Jiafeng Chen (violin) was born in Shanghai in 1987, and studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In 2004 he moved to England, studying at Chetham's School of Music, Manchester. He subsequently studied at the Royal College of Music, and the Juillard School in New York. In 2005, aged 18, Jiafeng Chen won 2nd Prize in the prestigious Sibelius Violin Competition, Helsinki, and later gained 1st Prize at the 9th Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poland. He is also a Laureate of the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition and was awarded the Paganini Prize at the Indianapolis International Violin Competition, and the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He is a member of faculty at the Chetham's School of Muic and the Birmingham Conservatoire, and also works at the Royal College of Music as a Violin Teaching Assistant. He plays a Gagliano violin kindly on loan from a generous group of owners.

Alexis White (piano) studied at the Menuhin School , the Royal Northern College of Music and the Eastman School of Music in USA. She won many prestigious prizes and scholarships, most notably First Prize in the 7th Noyers International Piano Competition in France , and has performed in prestigious venues throughout the UK and abroad. She has collaborated with many distinguished musicians, has broadcast on the radio and featured for several years as a Countess of Muster Artist. She is currently one of the staff pianists at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and Head of Keyboard at St Paul's Girls' School.

The name 'Melicus' comes from the Latin word describing something that is melodious, lyrical and poetic. Having started their collaboration in 2011 Marie Vassiliou & Nico de Villiers (the Melicus Duo) have performed across the UK, in the Netherlands and South Africa. Marie Vassiliou studied at the Royal College of Music, where she was awarded the prestigious Tagore Medal. As a concert soloist, she has appeared at all the leading London venues under conductors including Andrew Davis and Edward Gardner and at festivals including Huddersfield Contemporary Music and the BBC Proms. She has sung a wide range of operatic roles throughout the world and performed in baroque recitals and recordings. She is particulary noted as a gifted interpreter of contemporary music and has given world premieres of several works written for her. She has sung many scores in the presence of their composers, including George Benjamin, Henri Dutilleux, Sir Michael Tippett, Judith Weir and Hugh Wood etc. She is also increasingly sought after as a voice teacher and is Professor of Voice at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. South African pianist Nico de Villiers is increasingly in demand as accompanist and coach in the UK as well as abroad.  He holds degrees from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, University of Michigan and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.  Recent debuts include performances at the Barbican, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Birmingham Symphony Hall, and in Salzburg and Bonn.   He has worked as music coach for singers over the past seven years and established ties with institutions both in the UK as well as America, Sweden, Austria and South Africa. He is senior lecturer in piano at the Leeds College of Music and is currently undertaking his doctoral research at the Guildhall School.

 

 

 

 

 

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