Alumni News: April 2013
Simon Rowland-Jones (1967) is now in his ninth year as co-director of the North Norfolk Music Festival which takes place each August, mainly in St Mary’s Church, South Creake, near Burnham Market. Melvyn Tan (1974) is a regular performer. Simon’s work as editor of the new Peters edition of the Haydn String Quartets is complete, with seven of eight volumes already published. Having recently finished his fourth string quartet Beachy Head, he is currently working on commissions for a fifth quartet for the Doric String Quartet, a piano and wind quintet for Ensemble 360, a trio for viola, clarinet and piano for the Jacquin Trio, and a quintet for the Sacconi Quartet for the Folkestone Festival 2014 (in which he intends to play himself).
Rosemary Furniss (1973) has received an award for outstanding achievement from the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, where she now lives, as well as an award from the Charlotte Observer, in recognition of her work as artist in residence for the Winterfield education project. After a concert with her piano trio at Davidson College on 30 March, she flies to the UK for a concert at the Cadogan Hall on 18 April, featuring a new work written by David Gordon for London Chamber Orchestra's education project Music Junction.
Colin Carr (1974) has over the last year performed cycles of the Bach Suites in Toronto, Ottowa, Montreal, New Zealand and at the Wigmore Hall, the Elgar Concerto in four concerts with the Halle Orchestra, recorded the Schoenberg and Tchaikovsky Sextets with the Emerson Quartet (with whom he also performed the Brahms Sextet in Carnegie Hall, New York), and given recitals with Thomas Sauer in New York, Philadelphia and London. Their new recording of the complete Beethoven works for cello and piano is out in May. Colin also has a new recording of the Bach Suites on the Wigmore Live label.
Ruth Phillips (1980) runs retreats for cellists at her home in Provence which give specialist help in releasing tension and overcoming stage fright.
Hsing-Chwen Hsin (1982) returned to School for a day before half-term to coach our pianists in both solo and chamber music. Then on 19 February she gave a quite wonderful recital in The Menuhin Hall, before an audience of pupils and nearly one hundred Friends of the School, who were invited to take up the offer of a complimentary ticket. But it was equally pleasing to hear the real warmth and affection with which she spoke about the five happy years she spent at the School.
Tasmin Little OBE (1983) curated a three-day festival at Kings Place in April, entitled From Bach to Bartok with Tasmin Little & Friends (one of whom was YMS cello professor Thomas Carroll (1994)). Tasmin, whose recording of the Britten Violin Concerto is released by Chandos in May, is also President of the School’s Anniversary Appeal.
Paul Watkins (1988) moves to New York in April to prepare for his new job as cellist of the Emerson Quartet. However he will be back in the UK to play the Lutoslawski Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms on 17 July and to conduct the English Chamber Orchestra at a Prom matinee in the Cadogan Hall on 24 August.
Aleksey Igudesman (1989) and Hyung-ki Joo (1990) will be starring in the New York Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve Concert at the Lincoln Center, New York at the end of the year.
Ning Kam (1993) has been Artistic Director of Het Kamerorkest in Bruges since 2010 and gave birth to her first child, Aaron Tiger Chin, on 25 February. Many congratulations!
Tatiana Berman (Kojovatova) (1998) is a founder member of the London International Players, a new chamber ensemble, who celebrated their official launch with a concert at 22 Mansfield Street on 27 March. Also among the players was pianist Irina Botan (2000).
David Cohen (1998) will give the world premiere of Katharsis by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (1998) on 15 June at the Spitalfields Music Summer Festival with the Rambert Orchestra. David’s Wigmore Hall recital with Sasha Grynyuk on 12 May includes the world premiere of Ian Wilson’s The Little Spanish Prison.
Leonard Elschenbroich (1999) was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist for two years from October 2012. BBC engagements so far have included the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra live on BBC Radio 3 and the Elgar Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at the Cheltenham Festival, Wigmore Hall and other concerto engagements still to come. Leonard’s debut disc, a recording with Alexei Grynyuk of the Rachmaninov Sonata and Vocalise and the Shostakovich Viola Sonata (arranged for cello by Daniil Shrafran), is released by Onyx Records on 29 April.
Nicola Benedetti (2002) was awarded an MBE for Services to Music and Charity in the New Year's Honours List. We have no doubt that this will be the first of many successes in 2013. Well done, Nicola.
Emmanuel Despax (2002) will be performing three concertos (including a world premiere by former YMS staff member Stephen Goss) with the Orpheus Sinfonia (conducted by Thomas Carroll) at the Cadogan Hall on 25 April, before giving a recital at the Wigmore Hall on 27 April.
Alina Ibragimova (2003), James Boyd (1987) and Jonathan Cohen (cello) gave a demonstration of chamber-music playing of the very highest order in their concert in The Menuhin Hall on 8 March. Their playing of the Beethoven Trios Op 9 No 3 and Op 3 was a masterclass in itself.
Melissa Gore (2006) won third prize (out of 83 entrants from all over the world) at the 24th Concours International de Piano d'Epinal, performing Saint-Saëns’s Second Piano Concerto with the National Orchestra of Lorraine under Jacques Mercier.
Jonathan Bloxham (2007) with his piano trio The Busch Ensemble has so far in 2013 won a Wigmore Hall concert from the Kirckman Concert Society, third prize at the Pinerolo International Chamber Music Competition in Italy and second prize at the Schumann International Chamber Music Competition in Frankfurt.
Vladimir Waltham (2007) was recently selected by the Jumpstart Jr Foundation to receive on loan a baroque cello made by Nicola Gagliano.
Ben Baker (2009) won both first prize and the audience prize at the Fourth Windsor Festival International String Competition. In addition to a prize fund valued at over £20,000, Ben gains the opportunity to play a concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Windsor Festival in September 2013 and a solo recording opportunity with Champs Hill Records.
Iva Nedeva (2012) with her quartet Auriga won both first prize and the audience prize in the Gasteig Kulturpreis for students of the Hochschule für Theater und Musik in Munich. She has also won one of this year’s two places for violinists on the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music programme in Munich.
Please continue to give us your alumni news and any change in contact details by emailing alumni@yehudimenuhinschool.co.uk.