Artists
Biogs

Jonathan Aasgaard (cello)
One of Europe’s most versatile cellists, the Norwegian Jonathan Aasgaard is active as soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, orchestral principal, teacher, and explorer of new music.
He is Principal Cello of both the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfonia of London, a regular guest principal of leading British and continental European orchestras, and, as a dedicated teacher, Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Chamber music performances have taken him across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, and the USA: he has collaborated with artists such as the violinists Nigel Kennedy, Henning Kraggerud, and Julian Rachlin, violist Lawrence Power, cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Giovanni Sollima, pianists Simon Trpčeski, Boris Giltburg, and Joanna MacGregor, and clarinettist Martin Fröst in a range of prominent festivals and concert halls.
He has performed more than fifty works for cello and orchestra, his discography including recordings of the William Walton Cello Concerto with the Sinfonia of London, Richard Rodney-Bennett Cello concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bloch’s Schelomo with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, works for cello and orchestra by Carl Davis with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and, among a number of recital discs, Brahms’s cello sonatas with Martin Roscoe, an ‘Editor’s Choice’ for chamber music in the Gramophone magazine.
A champion of new music, he has given the world première of Carl Davis’s Ballade for cello and orchestra, the European première of Giovanni Sollima’s Double Cello Concerto, the UK première of Weinberg’s Cello Concerto, the US première of concertos by Franz Neruda and Emil Hartmann, and world premières of dozens of solo pieces, many written specially for him.
Jonathan plays a cello made by Celeste Farotti in Milan in 1926.

Katya Apekisheva (piano)
Born in Moscow, into a family of musicians, she attended the Gnessin Music School for exceptionally gifted children making her stage debut at the age of 12. She continued her studies in Jerusalem at the Rubin Music Academy and later at the Royal College of Music in London. From these auspicious beginnings she went on to be a Prize-winner of the Leeds International Piano competition and has gone on to enjoy a career performing with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra, the Moscow Philharmonic, the Jerusalem Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, working with renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, David Shallon, Jan Latham-Koenig and Alexander Lazarev.
As a recording artist, Katya has received widespread critical acclaim for her interpretations from Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice award and International Piano Magazine’s Critics’ choice to Classic FM’s CD of the week as well as a Classical Brit award to name but a few. Katya’s discography includes solo and chamber works by Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Dvorak and Rachmaninov.
Recent and future highlights include performances in Russia, Norway, Japan, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Australia and at home in the UK, notably at Wigmore Hall where she is a regular presence. Her intense artistry and delicacy makes Katya a most sought after collaborative pianist, working with artists such as Janine Jansen, Natalie Clein, Maxim Rysanov, Jack Liebeck, Boris Brovtsyn, Alexei Ogrinchouk and Nicholas Daniel and she appears regularly at major chamber music festivals around the world. Katya also has a highly successful and personally rewarding piano duo partnership with Charles Owen, performing regularly at festivals worldwide. Together they are co-Artistic Directors of the London Piano Festival which began in 2016.

Hélène Clément (viola)
Born in France in 1988, Hélène Clément has learned to combine her proud love for French wine with the cheese delicacies found in England when she moved to London in 2013. Her ferocious enthusiasm and thirst for the chamber music and viola repertoire leads her to constantly expand her musical horizons by performing with a wide range of different collaborations, playing in the most prestigious concert halls in Europe and around the World.
Following her passion as a chamber musician, she has performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the Cité de la Musique in Paris. Her chamber music partners have included Mitsuko Uchida, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Nicolas Altstaedt, Benjamin Grosvenor, Alexander Melnikov, Jonathan Biss and Peter Wispelwey, as well as the Brentano String Quartet, the Quatuor Ébène, the Quatuor Modigliani and the Nash Ensemble.
She was for twelve years the viola player of the Doric String Quartet, with which she fulfilled her appetite for deep explorations of the repertoire, from Haydn String Quartets to newly commissioned pieces. They have released together a wide range of recordings, including works by Haydn, Britten, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Beethoven and Brett Dean. The Quartet played recitals at the Amsterdam Muziekgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Hamburg Laeiszhalle and De Singel, and regular performances at Wigmore Hall. Further afield they have toured to Japan, Israel, Australia, America, Asia and New Zealand.
Hélène is a frequent guest at the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival in America and Prussia Cove in England. She has released a recording of Britten and Bridge Viola works & songs with Dame Sarah Connolly and Alasdair Beatson, for Chandos Records. This recording was performed on an 1843 Italian viola owned previously by Benjamin Britten and Frank Bridge. The viola is generously lent to her by Britten Pears Arts.
Hélène is a Professor of Viola and Chamber Music at the Royal Academy of Music of London.

Tim Lowe (cello)
Tim spends much of his time playing solo and chamber recitals throughout the UK and Europe and has played recitals many times in major London venues including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, QEH, Cadogan Hall and Purcell Room. Following his most recent Wigmore Hall recital Tim’s playing was described as “... compelling in every respect: probing, virtuosic and yielding by turns – a true example of outstanding musicianship.” (Musical Opinion).
He has recorded chamber music CDs for various labels, including recently for Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, Chandos and Champs Hill. Tim was the cellist of the Rossetti Ensemble for ten years and plays as a guest in other groups and enjoys many collaborations. As an orchestral player Tim is Guest Principal Cello with major UK orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Sinfonia of London. Tim has also played on many TV and film scores including Mission Impossible, Downton Abbey and many more.
Tim is Artistic Director of York Chamber Music Festival which he founded in 2013. He has collaborated with musicians such as Steven Isserlis, Angela Hewitt, Anthony Marwood and Philip Glass (recording the opera The Trial).
Tim is Cello Professor at Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he has a large class and also coaches chamber music. He teaches and coaches regularly on courses and festivals throughout the UK and Europe.
He plays a cello made by Carolus Tononi in Bologna in 1716.

Gary Pomeroy (viola)
Born and raised in Durban, South Africa, Gary took inspiration from his parents who busked country music at flea markets at the weekend, and he subsequently started violin lessons aged five. He took to the viola as a teenager and was lucky enough to become an ABRSM International Scholar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. There he enjoyed five years of guidance in solo playing and chamber music. He is the violist of the Heath Quartet who have been awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist award, made live recordings of the complete Tippett and Bartok Quartets to critical acclaim and continue to build on their 20-year relationship. Gary enjoys a range of education work including regular teaching at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Charlotte Scott (violin)
As a highly sought after violinist, Charlotte enjoys a varied career as a soloist, director and chamber musician. Her critically acclaimed discography includes recordings for LINN Records, Decca, Apple Music, Classical Label and Champs Hill.
Passionate about directing, Charlotte regularly performs with many chamber orchestras worldwide, including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Musica Vitae, and Nederlands Chamber Orchestra, leading with dynamic programmes as a soloist, director or concertmaster. In recent seasons she has taken part in various live broadcasts from Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms.
As a soloist and chamber player, recent highlights include frequent performances in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw, Purcell Room, Sheldonian Theatre and The Festival Hall. Additionally, she is invited as part an array of summer festivals including the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, New Paths Chamber Festival, York Chamber Music Festival and Zermatt Festival.
Charlotte regularly gives performance classes and masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Oxford University and has a great interest in exploring and helping others with performance practice from a variety of different approaches. Influencing the art in which she teaches and performs, these approaches are naturally integrated into the relationships with colleagues and in her performances.
Currently first violinist and co-founder of the Oculi Ensemble - a group which was created as the next iteration of the former Badke Quartet. The Oculi Ensemble is made up of a circle of world class string string quartet artists, and forms a larger, flexible ensemble that received high critical acclaim globally for their release of Metamorphosen- Strauss Chamber Works.
Between 2006-2013, Charlotte dedicated her life as the first violinist of the award winning Piatti Quartet, performing internationally and making regular appearances on BBC Radio 3, as well as various further live television and radio broadcasts. The quartet won numerous international prizes and in 2012 was nominated for a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Award, equally reflected in their distinguished discography.
Charlotte grew up in England where she studied with Mateja Marinković at Wells Cathedral School and later at the Royal Academy of Music, where she won the Franstein Violin Prize. She went on to study in Boston at the New England Conservatory with Eric Rosenblith, James Buswell and Donald Weilerstein.
For three years, Charlotte was awarded a scholarship to attend IMS Prussia Cove to perform in concerts and masterclasses with Ida Haendl, Ferenc Rados and Valeria Szervánszky. Further masterclasses include those given by Mauricio Fuks, Thomas Brandis, Sylvia Rosenberg, Zvi Zeitlin, Tibor Varga, Alexander Pavlovic. As a quartet player she studied with Gunter Pichler for an intensive two years at the Escuala de Musica Reina Sofia and also with Rainer Smidt for three years at Pro Quartet-France.
Charlotte plays a violin by Antonio Stradivarius, 1685 “Gagliano”.

Jonathan Stone (violin)
British violinist Jonathan Stone is an internationally acclaimed chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster and director.
Jonathan was a member of the Doric String Quartet for 13 years. In this time, the quartet grew to become one of the world’s leading ensembles, recording 16 discs for Chandos Records and performing in most of the world’s finest concert halls such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and, closer to home, regular concerts at Wigmore Hall. He has collaborated with artists including John Adams, Nicolas Altstaedt, Jonathan Biss, Andreas Haefliger, Chen Halevi, Alina Ibragimova, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Richard Lester, Anthony Marwood, and Peter Wispelwey.
Jonathan is a founder member of the Phoenix Piano Trio. Described as ‘exquisitely sensitive’ by BBC Music Magazine, the Trio have recently commissioned and recorded Cheryl Frances-Hoad’sThe Forgiveness Machine for the Champs Hill label and Philip Venables’ Klaviertrio im Geiste for NMC Records. Acclaimed for their honest and insightful interpretations which span the entire genre, in 2019 the Trio will release the first in a series of recordings capturing the intense musical output from Leipzig in the 1840s that connected composers such as Mendelssohn, Brahms, the Schumanns and Niels Gade.
He is leader of the French orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie which specialises in classical and early romantic repertoire performed on period instruments. Jonathan is in demand as guest leader and director in the UK and Europe. This season includes concerts as guest leader of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and guest Principal 2nd of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.
Jonathan’s violin was crafted by Raffaele and Antonio Gagliano of Naples in 1830 and he plays with bows made by Luis Emilio Rodriguez Carrington and Eugène Sartori.
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