NATHANIEL BOYD

Nathanial Boyd is a passionate and dedicated musician who combines a busy chamber music career with frequent solo engagements. He studied at the Junior Guildhall and the Royal Northern College of Music with Hannah Roberts and Ralph Kirshbaum, graduating in June 2005 with First Class Honours, a PPRNCM (Distinction) and the Leonard Rose Prize. He went on to postgraduate study at the RNCM and recently graduated with a starred first in performance.

Nathaniel has participated in masterclasses with Mstislav Rostropovich, Bernard Greenhouse, Thomas Demenga, Karine Georgian, Steven Doane, Colin Carr and Alexander Rudin. He appears regularly as both a recitalist and with orchestra, most recently performing Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto and Brahms' "Double" Concerto with violinist Marije Ploemacher with the
Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra.

As a member of the Navarra string quartet, Nathaniel has performed at many of the world's great concert halls and is a frequent visitor to the Wigmore Hall in London. The quartet broadcast regularly on Radio 3 and are laureates of numerous prizes and international competitions including 'Outstanding Young Artists of the Year 2008' at the MIDEM awards in Cannes. Future performances include their debuts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Tonhalle in Zurich. Their debut of Haydn's 'Seven Last Words' will be
released in May on the Altara label.

In November, Nathaniel will tour Australia under the auspices of Musica Viva performing with the pianist Alexander Boyd and with the Navarra quartet.

Nathaniel plays a Grancino cello of 1695.

VLAD MAISTOROVICI

Vlad's playing displays ''technical assuredness, balanced by interpretative willingness to push boundaries that can, and often does make sparks fly'' (MusicWeb International). A highly versatile performer, he has captivated audiences around the world in repertoire that ranges from Bach to contemporary compositions.
Born in Romania in 1985, Vlad is a former pupil of The Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied with Natalia Boyarskaya. In 2008 he graduated with a BMus at the Royal College of Music, where he studied violin with Felix Andrievsky and composition with Jonathan Cole on a full scholarship. He is currently completing his Postgraduate Diploma under Felix Andrievsky and Mark Anthony Turnage as a scholar supported by the Gandar Dower Award and the MBF. He has complemented his violin studies in summer courses such as Verbier Academy and Keshet Eilon. He is currently enrolled on the special courses of Bruno Canino at the Fiesole Music School in a duo with pianist Dario Bonucelli.

Winner of Remember Enescu International Competition and a Finalist of Young Concert Artist Trust, Vlad has performed concerti and recitals that have included appearances at major venues in Europe (Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Saint John's Smith Square, Saint Martin's in the Fields, Basilica Santa Cecilia, Salle Flagey) as well as Merkin Hall, Kaufman Center - New York and The Athenæum in his native Romania.
A committed chamber musician, Vlad had the opportunity to perform with musicians such as Dora Schwartzberg and Jeremy Menuhin while he was still a pupil of The Menuhin School. His collaboration with pianist Ellena Hale at his 2005 Wigmore appearance was recorded as a ''genuine duo partnership'' (MusicWeb International). He performs regularly with the Mercury 4tet, an ensemble that focuses 20th Century and contemporary repertoire. In 2008 he was invited to give masterclasses to the students of the Lilla Akademien in Stockholm on the occasion of his Ysaye Memorial Tour of Europe.

An active composer, he sometimes uses his own works in balancing his concert programs. Described as ''powerfully expressive and modern from within'' by Actualitatea Muzicala (Bucharest), his music has been performed in the UK, Romania, Belgium, Germany, USA and Australia in venues such as Wigmore Hall, The Warehouse, RDR Concert Hall, Salle Flagey, Merkin Hall. In 2002, Night Music for string quartet was awarded the Gold Medal at the George Enescu International Competition by a jury chaired by Krzysztof Penderecky. Premiered by Profil Ensemble at the 2005 Enescu Festival the work received great critical acclaim. This year, Transcent for piano was awarded the Clive Christian “Sound of Perfume” Prize. In 2005, General Anzeiger has recorded a ''very warm reaction from the German public'' to the premiere of Monument, written for the 50th commemoration of the death of Enescu.

In 2007 he was selected to be one of the 6 young composers to take part in the Britten-Pears Programme, where, under the supervision of Oliver Knussen, Colin Mattheus and Magnus Lindberg he composed Ocean Wing for chamber orchestra, which was premiered at the Aldeburgh Festival in 2008. The Financial Times praised the work's "vivid contrasts", while the Norfolk Eastern Daily Press found it to be "continuing the Britten legacy". Future commissions include a work for BBC's celebration of Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a work for Northern Chords Chamber Music Festival in Newcastle, a work for LPO's young composer scheme, and a work for LSO Discovery Panufnik Young Composer Scheme.

Vlad's stay in London is supported by the Ratiu Family Foundation. www.maistorovici.com

FINZI STRING QUARTET

The Finzi Quartet was formed under the guidance of the late Dr Christopher Rowland at the Royal Northern College of Music. Recently selected by the Tillett Trust and the Park Lane Group, 2009/2010 sees the Quartet’s debut at both the Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room in London.

Winner of 2nd Prize in the 2009 Trondheim International String Quartet Competition in Norway, the Quartet is also a laureate of the 31st London International String Quartet Competition and was a finalist in the Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award for Chamber Music in Switzerland. In 2008 the Quartet was invited to take part in the Tunnell Trust’s Blair Atholl Showcase in Scotland, to which it returned early last year, and recently undertook a two-week Residency in Aldeburgh following visits to the Britten-Pears International Academy of String Quartets in 2006 and 2008. It has given numerous recitals for music societies throughout the United Kingdom, the Schubert Institute, the Bridgewater Hall’s ‘Lite Bites’ Series, and at St James’s Church Piccadilly in London, and recently took part in a collaboration with the Medici Quartet in the premiere of ‘Towards Silence’ by Sir John Tavener in London and Winchester.

After working with Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartett in Aldeburgh and Siena, Italy, the Quartet was invited to study in his 2008/2009 chamber music class at the Instituto Internacional de Música de Cámara de Madrid, where it attended on a monthly visiting basis. This was made possible by a full scholarship from the Albeniz Foundation in Madrid. The Quartet has benefited hugely from the support and mentorship of Günter Pichler and will make several visits to continue its work with him in Madrid in 2010. The Quartet has also participated in masterclasses with Alasdair Tait, Isabel Charisius, the Endellion Quartet, Valentin Erben, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Hugh Maguire and Thomas Riebl, and in 2008 was selected for Andras Keller’s class at the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove.

Having a strong desire to promote the music of English composers, the Quartet feels extremely honoured that the Finzi Trust supports their use of Gerald Finzi’s name.

Future projects include an Artsreach Residency in Dorset, the closing concert of an exciting new series at the Louise Blouin Institue in London and a concert for the Patrons of Lake District Summer Music in their New Generation Artists Series. The Quartet is also a recipient of last years’ Tunnell Trust Award and as a result undertook a concert tour of Scotland in November 2009. The Quartet is passionate about outreach work and has recently begun working with CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust giving concerts in schools around London.

Trinity College of Music has recently appointed the Finzi Quartet Bulldog Junior Fellows in String Quartet for 2009/2010.

www.finziquartet.co.uk