Kirker Artists

Born in 1987, Adam Walker studied at Chethams School of Music and later at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2002 Adam became the youngest ever winner of the British Flute Society Competition and in 2003 won the Royal Overseas League prize for the woodwind section. 

As a soloist Adam has appeared with the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestras and in recital at Wigmore Hall and other leading chamber music venues. At the age of 22 he was appointed Principal Flute with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Born on Merseyside in 1974, Adrian Chandler is recognised internationally as a leading interpreter of Italian baroque music with an ‘avant-garde approach that would have awed Hendrix’ (The Guardian). Adrian was introduced to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons at the age of ten via a recording by Iona Brown and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields: the experience resulted in a lifetime’s dedication to Italian baroque music. Adrian founded La Serenissima in 1994 whilst still a student at the Royal College of Music.

Known for his determination to share knowledge and a passion for great baroque music – whether celebrated, under-performed or unknown – Adrian’s commitment to broadening musical horizons is matched only by his formidable technique and powerful expression as a violinist. His charismatic addresses to audiences in concert and writing have been widely remarked on and he’s been praised by Gramophone Magazine for the ethos he has created: ‘a scholarly attitude to programming and performance style which is yet worn with light grace’.

Adrian was awarded a 3-year Arts and Humanities Research Council fellowship in 2006 at Southampton University to chart the development of the North Italian violin concerto 1690-1740; he subsequently held a 2-year post there as Turner Sims Professor.

Ailish Tynan comes from Mullingar in County Westmeath and she studied at Trinity College, Dublin, at The Royal Irish Academy of Music and at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She joined the roster of young artists at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for the 2003/2004 seasons and has sung many major roles there over the years and during the 2022/23 season will sing the role of Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia and the First Lady in Die Zauberflote at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. 

In 2021 she sang Mimi at Grange Park Opera and this season she sang the role of Despina at Garsington Opera. Ailish is a consummate recitalist and has given many performances with pianist, Iain Burnside. She appears regularly at Wigmore Hall which is where we first heard her sing ’Pregnant’ in recital with Iain and Benjamin Appl.

Ariel Lanyi was born in Jerusalem and studied there before moving to London where he continued his studies at the Royal Academy of Music. He took part in the prestigious 2021 Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont and was selected by the Young Classical Artists Trust in New York and London.

Benjamin Appl is regarded as one of the leading baritones of his generation. In 2017 he appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival, Wigmore Hall, Oxford Lieder Festival, the Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden and the Frauenkirche, Dresden.

Matthew Denton & Michelle Fleming, violins, Eoin Schmidt-Martin, viola Emma Denton, cello. The Carducci Quartet is one of the leading quartets of its generation, performing at venues thought the UK and America. They have their own recording label, Carducci Classics and present their own series of concerts each year in May at Highnam in Gloucestershire. 

During 2015 they presented a number of complete cycles of the 15 quartets composed by Shostakovich – this won them the coveted Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music in May 2016. Engagements during the 2016 season include performances at the Presteigne Festival, the North Norfolk Music Festival, at the Frick Collection in New York and at Wigmore Hall. The Carducci often take part in the Kirker series of music festivals both on land and at sea.

Alex Redington, violin; Ying Xue, violin; Helene Clement, viola; John Myerscough, cello. The Doric String Quartet was introduced to Kirker audiences back in 2005. Since then they have performed on many of our exclusive Festivals both on land and at sea. They memorably played Walton’s String Quartet at the Kirker Ischia Music Festival at La Mortella in Ischia with Susana Walton being visibly moved sitting in the front row. 

Today, they are amongst the most sought after quartets in the world playing at concert halls and in festivals around the world so it has been hugely rewarding for everyone at Kirker to witness their rise to stardom. They play at every major festival around the world, have a series of several concerts at Wigmore Hall each season and continue to add to their already extensive discography. They have performed at the North Norfolk Music Festival every summer since the first festival in 2005 and play regularly in the USA – on 27 February 2017 they make their debut at Carnegie Hall.

Formed at the Royal College of Music, where they are currently Chamber Music Fellows, the Echea Quartet has won a string of awards and prizes, most recently taking the First Prize in the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League competition. They were awarded a residency in Banff and have a busy performing career. Concerts in Conway Hall, London, in the Royal College of Music Chamber Music Festival are included in their plans.

Elisabeth Perry studied with the first class of pupils at the Yehudi Menuhin School. At the age of fourteen, Perry shared center stage with Lord Menuhin in a memorable Royal Albert Hall concert and subsequently recorded the Bach Double Violin Concerto for Teldec. Perry has been a welcome guest soloist with Britain’s leading orchestras including the London Symphony, the Royal Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

The pianist Gary Matthewman is one of the foremost accompanists of his generation working regular with the world's leading singers including Aiylyn Perez, Adam Plachetka, John Mark Ainsley, Andrei Bondarenko and many more. 

He is a Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music and works regular as a coach at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He has taken part in many Kirker Music holidays both on land and at sea. This autumn he will be joining us at our annual music festival on Ischia. Gary appeared in the episode of Downton Abbey alongside Dame Kiri Kanawa who, as Dame Nellie Melba, descended in great style on the Granthams!

The Scottish pianist and award-winning broadcaster Iain Burnside has worked with the world’s leading singers for more than 40 years. He teaches at the National Opera Studio, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and with young singers at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

James Atkinson has just completed the two year opera course at the Royal College of Music, studying with Alison Wells. During this time, he sang several important roles there, including Ramiro in L’heure espagnole by Ravel. He has also sung in productions with English Touring Opera and British Youth Opera. He was a semi-finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards in 2019.

Last season he gave two recitals as part of the live streamed Oxford Lieder Festival and after his debut in South Creake he will sing at the Lammermuir Festival before returning to Oxford for the 2021 festival. For Hugh Canning of The Times, he is ‘clearly a singer to watch.’ We firmly agree!

Described by The Times as “A very British Harry Connick Jr”, and by The Guardian as “a jazz pianist and songwriter of considerable talent and no less charm” Joe Stilgoe is the son of songwriter Richard Stilgoe and opera-singer Annabel Hunt, and has forged a unique career as a modern-day entertainer with wit, style and a level of musicianship which has seen him recognised as one of the best singer-pianists in the world.

Joe has released 9 albums, five of which have topped the UK Jazz chart. His live performances offer an enticing mix of his heroes Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole and Dudley Moore, and he has given concerts at the Lyric Hammersmith, the Royal Albert Hall, the London Jazz Festival, St Johns Smith Square and Cadogan Hall, as well as sell-out Edinburgh Festival seasons and a UK tour. He was asked to perform for The Queen and Duke Of Edinburgh’s 70th wedding anniversary at Windsor, and has given private performances for members of the Royal family at St James Palace, The Ritz in London and Frogmore House, among many others. He works extensively on radio, including BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night, JazzFM, and Radio 3 and 4.

John Myerscough enjoys an international career with The Doric String Quartet and Simon Rowland-Jones is a well-known chamber musician, teacher and composer. His choral work was given its first performance in London in November.

La Serenissima is a UK period-instrument ensemble presenting ground-breaking programmes for varying forces – from works written for 2 musicians, to a complete opera cast. The group is acclaimed for its commitment to unearthing the musical gems of 18^th century Venice and connected composers. 

Founded in 1994 by Adrian Chandler while he was still a student at the Royal College of Music, La Serenissima is recognised as the UK’s leading exponents of the music of Vivaldi. The ensemble has given recent performances at the Buxton International Festival, London Festival of Baroque Music and at Valletta International Festival of Baroque Music and during 2021/22 will give a series of residency concerts at Wigmore Hall. His Excellency The Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom is the group’s Patron.

Martin Roscoe, piano, is one of the best-known and most popular British musicians and has performed in every major venue and with all the leading orchestras over his long career. He is the director of both the Ribble Valley Piano Week and the Beverley Chamber Music Festival and is a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Melvyn Tan was born in Singapore. and came to England at a young age to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal College of Music. He has appeared as a soloist with every leading orchestra, throughout Europe and the USA. The works of Chopin have always been central to his repertoire.

Niall Brown was born in Aberdeen and began his cello studies at the age of 6. Yehudi Menuhin invited him to join his new school in Surrey where he now teaches. He also teaches at the Conservatoire du Norf in Luxembourg where he now lives. He has performed as leader and as soloist with many orchestras as well playing with distinguished chamber musicians throughout his career. He was a member of the acclaimed Australian String Quartet with whom he toured for many years.

Soprano Rosa Feola comes from San Nicola la Strada in Caserta and studied at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Martucci in Salerno. Winning the 2010 Placido Domingo World Opera Prize in 2010 launched her career. Since then she has sung major roles in important theatres throughout Europe.

Sergio Vitaleis one of Italy’s leading young baritones. He comes from Caserta and studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena. His teachers included Renata Scotto and Renato Bruson. He has sung in almost every Italian opera house including at the Teatro Regio, Parma where he appeared with Mariella Devia in Roberto Devereux.

Simon Lepper was educated at King’s College, Cambridge and at the Royal Academy of Music. He is Professor of Piano Accompaniment at the Royal College Of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He is an official accompanist at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. 

He is one of his generations leading pianists working with international singers and his career takes him around the world. Simon has worked with Sally Matthews, Angelika Kirschschlager, Mark Padmore, Nicole Cabell, Karen Cargill, Dame Felicity Palmer, Joan Rodgers and many more.

"Performer, editor, composer and teacher, Simon Rowland-Jones has always led a very busy, all-embracing musical life. He was founder violist of the Chilingirian Quartet, in which he played for a total of ten years, and subsequently performed with many other leading chamber groups. 

His solo CDs, on the Meridian and Etcetera labels, include the first-ever complete version of the Bach Cello Suites on viola. Peters Edition published his viola transcription of the suites shortly after the recording was made and he then went on to make a new critical/performing edition of the Haydn String Quartets. His many works include pieces for viola, four string quartets, a string trio, a piano quartet, songs and ‘A Turn Outside’, a musical adaptation of a play by Stevie Smith commissioned by Dame Josephine Barstow. He teaches viola and chamber music at the Royal College of Music and is co-director of the North Norfolk Music Festival."

Stephan Loges was born in Dresden and was the winner of the first Wigmore Hall Song Competition which led to the start of his international career as a recitalist and soloist.

The Aquinas Piano Trio is made up of three of the country's leading chamber musicians: Martin Cousin, piano; Ruth Rogers, violin; Katherine Jenkinson, cello. They made their debut at Wigmore Hall in a sold-out concert in 2015 and will be returning there twice in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

During the 2019 season they began a cycle of Schumann's piano trios for the London Chamber Music Society with performances at King's Place, London. Other recent appearances have been in the Holkham Hall Chamber Music Series in Norfolk, the Dulwich Picture Gallery Concert Series, Oxford and for other music clubs throughout the UK. They took part in the Kirker Chopin Music Festival in Mallorca in 2017.

The Balthasar Piano Trio is made up of three leading well know British musicians each with their own important careers. It was formed in 2021 by the pianist Iain Burnside, the violinist Michael Foyle and cellist Tim Hugh.

With a British violinist and cellist, a Finnish violinist and a French viola player, the Castalian String Quartet is well placed for an international career after being accepted by the Young Concert Artist Trust. They have an impressive number of engagements throughout the UK and Europe.

They have enjoyed a residency at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and have been chosen by Wigmore Hall to take a prominent role in its forthcoming Haydn quartet cycle. Early in 2018 the quartet were presented with the inaugural Merito String Quartet Award/Valentin Erben Prize and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award in recognition of their achievements. In April 2019 they gave a five-concert tour of the USA and Canada ending at Lincoln Center for a concert in the Great Performers Series.

The Heath Quartet was founded at the Royal Northern College of Music twenty years ago by four students who were studying there. They have been one of the most popular and best-established quartets ever since, performing all over the world at major venues.

The Karski Quartet is rapidly gaining recognition on the international music scene for its passionate interpretations of works ranging from Haydn to 21st century repertoire, the Karski Quartet was formed in Belgium in 2018 and performs in a wide range of venues througout Europe.

The quartet’s founding members are violinists Kaja Nowak and Natalia Kotarba, violinist and violist Diede Verpoest and cellist Julia Kotarba. Having played with one another in many different combinations, the four met as a quartet during the 2018 Resonances Festival Academy. Soon after they were awarded the Grand Prix as well as the Special Prize for the alumni of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels at the 4th International Music Competition Triomphe de l'Art in Brussels.

Since the inception of the quartet their mentors have been David Waterman, Philippe Graffin and Amy Norrington. In January 2019 the quartet joined the String Quartet Studio programme at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, working closely with Donald Grant (Elias Quartet), Petr Prause (Talich Quartet), Pavel Fischer (ex - Škampa Quartet) and Simon Rowland-Jones (ex – Chilingirian Quartet). Starting in September 2019 Karski Quartet will also be Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo/Brussels, studying with members of the Artemis Quartet and Miguel da Silva, while also continuing their studies at the RNCM under the umbrella of the European Chamber Music Academy within the new ECMAster study programme.

Violinist Benjamin Nabarro, cellist Gemma Rosefield and pianist Tim Horton are all members of the chamber group Ensemble 360 and a few years ago decided to form their own piano trio. They perform at all the major UK venues and will open their 2016/17 season with a performance at Wigmore Hall.

Members of the Marmen Quartet come from the four corners of the globe; the violinists Johannes Marmen from Sweden and Laia Valentin Braun from Switzerland, cellist Sinéad O’Halloran, from Ireland and from New Zealand, the violist Bryony Gibson-Cornish.

The quartet was formed at the Royal College of Music in 2013 and were mentored by a number of leading players including Peter Cropper and Simon Rowland-Jones. The next six years were spent building up their career and in 2019 they won first prize at two of the world’s most important quartet competition – in Banff and in Bordeaux. This led to a series of international engagements around the world including at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, Lucerne, Dallas, concerts throughout Germany and Austria and at the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon. At home in the UK they will appear at Oxford Lieder Festival, the Sage and many other music festivals.

They are currently Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. This season they have given concerts in Milton Court in the City of London, Eindhoven, Sweden, Wigmore Hall and the Lake District Music Festival.

Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, first violin; Laia Valentin Braun, second violin; Sascha Bota, viola & Brian O'Kane, cello. Since its formation in 2002, the Navarra Quartet has built an international reputation as one of the most dynamic and poetic string quartets of today. 

Selected for representation by the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) from 2006 to 2010, they have been awarded the MIDEM Classique Young Artist Award, a Borletti- Buitoni Trust Fellowship, a Musica Viva tour and prizes at the Banff, Melbourne and Florence International String Quartet Competitions.

Highly-acclaimed recordings include Haydn’s The Seven Last Words for Altara Records and a disc of Peteris Vasks’ first three String Quartets for Challenge Records, which they recorded whilst working closely with the composer himself. The recording was described by critics as “stunning”, “sensational” and “compelling”, and was nominated for the prestigious German Schallplattenkritik Award. More recently, the Navarra Quartet recorded a disc for NMC Records featuring the music of Joseph Phibbs and future recording plans include the three great quartets of Schubert and Britten. Formed at the Royal Northern College of Music, they commenced their studies under the guidance of the late Dr. Christopher Rowland. Their development continued with studies in Cologne with the Alban Berg Quartet, Pro- Quartet in Paris, the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove and from residencies at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. A constant desire to evolve sees the quartet play regularly to revered musicians such Eberhard Feltz, Ferenc Rados and Gabor Takacs Nagy. They also enjoy teaching the next generation in masterclass and summer courses. They recently completed a three-year residency as the Associated Ensemble at the Birmingham Conservatoire. The Quartet plays on a variety of fine instruments which include a Hieronymus II Amati and Spirito Sorsana (kindly on loan from the Dutch Nationaal Muziek Instrumentenfonds) violins, an unknown, old English viola and a Grancino cello.

The career of the Piatti Quartet goes from strength to strength and they are now one of the most distinguished quartets of their generation. They won second prize at the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. Their busy career takes them to all the major chamber music festivals around the country.

They took part in the Kirker Music Festival in St.Mawes in the spring of 2016 and our festival at the Grand, Eastbourne in 2017 and, on both occasions, were greeted by our clients with enormous enthusiasm. The quartet takes its name from the great 19th century Italian cellist and teacher, Alfredo Piatti.

The name Sacconi Quartet comes from the outstanding 20th century Italian luthier and restorer Simone Sacconi, whose book The Secrets of Stradivari is considered an indispensable reference for violin makers. Since its formation at the Royal College of Music in 2001, the Quartet has established a secure and substantial reputation. 

They have enjoyed a highly successful international career, performing regularly throughout Europe, at London’s major venues, in recordings and in radio broadcasts. The Sacconi is ‘Quartet in Association’ at the Royal College of Music and Associate Artist at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre.

Tim Horton studied at Chetham's School of Music with Charles Hopkins, Ryszard Bakst and Heather Slade-Lipkin. He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1995. In the same year he replaced Alfred Brendel at short notice in two performances of Schoenberg's Piano Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the Royal Festival Hall, London.

Since then he has played with the RLPO, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 Tim was chosen as the scholar of the Klavier Festival Ruhr at the recommendation of Alfred Brendel. Tim has a duo partnership with cellist Adrian Brendel with whom he has given tours of Spain, Germany, Italy and the UK, including concerts at the Wigmore Hall, London. He has played regularly at the Plush, Aldeburgh, Bath and Elverum festivals and has collaborated with many leading chamber musicians including Paul Lewis, Peter Cropper, the Elias Quartet, the Vertavo Quartet, Charles Owen and the members of the Kungsbacka Piano Trio.