernigiv Festival in Ukraine, the unpublished Bax Sonata at the Purcell Room and Mozart’s concertos and sonatas in Beijing with the ContempoAir Ensemble for the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth.

Miss Mackenzie is a member of the Seychelles InterFest String Quartet and the Seychelles InterFest Ensemble; they have come together for promoting the Seychelles festival internationally.

Xandi van Dijk, viola

Xandi van Dijk was born in Cape Town into a musical family, comprising numerous generations of singers, composers and violists. After completing his studies at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town with Prof. Jack de Wet, Xandi became a founding member of the Cape Town-based Sontonga Quartet, and held the viola position from the quartet’s inception in 2002 till December 2006. In this time, the Sontonga Quartet toured extensively both in South Africa and internationally, including performances at venues such as the Old Fort at Constitution Hill, Johannesburg; the Barbican Centre, London; Lincoln Centre and Central Park, New York and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne as an adjunct to the Commonwealth Games 2006.
As a member of the Sontonga Quartet, Xandi has premiered over 30 South African works, as well as giving the South African premieres of works by Terry Riley, Osvaldo Golijov and Kevin Volans (with whom the quartet has worked), Pärt and Gòrecki.
More recently, Xandi has performed at the Purcell Room in London with the electronica artist Mira Calix, and in Cape Town with London Philharmonic concertmaster Pieter Schoeman and the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since the beginning of 2008 Xandi has been a member the Cologne-based Signum Quartett, with whom he took third prize at the Premio Paolo Borciani 2008 in Reggio Emilia, and was invited to the Académie Européene de Musique at the Festival d’Aix-en Provence, where the quartet worked with members of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The Signum Quartett has been invited to continue their studies with Prof. Günther Pichler at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reína Sofia in Madrid

Gemma Rosefield, cello

Born in London, Gemma Rosefield who studied with Ralp Kirshbaum completed her M.Mus (Performance) at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2006, and having previously graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with First Class Honours, as a pupil of Gavin Strange. She has also studied with Johannes Gotrizki, Oleg Kogan, Zara Nelsova and taken part in master classes with Bernard Greenhouse, Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis, and Gabor Takacs-Nagy.

Major competition successes include First Prize in the European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, the Royal Over-Seas League String Quartet Competition, Making Music Young Concert Artists Award and Prix Académie Maurice Ravel in St. Jean de Luz, France. In 2006 Miss Rosefield was selected for the Tillett Trust Young Artists Platform.

In 2004 she made her Wigmore Hall début under the auspices of the Kirckman Concert Society. Her numerous concert appearances have included the South Bank, Barbican Hall, The Diligentia and the Concertgebouw in Holland, in the New Masters International Recital Series. She has also given recitals throughout the UK, as part of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. A committed chamber musician, Gemma Rosefield has worked with Gary Hoffman, Stephen Kovacevich, György Pauk, Menachen Pressler, and is a founder member of the Fidelio Piano Quartet.

Miss Rosefield is a member of the Seychelles InterFest String Quartet and InterFest Ensemble. They have come together to promote the Seychelles festival internationally

Sîan Holland, double bass

Sîan Holland graduated from the University of Birmingham with a Bmus Honours degree before completing her studies with Corin Long at the Royal Northern College of Music. She received support from the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and a RNCM bursary and completed her Master’s degree (performance) with distinction.

After graduating from the RNCM, Miss Holland spent three months as Assistant Principal double bass with the Orquestra d’Algarve before returning to Manchester to work as a freelance double bass player. She regularly performs with The Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has also performed with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Opera, The Philharmonia and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Dublin.

Mhairi Simpson, double bass

Born in Aberdeen, Scotland, Mhairi Simpson began her musical studies as a cellist. She became interested in the double bass at 18years old while studying at Aberdeen University. She went on to study the double bass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. Miss Simpson completed her undergraduate studies, graduating with a Bmus (Hons.) degree and continued at the RNCM for postgraduate studies in double bass performance. During her time at the RNCM, she studied with Corin Long and principally with Jiri Hudec of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Since leaving the RNCM, Miss Simpson is based in Manchester, where she freelances with orchestras based in the north of England, including the BBC Philharmonic, Hallé Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia and also with Scottish Opera. In 2006 she toured the UK and Ireland with Opus 1 Opera company giving performances of Puccini’s La Bohème, Tosca and Verdi’s Il Trovatore. In 2007 she toured Ireland with the UK Production of South Pacific.

Miss Simpson is also interested in Gamelan music in which she was trained by the Hallé Orchestra’s Education Department in conjunction with Youth Music. As a trainee tutor she worked with family groups as well as with young offenders and school groups.

Miss Simpson is looking forward to her experience with the InterFest Symphony Orchestra as well as visiting the Seychelles.

Elena Cicinskaite, theorbo

Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, Elena Cicinskaite sang in various choirs and took part in several music festivals in Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Finland and Poland. She started her lute playing in an early music ensemble, “ Banchetto Musicale” while studying for a B.Phil degree in psychology at the State University of Vilnius.

In 1997, she won the Marco Fodello Foundation Scholarship to study the lute with Prof. Paul Beier at the Music Academy in Milan and subsequently went on to advance studies in lute and theorbo at the State Institute of F.Vittadini in Pavia with Prof. Massimo Lonardi.

Miss Cicinskaite pursues a busy professional career, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. She has worked with acclaimed soloists such as soprano, Kathrine Brandt, violinist, Silvia Colli, with Renaissance and Baroque music groups, such as the Francesca Caccini Ensemble, Del Suonar di Corde e di Fiato, Academia Antica Montenverdi and Il Concento Ecclesiastico. She has taken part in several international music festivals, such Borghi e Valli d’Oltrepo, the International Chamber Music Festival of Cervo, Amager Musikfestival in Copenhagen, the Chamber Music Festival in Tarnow, Poland, Banchetto Musicale and Surgrizimai in Vilnius, and Sacred Music Festival in Sospel, France.

Miss Cicinskaite has also taken part in several master classes and master courses held by internationally acclaimed specialists, such as Paul O’Dette, Hopkinson Smith, Christopher Wilson, Rolf Lieslevand. In July 2006 she attended the Dartington International Summer School in the United Kingdom and took part in the lute master classes by Martin Eastwell. As an accompanist she supported singers in master classes run by Emma Kirkby and Nicholas Clapton. She also worked with Michael Fields and Evelyn Tubb in the singing master classes and lute song workshops.

Anna Stokes, flute

Bethan Roberts, oboe

Bethan Roberts first took up the oboe at the age of nine, having previously studied the piano for several years. After progressing through the Surrey County School service and studying with Donald Humphries, she went on to the University of Manchester in 1996, where she studied with Valerie Taylor, and graduated with a MusB (Hons) degree in 1999. Miss Roberts next progression was to embark on post-graduate courses at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she gained a Post-graduate Diploma and MusM degree under the guidance of Thomas Davey and Mary Gilbert.

Miss Roberts has built a successful career as a freelance musician throughout the UK and performs regularly both as a soloist and an orchestral player. She has appeared with several major orchestras, such as the BBC Philharmonic, The Ulster Orchestra and Manchester Camerata. She has recently completed a tour with Mid Wales Opera performing Smetana’s Bartered Bride throughout the country, and regularly plays principal oboe for Sinfonia Cymru. In 2006 Bethan Roberts was appointed the Principal oboe and cor anglais, with the Seychelles InterFest Symphony Orchestra.

Her solo engagements have included recitals across the South of England and taking the principal role in Bach’s First Brandenburg Concerto. More recently she performed the Albinoni Double Oboe Concerto in F major with the Cantilena Orchestra in Congleton.

Miss Roberts is involved with many chamber ensembles. She is a member of the Langdale Ensemble, a highly rated wind quintet that has given concerts throughout the North West of England, as well as broadcasting live on BBC Radio 3. The Langdale Ensemble was awarded a distinction in the RNCM’s prestigious Professional Recital. Since 2001 the Ensemble has been part of the Live Music Now Scheme and has enjoyed performing widely.

Having founded the Langdale Ensemble, Bethan Roberts went on to form the Menai Oboe Quartet specialising in British music, and subsequently the Whitworth Winds Oboe Trio. She is a keen composer, as well as a successful teacher, having had some of her students’ compositions performed by the Lindsay String Quartet.

Rosalie Philips, oboe

Rosalie Philips completed her studies at the Royal College of Music and Guildhall School of Music & Drama, with a first class Honours Bmus and Mmus respectively, in orchestral training. She held Principal positions in the RCM and GSMD Symphony and Opera Orchestras. She is presently co-Principal oboe with the London Southbank Sinfonia. Her orchestral playing has taken her across Europe, including a tour of Vienna and Helsinki under Sir Colin Davis as a member of the European Academies’ Symphony Orchestra.

Miss Philips’ chamber music and solo work have taken her to venues, such as the Wigmore Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Geroge’s, Hanover Square, with performances of Strauss’ Oboe Concerto, Bach’s Oboe and Violin Conceto and Vivaldi’s Concerto For Many Instruments.

Benjamin Hudson, bassoon

Timothy Barber, trumpet

Victoria Davies, harp

Victoria studied the harp under Daphne Boden at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and at the Royal Academy of Music with Skaila Kanga, where her studies were generously supported by a Star Award from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund. She also read Music at Christ Church, Oxford, where she was an Academic Scholar and Instrumental Exhibitioner. While at the RAM she won the Guy McGrath Harp Prize and received the Katie Thomas Memorial Fund award, graduating in June 2005 with a Postgraduate Diploma with distinction. She was winner of the London Harp Competition in 1999 and 2001, and in 2000 was Principal Harp of the National Youth Orchestra. In 2005 she won the Harriet Cohen Award as the Oxford University nominee, against competitors from the Royal College, Glasgow, and Trinity Colleges of Music. Victoria has worked extensively with the Cathedral Choir of Christ Church, Oxford, with whom she has made 3 CDs, and gave the premiere of Howard Goodall's Winter Lullabies at SJSS in December 2006, as well as featuring on the recent recording of Goodall's Requiem. She has also performed as soloist and accompanist on BBC radio and television, including the BBC Radio 3 programme 'In Tune'. From January 2006-July 2007 Victoria was a resident harpist and teacher at the Tamnak Prathom Harp School in Bangkok, Thailand, where she gave solo and chamber performances, and toured with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and Opera. In February 2007 she recorded a CD of Asian and European contemporary harp duet music with the harpist Ema Mitarai, with whom she gave concerts in Japan and the UK in April 2007. Victoria is currently a participating artist in the 2007-08 and '08-09 Countess of Munster recital scheme, as soloist and with fellow ex-Christ Church and Cohen award-winner, oboist James Turnbull, with whom she will be recording a CD of contemporary works for harp and oboe in 2008. She is represented by Val Fancourt Music Management.

Alistair Watson, continuo

Alistair Watson was born in Dunedin, New Zealand and studied music and arts at Otago University, obtaining his Master’s degree and LRSM, both with distinction.

Alistair Watson has made numerous solo appearances with several orchestras, including Dunedin Sinfonia and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 he won the Christchurch National Piano Competition, playing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F. After completing his studies, he worked in the capacity of accompanist and coach to senior performance students at the music department of Otaga University.

In 2002 Alistair Watson travelled to the United Kingdom to study piano and singing at the Royal College of Music, London, with Nigel Clayton and Roderick Earle. He also completed Post-graduate training as repetiteur at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, both on full scholarship.

Presently, Alistair Watson works as a freelance musician in London. He is in much demand as a soloist, chamber musician, accompanist and coach. Recent highlights include performing Mozart’s Double Piano Concerto with the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra at Cadogan Hall. His newly formed trio has had a successful run of performances in 2006, and has recorded a CD at the Royal Academy of Music.

In 2007 Alistair Watson made a return trip to New Zealand, where he was repetiteur for Otago University’s production of Carmen. He has taken up an appointment with
Trinity-Guildhall, and travelled to South East Asia to perform some of Trinity piano syllabus and gave tutorials and master classes.

Alistair Watson sings regularly with many professional church choirs in London, and has toured with both the New London Chamber Choir and Southwark Cathedral Choir