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Ian Anderson plays in many different ensembles, including Scottish Ballet (where he holds the position of Principal Viola), yllwshrk (alternative rock band ‘yellow shark’, where he plays a variety of instruments and writes music), and Berlin-based contemporary string quartet Sonar Quartett. He is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (undergraduate viola), and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow (postgraduate composition).
In October 2020 yllwshrk released their debut album I AM ALADDIN, produced by Grammy-winner David Donaldson, and featuring collaborations with the London Contemporary Orchestra, Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition winners the Maxwell String Quartet, Mercury-nominated jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie, Andi Toma from Mouse on Mars, saxophonist Nick Roth, and composer Linda Buckley. I AM ALADDIN received 4 stars from The Scotsman newspaper, with the description “audacious debut… ravishing vocals”, and was described by influential music blog Record of the Day as “the sonic soundscapes of Radiohead meet the creative genius of Bowie’s Blackstar album”. The music video of their single Pyramids — starring BBC’s inaugural The Greatest Dancer winner Ellie Fergusson — won Best Music Video at the 2020 Paris Short Film Awards.
Other recent highlights include playing on albums such as Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, and Thom Yorke’s Anima, all as part of the London Contemporary Orchestra.
Ian is a former Principal Viola of the European Union Youth Orchestra, and plays on a 2003 John Dilworth viola, purchased with support from the Musicians’ Benevolent Fund.
Icelandic violinist Hulda Jónsdóttir has been playing the violin since the age of 4. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music from The Juilliard School in New York where her teachers were Robert Mann, David Chan and Laurie Smukler. Since 2018, Hulda has lived in Copenhagen, where she serves as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Other good musical friends include Ensemble Resonanz in Hamburg. Since appearing as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15 she has guested in the US, Mexico, throughout Europe and Asia both as soloist and as chamber musician.
Born in Dublin to a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain has established herself as a richly versatile musician, expert in both classical and folk music. Thanks to her musical heritage combined with her classical studies she has collaborated and performed with musicians such as pianist Eliso Virsaladze, fiddle player Martin Hayes, jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Oscar winning actor Tim Robbins. She is a member of the Goodman Trio with whom she has explored the manuscripts of the music collected around Ireland in the 1800’s by Canon James Goodman. In 2021 Aoife joined forces with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and the duo will release their debut album in October 2023.
Winner of the Bonn Óir Sean Uí Riada in 2010, Aoife has also won seven All Ireland titles as well as prizes in international violin and chamber music competitions. More recently Aoife qualified for the semi finals of the 2022 International Bach Competition in Leipzig and was awarded the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council of Ireland.
Aoife has a particular interest in solo violin works and curated a performance on the solo violin works of J.S. Bach and the improvisations of acclaimed Dublin fiddle player and soloist Tommie Potts. She graduated with first class honours from the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Leipzig in 2018 and plays on a violin by J.B. Vuillaume on generous loan as well as a Jurgen Manthey violin purchased through the Music Network Music Capital Scheme.
As well as performance, Aoife has recently branched out into media, and presents the Irish-language show Cúltír (‘Culture’) on Irish TV channel TG4.
In 2022 Jonathan Leibovitz was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions held at Wigmore Hall.
A top prizewinner at major competitions in Israel and Europe, including 1st Prize at the prestigious Crusell Competition in Finland and a Special Prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, this year Jonathan completes his Masters at the Music Academy in Basel with François Benda.
Solo highlights include appearances with the Israel Philharmonic, Israel Chamber, Haifa Symphonic, Ostrobothnian Chamber, Lapland Chamber and Kuopio Symphony Orchestras working with conductors including Elena Schwarz, Adrien Perruchon and Tung-Chieh Chuang.
This season Jonathan makes his debut with the London Mozart Players and appears as soloist with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia conducted by Yoel Gamzou and the Israel Sinfonietta. He records and performs chamber music with Südwestrundfunk in Bruchsaal and takes part in the Hauho Festival in Finland.
An avid chamber musician Jonathan founded the Avir Wind Quintet, and has collaborated with the ‘Mietar Ensemble’ and the Israeli Contemporary Players. He has given recitals across Israel, in Germany, Switzerland and Finland.
Jonathan made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 18 performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. During the 2019/20 season he joined the Israel Philharmonic as a member, and has appeared as guest with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber and Jerusalem Camerata.
Born in Tel-Aviv in 1997, Jonathan’s musical education began with Eva Wasserman. He went on to study with Yevgeny Yehudin at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music where he won numerous awards including 1st Prize laureate of the Aviv Competition
Sam Hird studies at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London for a Master of Performance with baritone Peter Savidge. Recent engagements include baritone soloist in a special RCM concert to celebrate the life of composer Joseph Horovitz, L’Ambasciatore in Respighi’s opera La Bella Dormente nel Bosco, and Jesus in Bach’s St John Passion with Milton Keynes Chorale. Previous experience includes baritone solo in Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony conducted by Jonathan Willcocks, London Song Festival masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen, a Winter’s Night Recital of songs by Schubert, Britten and Fauré for baritone and guitar at All Saint’s Church (York), and baritone solo in Handel’s Messiah with the Orchestra of St John’s at Dorchester Abbey conducted by John Lubbock. Sam is a Richard Silver Scholar and is supported by the Josephine Baker Trust.
Yulia Matochkina opens her 2024/25 season with Verdi’s Requiem in Rome with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Daniel Harding. She returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper München as Ulrica Un ballo in maschera and Santuzza in a new production of Cavalleria rusticana. She will also return to ROH Covent Garden as Azucena Il trovatore and to Deutsche Oper Berlin as Amneris Aida. Later, she will perform Carmen with Ópera de Las Palmas and Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Matochkina’s recent appearances include debuts as Venus Tannhäuser and Azucena Il trovatore at Bayerische Staatsoper, and her return to Deutsche Oper Berlin as Amneris Aida and Ortrud Lohengrin.
Other recent highlights include Eboli Don Carlo at The Metropolitan Opera, Semperoper Dresden, The Royal Ballet and Opera, Amneris Aida and Ulrica. Un ballo in maschera at the Spring Festival Tokyo with Riccardo Muti, Dalila Samson et Dalila with Opera de Tenerife. Verdi’s Requiem at Opernhaus Zürich, the Verbier Festival, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Dutch National Opera, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Carmen at Arena di Verona, Azucena Il trovatore at Opernhaus Zürich, Ulrica Un ballo in maschera at Teatro alla Scala, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Marfa Khovanshchina with Opéra national de Paris, Federica Luisa Miller at Staatsoper Hamburg and the Salzburg Festival.
Yulia took the first steps of her career with the Mariinsky Theatre and soon became its leading soloist. In her home theater she had the opportunity to build an extended repertoire of the main mezzo-soprano roles such as Amneris Aida, Eboli Don Carlo, Principessa de Bouillon Adriana Lecouvreur, Dido Les Troyens, Dalila Samson et Dalila, Venus Tannhäuser, Ortrud Lohengrin, Brangäne Tristan und Isolde, Wellgunde Das Rheingold, Kundry Parsifal, Polina Pique Dame, Ascanio Benvenuto Cellini, Dulcinée Don Quichotte, Marguerite La damnation de Faust, Joanna The Maid of Orleans and Marfa Khovanshchina, among others.
She is the first prize-winner of the Golden Medal of the XV International Tchaikovsky competition and the first prize-winner of the 9th Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition for Young Opera Singers.
Yulia Matochkina was born in Mirny in the Arkhangelsk Region and graduated from the Petrozavodsk State Conservatoire, named after Glazunov, where she studied with Professor Viktoria Gladchenko. She was also a member of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers between 2009–2015.
Oleksandr Yankevych began playing the piano at age 10 and graduated with honours at the Music Academy of Bydgoszcz in Poland. Later, he joined the Opera Studio of the Warsaw State Opera and the Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera House before working as korrepetitor and assistant conductor at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. Yankevych is Laureate of several international competitions, including the HSBC Académie d’Aix-en-Provence (2018), and won Second Prize and the Orchestra Prize at the 2021 Arturo Toscanini Competition (Parma).
Gerald Karni enjoys a diverse career in music, regularly traveling around the world with leading instrumentalists and conductors. Born in Israel, he began violin at a young age before switching to the viola, which he plays as member of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, led by Daniel Barenboim. As a conductor, he has worked with orchestras in the United States, Finland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Switzerland under the guidance of teachers such as Jorma Panula, Benjamin Zander and Marc Kissozcky. Gerald is mentored by both Daniel Barenboim and Jorma Panula. In 2021, he was awarded a Silver Medal as well as a Special Mention at the Third International Antal Doráti Conducting Competition in Budapest.