Soloists

Soloists

Tim Horton (piano)
timhorton
Born in Brighton, Tim took piano lessons at the age of six and just three years later headed north to Manchester and Chetham's School of Music where his teachers included Charles Hopkins and Ryszard Bakst. He graduated from Trinity College Cambridge in 1995 and at short notice, was asked to replace Alfred Brendel in two performances of Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto with the CBSO and Sir Simon Rattle at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Since then Tim has performed with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony and Trondheim Symphony orchestras and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Performances of Britten's 'The Turn of the Screw' with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra led to recording of the work for Virgin Classics.

Chamber music is a central part of Tim's musical life. He is a regular at the Plush Festival in Dorset and has given concerts with violinist Lucy Jeal and with members of the RLPO.

Recitals include performances in Tilburg, Holland, at the Schumannhaus in Bonn and throughout the UK. On recommendation of Alfred Brendel Tim was chosen as the 2005 scholar of the Ruhr Klavier Festival, an honour which includes a recital at the festival.

Tim has a duo partnership with cellist Adrian Brendel. They have given tours of Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK and yearly performances at the Plush Festival. He has also performed at the Aldeburgh Festival with the Elias Quartet and at the Bath Festival. Tim has collaborated with many chamber musicians including Paul Lewis, Peter Cropper, the Elias Quartet, the Vertavo Quartet, Christian Poltera, Charles Owen and the members of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio. He has a regular duo partnership with violist Robin Ireland. Their CD of Shostakovich and Prokofiev is due for release in 2010. In 2009 Tim gave concerts in Essen and Hannover as part of series devised by Alfred Brendel.

Future plans include performances at a Mendelssohn Festival in King’s Place, London with the Elias Quartet, concerts in Germany and tours of Britain with Ensemble 360, a return visit to the Vertavo Quartet’s festival in Elverum, Norway and a recording of the Brahms Viola Sonatas with Henninge Landaas.

Details taken from the Music in the Round website
http://www.musicintheround.co.uk/editorial.php?id=67

Jiafeng Chen (violin)

“One of the world’s most gifted young violinists” – Pierre Amoyal JiafengChen

In December 2005, aged 18, Jiafeng Chen won 2nd Prize in the prestigious Sibelius Violin Competition, Helsinki, joining a distinguished list of previous prize-winners. This immediately led to accolades from the Finnish press and from such distinguished figures as Pierre Amoyal, Herman Krebbers and Tuomas Haapanen. It also led to engagements with the Tapiola Sinfonietta and Paavo Berglund, with the Vaasa City Orchestra, and a recital in Hameenlinna, as well as invitations to perform in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, UK and South Africa.

Jiafeng is already building an international career after winning 1st Prize at the 9th Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland, with further prizes from the European Union Music Competition and the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music, and 2nd Prize at the 13th Menuhin International Violin Competition in Cardiff.

He has participated in numerous music festivals and seasons including the BBC proms cycle of 2006 as a soloist when his recital was broadcast on BBC radio 3; the Lake District Music Festival, and the Shanghai 'Spring' International Music Festival. He has had numerous concerts throughout the world. He has also performed as soloist with many eminent orchestras and conductors including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Opera Symphony Orchestra, Halle Orchestra (Rory Macdonald), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (Petri Sakari), Tapiola Sinfonietta (Paavo Berglund) and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (John Storgards).

Born in Shanghai in 1987, Jiafeng Chen started to play the violin at the age of three. He studied with Prof. Peter Shixiang Zhang at the age of four. From 1996 to 2004, he studied with Prof. Jiyang Zhao and Prof. Lei Fang in the Music School affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music. During these years, he was awarded numerous scholarships. In 2002, he gave solo performances across the country of U.S.A.

In 2004 Jiafeng moved to England to study at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and soon after was awarded from the Hattori Foundation and the Manoug Parikian Prize at the Musicians' Benevolent Fund String Awards in London. This led to an invitation to give his Wigmore Hall debut in December 2005.

Alongside his developing concert career, he is currently continuing his studies with Prof. Jan Repko at the Royal College of Music in London.

Jaifeng's recent awards:

Winner, Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship
Laureate, The Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition 2009, Brussels, Belgium
Nominated, The 1st Ten Outstanding Chinese Young Persons in the UK
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship, Royal College of Music, London

Jiafeng plays a Nicolo Gagliano (Naples, 1751), kindly on loan from the Violin Syndicate owners.

Website: www.jiafengchen.com

Mikhail Lemtsov (cello)

MishaNemtsov72dpi Mikhail Nemtsov was born into a musical family and played the piano from the age of 4 before switching to the cello. In 1995 he became a pupil at the Lyceum Rimsky-Korsakov music school in Saint-Petersburg, where his cello teacher was Galina Koroleva until the summer of 2005. During this period, Mikhail often performed as a soloist at the Great and Small Philharmonic halls and other main venues. His most significant performances were the Beethoven Triple concerto and Brahms Double concerto at the Beloselskich-Belozerskich Palace (Hall of Mirrors).

Mikhail is a prize-winner of several competitions including the 3rd Mravinsky International Contest in St. Petersburg in 2002, the All Russian National Competition in 2004, the Musicians Benevolent Fund String Awards (2005-2007) and the Pierre Fournier Educational Awards (2006 & 2007).

Since 2003 Mikhail Nemtsov has performed in Germany, Hungary and Norway. He has attended various international festivals and summer music schools playing in Master Classes for Thomas Demenga, Truls Svane, Helmut Zehetmeier, Oleg Kogan, Bjorn Solumn, Mikhail Kopelman and Nicholas Jones, Ralph Kirshbaum, Christopher Rowland, Gordon Back and The Vermeer Quartet amongst others. In 2004 Mikhail received a scholarship from the Ministry of Culture of Russia.

From 2005 to 2007 Mikhail studied at Chetham’s School of Music with Nicholas Jones and in September 2007 he commenced his undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music with Hannah Roberts. In December 2007 Mikhail became a member of the Razumovsky Academy for young Artists based in London. Since then Mikhail has performed in a various events in Wigmore Hall including a concert with Ida Haendel.

Henrietta Hill (viola)

Henrietta is a 17 year old student at Sheffield High School. She studies both violin and viola with Robin Ireland. She has passed Associated Board Grade Eight with distinction on violin, viola and piano. For her Grade Eight viola, she was awarded the ABRSM Silver Bursary for having one of the highest marks in the country in 2008. Henrietta has performed in masterclasses with Nicola Benedetti, Benjamin Nabarro, Susan Stanzeleit, Yuko Inoue, and Martin Roscoe. She attends the Sheffield Music Academy, and has been a member of Pro Corda since the age of eight. Henrietta also plays in the Peak District String Orchestra.

Hannah Smalley (flute)

More details to come

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