Tamsin Waley-Cohen

Tamsin Waley-Cohen performs as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of St John’s, London Concert Orchestra and London Chamber Orchestra, and under conductors including Andrew Litton, Jose Serebrier, Shlomo Mintz, Nicholas Cleobury, John Lubbock and Robert Max. She has played at Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, Liszt Academy Hall, Budapest and in venues across the UK and Europe.

In demand as a recitalist, her partners include pianists Gary Matthewman and Gregorio Nardi. She regularly plays with cellist Gemma Rosefield, and upcoming collaborations include projects with artists such as Andreas Haefliger and Johannes Moser. A versatile musician, her repertoire ranges from baroque through to contemporary music. She is also an avid chamber musician which has led to her forming the Honeymead Ensemble, which in its first three years has included Adrian Brendel, Guy Ben-Ziony, Leon McCauley, Richard Harwood, Sarah-Jane Bradley. She has participated in festivals, including Cheltenham, Academia San Felice, Florence Chamber Music, The Red Violin, The Two Moors, and Presteigne and this summer will make her American debut playing Mendelssohn Concerto in the Bowdoin Festival.

Tamsin was born in London in 1986. She became a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music where her professor was Itzhak Rashkovsky. At the RCM she won all available awards, including, twice, the concerto competition, and was their String Player of the Year. Numerous competition successes include winning the 2005 Royal Overseas League String Prize, and the 2007 J&A Beare Bach competition.

Tamsin has been a regular participant at the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove since she was 16, where she has worked with distinguished musicians including Lorand Fenyves, Andras Keller, Martin Lovett, Mark Padmore and Gerhard Schulz. She has also participated in master classes given by Ida Haendel, Igor Ozim, and Ruggiero Ricci, the latter describing her as “the most exceptionally gifted young violinist I have ever encountered.”

Since early 2007 she has played the 1721 ex-Fenyves Stradivarius violin.

Gemma Rosefield

Winner of the prestigious Pierre Fournier Award at the Wigmore Hall in 2007, Gemma made her concerto debut at age 16, when she won First Prize in the European Music for Youth Competition in Oslo, Norway, playing a televised performance with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Other successes include Kirckman and Making Music Awards, First Prize in the Royal Over-Seas League String Competition and the Premier Prix Maurice Ravel in France. She is supported by the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, and is a Tillett Trust Young Artist.

Gemma has recently completed her studies with Ralph Kirshbaum at the R.N.C.M., where she has been awarded the coveted Gold Medal. She had previously graduated with First Class Honours at the R.A.M. as a pupil of David Strange, where she won the Vice-Principal’s Special Prize. She has also studied with Johannes Goritzki, Gary Hoffman, Bernard Greenhouse and Zara Nelsova.

Described by The Strad on her 2003 Wigmore Hall Debut as “a mesmerising musical treasure” by the London Evening Standard in 2005 as “a phenomenal talent”, and featured in the BBC Music Magazine as “one to watch” in 2007, Gemma has recently made her solo debut in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and in the Diligentia, The Hague in the New Masters International Recital Series. She has recently returned from Kenya, where she performed with the Nairobi Symphony Orchestra, and whilst there she gave several highly successful Public Masterclasses. Gemma has a deep interest in contemporary music, and works have been written for her by David Matthews, Cecilia McDowall, James Francis Brown, Rhian Samuel, Julian Dawes and Michael Kamen. Gemma has recently recorded CDs of the works of Rhian Samuel, and of James Francis Brown.

Gemma gave the highly successful 2008 Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Concert in March at Wigmore Hall, together with Leos Cepicky and Michael Dussek, with whom she appeared at the Belfast Festival, a concert broadcast on Radio 3. She has been invited to give the 2009 Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Concert at Wigmore Hall with the Wihan Quartet. Amongst other future plans, Gemma will be giving a Wigmore Hall Sunday Morning Coffee Concert in March 2009, and she will also be giving a series of recitals in the UK, Belgium, France, Mexico and Japan.