Wednesday December 5th 7.30 pm
Ariana Kashefi (cello) Kumi Matsuo (piano)
Schumann Adagio and Allegro Op 70
Shostakovich: Cello sonata in D minor Op 40
Jacob Bettinelli (baritone) Marie Otaka (piano)
Songs by Duparc, Gounod, Mahler and Rossini
British cellist Ariana Kashefi is in high demand as a chamber musician and soloist performing in such venues as the Wigmore Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin Philharmonie, Royal Albert Hall, Southbank centre and more. Ariana is a Park Lane Group Young Artist, as well as being the winner of the Making Music ‘Awards for Young Concert Artists' (AYCA), a finalist in the Royal Overseas League competition, and 3rd prize winner in the International Rubinstein Competition held in Berlin. She is also the recipient of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society's ‘Julius Isserlis Scholarship' for instrumental studies abroad which allowed her to study for her masters at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler' in Berlin with professor Claudio Bohorquez. In Berlin she was chosen on two separate occasions to perform in the prestigious ‘Excellence Concerts' for exceptional students. Ariana is currently studying for an Artist Diploma with Professor Frans Helmerson at the Barenboim-Said Academy. She began at the junior department of the Royal Academy of music and later completed her bachelors of music with first class honours at the Royal College of Music, where she won the cello prize and names an ‘RCM rising star'. Recently she has appeared as a soloist live on BBC radio 3 ‘In Tune' performing a selection of works including excerpts from Poulenc's Cello sonata and a premiere of a new solo cello work by British composer Deborah Pritchard which was written and dedicated to her.
Kumi Matsuo was born in Tokyo, Japan. Winner of the 5th Louisiana International Piano Competition, she has also won numerous other international competitions. After graduating from the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Kumi studied at the Royal College of Music where she completed her Artist Diploma, Master's degree and the Anthony Saltmarsh Junior Fellow in Accompaniment. She won the RCM concerto competition twice. She has also played Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No.1 conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at the Queen Elisabeth Hall. Kumi made her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2014 and a tour in New Orleans with Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven's Emperor Concerto in 2015.
Baritone Jacob Bettinelli is currently undertaking his Masters in Performance with Alison Wells and Simon Lepper at the Royal College of Music, where he gained his Bachelor of Music degree in 2017. He is a Sussex Scholar supported by the Tiong Kiu King Award, his studies are also supported by the K. Wah International Vocal Scholarship and Talent Unlimited. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme. Recent highlights include performing in Rigoletto at Verbier Festival, Switzerland; a recital in Kotor, Montenegro; and a recording for a BBC2 documentary 'The story of China'. Operatic roles include Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Schaunard (La Bohème), Dancairo (Carmen), Uberto (La Serva Padrona), Gil (Il segreto di Susanna), Nardo (La finta giardiniera) and Betto (Gianni Schicchi).
Pianist Marie Otaka studied at the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music and is currently a student at the Royal College of Music (RCM), as a Stanbridge Drake-Brockman Scholar. She completed the Master's Degree of Performance in Piano Accompaniment in 2017 with Distinction and is currently on the Artist Diploma course. She was awarded the best accompanist prize at the Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition, the Lieder Competition and the Lies Askonas Competition. She is also generously supported by the Clemence Charitable Trust.
Admission free with retiring collection. No tickets issued beforehand