Ian Brown (piano)
Ian Brown's varied career embraces chamber music, solo playing and conducting. Widely regarded as one of the world's leading chamber musicians, he has partnered many distinguished soloists, among them Rostropovich, Szeryng, Galway, Isserlis and Dame Felicity Lott, most recently recording and touring in Russia with Vengerov. During his long association with the Nash Ensemble he has played and recorded an exceptionally large chamber music repertoire. As soloist he has played with the BBC Symphony and Philharmonic orchestras, the London Sinfonietta and at the BBC Proms. He is now also working as a conductor, last year making a highly successful appearance with the Philharmonia Orchestra in Bruckner's 7th Symphony. He has worked with several British orchestras and in Poland and the Czech Republic. He has toured Germany as conductor and soloist with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and this season will tour South Africa.
Philippa Davies (flute)
Since her celebrated performance of Mozart's Concerto in D major at the BBC Proms in 1988, Philippa Davies has established an international reputation as one of the finest flautists currently performing; a 'first-rate virtuoso' with 'exceptional eloquence'. She plays and broadcasts throughout the world and has just returned from Brazil and USA performing concertos and masterclasses. Her many concerto performances and recordings with orchestras in the UK, Europe and North and South America have earned her an avid following. After lessons with Douglas Whittaker and William Bennett, she was flautist with the Fires of London and Albion Ensemble and Principal Flute with the London Mozart Players. Now she continues her love of chamber music as a member of the Nash Ensemble, London Winds and with her own group, Arpège. She has recorded Mozart's entire original concertos and quartets for Regis, ASV and Virgin, the Romance of the Flute and Harp with Thelma Owen, and more recently Bach Flute Sonatas with Maggie Cole (AVIE) and William Alwyn's flute music (Dutton). In 2009 she visits Spain, Germany and USA performing and giving masterclasses, and plans to record the flute concerto of the British composer Paul Reade. She is a flute professor at the Guildhall School of Music, London.
Gareth Hulse (oboe)
After reading music at Cambridge, Gareth Hulse studied with Janet Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music, and with Heinz Holliger at the Freiburg Hochschule fur Musik. On his return to England he was appointed principal oboe with the Northern Sinfonia, a position he has since held with English National Opera and the London Philharmonic. He is principal oboe with the London Sinfonietta, and with them has performed concertos by some of the world's leading composers, such as Berio, Ligeti, Penderecki and Carter. Gareth is also a founder member of London Winds, with whom he recorded the award winning discs of the complete wind music of Richard Strauss, and the wind serenades of Mozart. He has been a member of the Nash Ensemble for many years, and with them has played in many countries both the classical repertoire and contemporary chamber music. Gareth Hulse teaches at the Royal College of Music.
Richard Hosford (clarinet)
Richard Hosford has a busy career both as a soloist and as chamber musician, as well as being Principal Clarinet of the BBC Symphony Orchestra since 1994, having previously been Principal Clarinet with the London Philharmonic. As a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe for more than twenty years Richard toured the world, also performing as a soloist with them. He has recorded the Mozart and Copland concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Alexander Schneider on ASV. Richard Hosford is a committed chamber musician and has recorded all the major repertoire for wind ensemble with the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has toured with them throughout the world. He has
recorded with the chamber ensemble, Domus, and the Florestan Piano Trio. He is a leading member of the Gaudier Ensemble and has recorded many works for strings and wind with them. In recent years his recordings of the Copland Concerto and the Brahms Trio have both been rated "First choice" by BBC
Radio 3 Record review. Richard teaches at the Royal College of Music. In 1998 he became a member of the Nash Ensemble.
Ursula Leveaux (bassoon)
Ursula Leveaux studied in London, Amsterdam and the Hague. As a student she was a member of the European Community Youth Orchestra and was the Gold Medal winner of the Shell-London Symphony Orchestra Scholarsip. As well as being a member of the Nash Ensemble Ursula is Principal Bassoon with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. She is frequently invited to play as Guest Principal with orchestras and ensembles throughout the UK and Europe and is also much in demand as a performer of Baroque and Classical Bassoon. She appears regularly as concerto soloist and her recordings include the Bassoon Concerto(Strathclyde Concerto No. 8) by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, which was written especially for her. In 2003 Ursula was invited to participate in the prestigious Marlboro Music Festival in the USA and will return there next summer.
Richard Watkins (horn)
Richard Watkins has rapidly become one of the most sought after horn players of his generation and is well-known as a concerto soloist and chamber music player. He was Principal Horn of the Philharmonia for 12 years and, in addition to being a member of the Nash Ensemble, is a founder member of the acclaimed London Winds. He has appeared at major venues in this country and abroad, has appeared as soloist with many eminent conductros, and is in great demand as a chamber musician and recitalist. His discography is extensive and includes concertos by Mozart, Sir Malcolm Arnold, Glière and Dame Ethel Syth, and Poulenc's chamber music for horn. He is closely associated with the promotion of contemporary music for the horn and has given the premières of works by Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies, Colin and David Matthews, Magnus Lindberg, Dominic Muldowney and Nicola LeFanu. As Professor of Horn and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, he is in great demand for masterclasses and lectures worldwide.
Marianne Thorsen (violin)
Marianne Thorsen, first prize winner at the 2003 Sion International Violin Competition (Switzerland), was born in Trondheim, a town she returned to in 2006 when she was appointed Professor at the Music Department of Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She has also for many years been a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She studied with Bjarne Fiskum and finished her studies with Gyorgy Pauk at the Purcell School and the Royal Academy of Music, winning the Roth Prize and the DipRAM, the Academy's highest award for performance. She founded the Leopold String Trio in 1991 and was their leader for 15 years, taking them on extensive tours throughout the UK and abroad to concert venues like Carnegie Hall New York, Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Philharmonie in Cologne. The Trio released several CDs on Hyperion, including the complete Beethoven string trios, Mozart Piano Quartets (with Paul Lewis), string trios by Dohnanyi, Martinu and Schoenberg, the Schubert 'Trout' Quintet (with Paul Lewis) and the complete Brahms piano quartets with Marc-André Hamelin. In 2000 Marianne was appointed leader of the Nash Ensemble. She has performed concertos with leading orchestras including BBC Symphony, Philharmonia, City of Birmingham, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Bergen and Oslo Philharmonic orchestras. In 2006, 2L recorded Mozart Violin Concertos nos 3-5 with Marianne Thorsen and the Trondheim Soloists. The CD won the Norwegian Spelleman Prize, and was nominated for a Grammy.
Malin Broman (violin)
Malin Broman studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with David Takeno and graduated with a Masters degree in chamber music. In 1994 Malin represented Sweden in the Eurovision Broadcasting Union Competition in Warsaw, Poland, where she won 3rd Prize. Only a few months earlier she had won 1st Prize and the Audience Prize at the Washington International Competition for Strings, USA, and in June 1996 she took 2nd Prize in the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Odense, Denmark. As a
soloist Malin has performed with orchestras including the Gothenburg, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Copenhagen Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, and Swedish Radio orchestras and worked with conductors such as Neeme Järvi, Heinrich Schiff and Joseph Swensen. Together with Simon Crawford-Phillips and Jesper Svedberg, Malin plays in the Kungsbacka Piano Trio. In 1999 the Trio won the prestigious Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, Australia. They have recorded extensively for BBC Radio 3 and in 2003 were 'ECHO' Rising Stars and made their debuts at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Salzburg Mozarteum and New York's Carnegie Hall. In 2008 Malin was appointed leader of the Swedish Radio Orchestra in Stockholm where she also is Guest Viola Professor at the Edsberg Institute of music. She plays a 1748 G. Gagliano on kind loan from the Järnåker Foundation.
Lawrence Power (viola)
Lawrence Power gained acclaim and international recognition as the first British winner of the William Primrose International Competition. He was also selected for the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. Since his London debut with the Philharmonia he has worked with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Festival Strings and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He has given premières of works by John Kaefer, Andrew Toovey and Mark-Anthony Turnage, and has premèèred works written for him by Colin Matthews and Huw Watkins. He has recorded the Brahms Viola Sonatas and Concertos by Walton and Rubbra for Hyperion, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante with Maxim Vengerov for EMI. Lawrence is a member of the Nash Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio, and is a frequent guest at festivals such as Verbier, Vancouver, Oslo, Edinburgh, Aldeburgh and Cheltenham. Future engagements include concertos with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Paul Watkins (cello)
Paul Watkins has established himself as one of the finest cellists of his generation. He performs regularly with the major British orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic. He has made six appearances at the BBC Proms, most recently at the First Night of the 2007 season performing the Elgar concerto. Paul has appeared as a concerto soloist throughout Europe, Australia and the Far East. Alongside his playing, he has a busy schedule as a conductor, having won first prize at the Leeds Conductors' Competition in 2002. Since that time, he has worked with many orchestras including the London Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony and the London Philharmonic, and this season he will make his debut as Associate Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra. Paul Watkins has given solo and duo recitals at Wigmore Hall, City of London Festival, South Bank Centre, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, as well as recitals in New York, Boston and throughout Europe. He has recorded for Nimbus, Chandos and Bis Records and his first CD for Warner Classics received a Grammy nomination.
Duncan McTier (double bass)
Since winning the 1982 Isle of Man International Double Bass Competition, Duncan McTier has established a reputation as one of the world's leading double bass soloists. He has appeared as soloist all
over the world and made more than fifty recordings for radio, TV and
record companies. He obtained a mathematics degree at Bristol University before joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra. After seven years as principal bass of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra he returned to England to concentrate on a career as soloist, chamber musician and pedagogue. He has collaborated with many of the world's most distinguished string quartets, and artists such as Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis, Nobuko Imai and Heinrich Schiff. Composers who have written works especially for him include Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Gavin Bryars, Robin Holloway and John Casken. Duncan McTier is Professor of Double Bass at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste in Winterthur and the Reina Sofia School
in Madrid.
Lucy Wakeford (harp)
Appointed principal of the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2002, Lucy Wakeford is one of the most outstanding harpists of her generation. Much in demand as a soloist, recitalist and ensemble player, she has performed at major venues and festivals throughout Europe, appearing as guest artist with many eminent musicians and ensembles. She regularly gives concerts with the Erard Trio, Haffner Wind and Zenith Ensembles and is also principal harp of the Britten Sinfonia. This season Lucy’s engagements include return visits to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall, both as soloist and in performances of works by Britten with Roger Vignoles and John Mark Ainsley. Earlier this year she undertook an Arts Council England 'Around the Country' tour with the Wakeford Ensemble and gave recitals in Tunisia. As a concerto soloist Lucy has appeared with many major UK orchestras and has recorded the Mozart Concerto for Flute & Harp with the Britten Sinfonia and Dohnanyi's Concertino with the English Sinfonia on the BMG and ASV labels respectively.