AMARINS WIERDSMA violin
Amarins Wierdsma, Born in Utrecht in 1991 to a musical family, began playing the violin at the age of two. Her teachers have included Coosje Wijzenbeek, Vera Beths and David Takeno. Amarins has taken part in festvals including: Ravinia Festival, IMS Prussia Cove, The International Holland Music Sessions among several others.
Amarins has won several prizes at important violin events, such as the "Iordens Viooldagen", "Davina van Wely Violin Competition", "Princess Christina Competition" Young Musician of the Year 2007 and, in 2013, the national "Oskar Back Violin Competition" in Amsterdam. In London she was awarded the RPS Emily Anderson prize during the Wigmore Hall finals of the Young Concert Artist Trust.
Amarins plays on a Guadagnini violin built in 1764 on loan from the Dutch National Instrument Foundation.
KATE MALONEY violin
Masterful performance, vulnerable music making. Recognized for bold and inspired performances, delivered with flawless technique and a vivid colour palette, Canadian violinist Kate Norine Maloney is truly an original in the field of classical music. She is dedicated to exploring repertoire that is rarely performed while promoting diversity and inclusivity.
Through the creation of immersive concert experiences, Kate seeks to engage listeners through her choice of repertoire, collaboration with multi-disciplinary artists, or through direct audience interaction.
Kate is a sought after chamber musician and soloist. In March 2022 she will perform Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with the Nairobi Symphony Orchestra to celebrate international women’s day. Currently studying with Professor Christoph Poppen and Lena Neudauer at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in Germany, she is also a founding member of the Trio Ignis.
Kate is a recipient of many awards, most notably the Lloyd Carr Harris Scholarship. She has performed in concert halls around the world such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Roy Thompson Hall, Walt Disney Hall, Munich Philharmonic Hall Gasteig, Maison Heinrich Heine France and many more.
Kates engagement with music extends outside the concert hall and has lead her to teach and perform as a part of the Global Leaders Program in countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Panama.
Kate performs on an Italian violin from 1768 by Bartolomeo Bimbi, on a generous loan from a privat donor.
CHRISTOPH SLENCZKA viola
Christoph was born in Germany. He started to learn the Violin in the age of 5. With 17 he picked up the Viola and started to study one year later at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with Thomas Riebl. He then moved on doing his postgraduate at the Guilhall School in London with David Takeno. Further musical influences came from musicians such as Reinhard Goebel, Rainer Schmidt, Alasdair Tait, Krzysztof Chorzelski and Andras Keller.
Alongside his work with the Barbican Quartet, Christoph enjoys playing chamber music at Festivals around Europe and regularly performs with Chamber Orchestras such as the Kammerakademie Potsdam and Camerata Salzburg.
YOANNA PRODANOVA cello
Cellist Yoanna Prodanova performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. Her most recent performances include Elgar Concerto with the Amati Orchestra and Haydn C major with the Doric Quartet and the RAM Chamber Orchestra. She has received awards by Making Music UK, Tunnell Trust and Sylva Gelber Foundation, and has been invited to chamber music festivals such as IMS Open Chamber Music in Prussia Cove, Siete Lagos Festival in Argentina and Rencontres de violoncelle de Bélaye in France. Yoanna's debut CD on the label Linn Records will be released in 2020 and includes music by Fauré, Janacek and Chopin.
Born in 1992, Yoanna began her studies in her native Varna, and subsequently attended the Conservatoire de Montréal, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and lastly the Royal Academy of Music, where she completed their prestigious Advanced Diploma as a Bicentenary Scholar. Her teachers include Denis Brott, Louise Hopkins, Rebecca Gilliver, Richard Lester and Hannah Roberts.
Yoanna plays on a Giuseppe Gagliano cello generously on loan from the Canimex Group.