The Cappa String Quartet David Coucheron (violin)
Anthony Sabberton (violin)
Adam Newman (viola)
Brian O’Kane (cello) The Cappa Quartet, founded in 2004, comprised of graduates from the Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School, is quickly emerging as a quartet of outstanding promise. The quartet already enjoys a busy performing schedule combined with compiling a varied and extensive range of repertoire under the tutelage of Matthew Souter of the Alberni String Quartet. They have performed in the Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Paganini Festivals in London and have given recitals at Colston Hall Bristol, Queen Elisabeth Hall and Fairfield Hall London, the Norfolk & Norwich Festival and the North Norfolk Festival. They have been awarded many prizes within the Academy including the prestigious Sir John Barbirolli Prize, the Delius Prize, the Sir Edward Cooper Prize and the London Chamber Music Society Award. In January 2007 they were selected for the Tillett Trust Young Artists’ Platform scheme and in March the same year they won the ensemble prize at the Royal Over-Seas League competition. The Cappa Quartet’s rapid development has benefited enormously from extensive coaching, both within and outside the Academy, including with members from the former Amadeus and Brandis quartets as well as with the Vanbrugh, Maggini, Skampa and Takacs quartets. In April 2007 they took part in the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove with Gabor Takacs-Nagy and will be returning in Easter 2008. With a keen interest in exploring the contemporary and English string quartet idiom, the Cappa Quartet tries to combine fresh and unknown works with the more conventional, classical repertoire. Highlights during the past year have included performances as soloists in Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro with the Royal Academy of Music String Orchestra, collaborations with the renowned viola player Hartmut Rohde and with the young French pianist Amandine Savary, (also on the Tillett Trust YAP scheme), as well as an appearance at the North Norfolk Festival playing the Mendelssohn Octet with the Sorrell Quartet. Recent engagements have included a return visit to Bristol’s Colston Hall and concerts in St. Peter’s Church, Victoria, London. In the present season they have a busy diary of dates around the UK and they made their Wigmore debut in a shared recital, sponsored by Young Artists Platform, in early October. In June 2008 they will undertake a tour of Japan and in the Autumn they will be touring Australia and New Zealand. In November 2008 they will be playing at the Wigmore for the Royal Over-Seas League as part of the Monday Platform series of concerts. The Cappa Quartet, who take their name from the famous seventeenth century Italian violin-maker Gioffredo Cappa, currently play on a variety of fine Italian instruments which are kindly on loan from both private sponsors and The Royal Academy of Music. They include the 1725 “Da Vinci” Stradivari violin, an 1850 Rocca violin, a Ceruti viola c.1800 and a 1906 Degani cello. Visit www.cappaquartet.com for further information.
Fiona Slominska (Flute) Fiona Slominska studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with Karen Jones and Peter Lloyd. At the end of her first year at Manchester Fiona was awarded the Geoffrey Gilbert Flute Prize; during her time at the RNCM she was the first woodwind player to be accepted on the Professional Access Scheme with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. In her final year, she was awarded the Diploma in Professional Performance and a BMus with First Class Hons and she was chosen to play the Ibert Concerto in the finals of the RNCM Annual Concerto Competition. Before going to the RNCM Fiona was a music scholar at Uppingham School studying with Lynda Coffin and Clare Southworth, and whilst there she performed regularly in the Lunchtime Recital Series. She was the soloist in performances of the Malcolm Arnold and Nielsen Concertos and another highlight from this time was a performance of the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto at Southwell Minster with harpist Alison Nicholls. Fiona was a finalist in the Granada Chamber Music Prize and in 2004 took part in the debut recording of music by the Welsh Composer, Jeffrey Lewis, which received critical acclaim Since leaving the RNCM in 2005, Fiona has had a very varied career. She is visiting flute teacher at Oundle School and the Junior Department of the Birmingham Conservatoire. She has also worked, on a freelance basis, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Concert Orchestra and the Orchestra of English National Ballet. Sarah Williamson (clarinet) In 2002 Sarah played the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis in the finals of the BBC Young Musician competition. She then went on to win second prize in the Eurovision Competition for Young Musicians in Berlin, again playing the Copland Concerto, this time with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marek Janowsky. Sarah studied at the Purcell School with David Fuest, and at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. In 2001, she won the Shell LSO Gerald McDonald Award and was awarded the Arthur Frederick Bulgin Medal by The Worshipful Company of Musicians. She continued her studies at Le Conservatoire Superieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Pascal Moraguès, Jean-Francois Verdier and Olivier Derbesse, graduating with the Premier Prix and a ‘Laureate’, the highest honour. Sarah has toured the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia (British Council), USA, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. She has performed at festivals across the UK, and made her debuts at Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre. Currently based in Britain, Sarah continues to play regularly in Europe with a debut performance at the Tonhalle, Zurich. She is active in the field of contemporary music: she has championed the music of Edward Longstaff who has written for her 'Prelude' and 'Nocturne' both premiered on BBC Radio 3, plus a Clarinet Concerto (premiered in 2003). She has worked with Phillip Grange and recorded his clarinet concerto 'Sheng Sheng Bu Shi' with the National Youth Wind Ensemble, with a CD released in early 2007. Highlights of 2006 included appearances with Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s and the BBC Concert Orchestra (broadcast live), a lunchtime concert in the Wigmore Hall plus a performance in Madrid. 2007 has seen a performance of the Nielsen concerto with the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra and Sarah’s future schedule includes concerts with the Sacconi, Doric and Carducci Quartets as well as performances in Portugal, Ireland and throughout. http://www.margaretmurphy.com/williamson/biog.htm Wu Qian (Piano) Wu Qian began her training at the Shanghai Conservatoire of Music nd went on at the age of eleven to the Menuhin School, where she studied with Irina Zaritskaya. While still only 15 she performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto in E flat Major (K449) in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and later at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Switzerland. In 2000 she played the Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 at St. Johns Smith Square with the Philharmonia for the Martin Musical Founation. In the same year she won the Tunbridge Wells International Young Artists Competition, which led to her debut recital in the Purcell Room. In 2001, she was selected to play in the Park Lane Group series at the Purcell Room and her recital was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 to critical acclaim. In 2002 Qian gave recitals in the Royal Festival Hall, in Hanover and Amsterdam and in the Steinway Halls of Hamburg and New York where her performance was recorded by Japanese National Television for broadcast throughout Asia. The following year saw her debut recital at Wigmore Hall and a performance at the International Music Festival in Koblenz. Other engagements have included Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto in G minor in St John’s, Smith Square, a recital in the South Bank Centre’s Fresh series for Young Artists, her debut in the City Hall, Hong Kong and in Spain. Appearances for 2006 included a concert at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, a concert in the Purcell Room as a result of a further Martin Foundation Award and a third solo Wigmore Hall recital. In December she was chosen by the Independent Newspaper as a rising star for 2007. Qian was awarded the 2005 Boise Foundation scholarship and is supported by the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund and Hattori Foundation. She is currently studying on a full scholarship for a Masters degree at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton. |
