Ruth studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where, after obtaining a Master’s degree, she became a Junior Fellow. Having received scholarships for both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, she also won a position on the Erasmus Exchange and spent one year studying in Hamburg, Germany.

Her orchestral experience includes performances with the Guildford Philharmonic, LSO Discovery concerts, the International Mahler Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, Hamburg Musikhochschul Orchester, Orpheus Orchestra and the Endellion Festival. She is on the extras list for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

She has performed extensively with her wind trio in venues such as St Martin-in-the-fields, the Wigmore Hall, Colsdon Hall, Southwark Cathedral, UCL’s Senate House, the Tunnell Trust Chamber Music Course, Harrogate Festival, Waltham Abbey, The Forge in Camden and the Science Museum. With her wind quintet, she performed live on BBC Radio 3 and played commissioned works and premieres of pieces for festivals in Holland and Belgium.

Alongside playing in orchestras and in chamber ensembles, Ruth enjoys teaching and education workshops in schools across London.

Mizuki was born in Nagoya, Japan. She studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts with Chang-kook Kim and in 2010 qualified with a BMus degree, gaining the highest mark for her graduation performance. She then went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Philippa Davies, Ian Clarke, and Sharon Williams and was awarded a distinction for her MMus in 2011.

At the Guildhall School, she took part in orchestral side-by-side projects with both the London Symphony and the London Philharmonic Orchestras. She also studied with Mathieu Dufour in Chicago where she gave many jazz performances.

She has been invited to a large number of music festivals, including the Kirishima International Music Festival, where she has had the opportunity to study with Emily Beynon (Principal Flautist at Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). She was awarded the Kirishima International Music Prize in 2009, and received a scholarship in 2011. She has performed with the Festival Orchestra, alongside Emily, since 2004. Mizuki has performed as principal flute under Sir Colin Davies, Marc Andreae, Gerhard Bosse, James Gaffigan, Tatsuya Shimono, and Kenichiro Kobayashi.

A keen chamber musician, Mizuki has given many chamber concerts in Japan and UK, as part of many trios and wind quintets. She has also enjoyed collaborating with dancers and actors for improvised performances in London.

Mizuki has been awarded numerous prizes, including first prize at the Third Contemporary Music Competition by the Nippon Player’s Association, second prize at the 54th Japan Student Music Competition in Nagoya, and was the finalist for the Croydon Concerto Competition and the Fifth Tokyo Music Competition. She performed Mozart’s G major Flute Concerto with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Also as a soloist, she has performed with Croydon Symphony Orchestra and Guildford Symphony Orchestra.

Mizuki loves film music, so much so that it is one of the reasons behind her taking up the flute. In her free time, Mizuki enjoys Yoga, Karaoke, playing with her dog, and cooking Japanese food. She also enjoys working with children, and is looking forward to the education workshop opportunities Southbank Sinfonia provides.

Ivan began his musical education at the conservatory of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in his home town Bogotà. In the year 2001 he was finalist for the competition for young talented musicians, organized by the BLAA.

At fifteen, he was awarded one of the five scholarships given annually by the United World college of the Adriatic to young musicians from all over the world, allowing him to study chamber music at the International chamber music school of the renowned Trio di Trieste at Duino, Italy. Whilst studying for his IB diploma and undertaking chamber music studies, he trained with Enrico Bronzi (professor at Salzburg Mozarteum). In 2005 he moved to Parma and studied at the local conservatory with Enrico Contini Following this, he took lessons at the Teatro Cinghio with Trio di Parma and later in the year 2007 at Fiesole music school in Florence where he obtained his chamber music diploma . In the year 2010, Ivan obtained his cello diploma at the Parma Conservatoire “Arrigo Boito”

Recently, Ivan won first prize at the Teatro Bonoris chamber music competition, in Montichiari. He has recently performed at the Museo Lombardi, Auditorium del Carmine, Sala Sinopoli in Florence, Auditorium Raimondo and Teatro Verdi di Trieste, for which he was invited personally by the Trio di Triste.

In the summer of 2008 he was accepted into the National Youth Orchestra in Holland with whom he toured the Netherlands under the baton of Paul McCreesh and Ludovic Morlot, playing in the main halls of the Netherlands and Belgium, including the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has played in orchestras such as Chamber orchestra Musici di Parma, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana, the Dutch Orchestra and Ensemble Academy and currently plays in the Orchestra del teatro regio di Parma.

He is currently studying with Marianne Chen, and counts amongst his teachers Enrico Bronzi, Othmar Mueller and Susanne Muller Hornbach.

He has undertaken masterclasses with David Geringas, Peter Wispelwey, Yves Savary, Anatol Lieberman and most recently with Giovanni Gnocchi (Principal Cellist at the Camerata Salzburg).

Born in Paris, Arthur Boutillier started playing the cello at the age of 5 under the guidance of Erwan Fauré at the Schola Cantorum, where he obtained his Concert Diploma and his Virtuosity Diploma. In 2010 he moved to Lausanne to start his BMus degree at the Haute École de Musique with François Salgue. Following this, he studied at the Royal College of Music in London with Helene Dautry. In addition to his studies he has taken part in masterclasses with Gary Hoffman, Jens-Peter Meintz and Pieter Wispelwey.

Arthur is a very keen chamber musician and regularly performs in England, France and further abroad. His passion for string quartet performance led him be part of the ProQuartet festival in 2007 and be a member of the Vina Quartet founded at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010. He performed at the Fête Française RCM festival. As a chamber musician, he studied with the Ysaye Quartet, Wanderer Trio, Manfred Quartet and Florestan Trio.

Arthur’s orchestral experience includes playing with the French Youth Orchestra in 2007, the Pro Musica Festival Orchestra as principal cello in 2010 and the Camerata of Lausanne conducted by the violinist Pierre Amoyal. With this ensemble Arthur played in various French and Europeans festivals. A disc of Tchaikovsky was recorded in April 2011 for Warner Classical. He has also worked with conductors such as Jean-Claude Casadesus, Anthony Hermus, Kaspar Zehnder, and Maxim Vengerov in concerts across Europe.

When he is free, Arthur enjoys a glass of French wine, going to the cinema or travel. He also loves listening to soul, pop, disco and jazz music.

Born in the Canary Islands, Spain, Violinist Judith Choi-Castro started learning music at the age of 6 with her father. In 2003 she came to England to study for a BMus at the Royal College of Music in London, studying under Yuri Zhislin and Natalia Lomeiko, supported by the Martin Musical Scholarship. She also studied at the Manhattan School of Music in New York with Albert Markov. Last June she graduated with an LRam diploma and Masters of Arts degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied under Maurice Hasson and Mayumi Fujikawa.

As a developing performer, Judith has taken workshops and masterclasses with violinists such as Sergey Kravchenko, Hagai Shaham, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dong Suk Kang, Tasmin Little, and worked with many distinguished conductors including Andrew Litton, Christopher Warren- Green, Alan Gilbert, Leif Sergestam, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Bernard Haitink.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Judith has performed in numerous London venues including Steinway Hall, St. Lawrence Jewry, Dukes Hall, St. Mary Abbotts, Victoria and Albert Museum, The National Gallery and Cadogan Hall, and has played in concerts and Music Festivals in Portugal, Spain, New York, Germany, France, South Korea and Japan.

Catherine works as a freelance percussionist and pianist and has a first class honours degree from Guildhall School of Music & Drama, an ABRSM Piano diploma, and has received a Woolfson Bursary award. Catherine conducted research into the study of music in Brazil as a 2010 Winston Churchill Travelling Fellow and continues to be a member of the Rhythms of the City samba band.

Her recent performances include drumming for the Clod Ensemble’s production of ‘An Anatomie’ at Sadlers Wells theatre as well as performances with the Cabinet of Living Cinema to create live soundtracks for short films. Catherine’s solo performance of Xenakis’ “Rebonds” was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 2009, the same year she worked with Sir Colin Davis. Catherine has worked with many orchestras both in the UK and abroad including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Britten-Pears Symphony Orchestra and the Academies Festival Orchestra in Singapore.

Helix percussion duo (Catherine Ring and Louise Morgan) won the Israeli Music Competition 2010 and the Chartered Surveyor’s Percussion Ensemble Prize 2009. The duo were fellows at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2010/11, Dartington International Summer School bursary award winners in 2010 and also made their Southbank Centre debut as part of the Park Lane Group Young Artists series in January 2011. (www.helixduo.co.uk)

Catherine is a member of the Colin Currie Group, having performed Steve Reich’s ‘Drumming’ in Bristol and the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. An enthusiastic teacher and collaborator, she has been involved in LSO Discovery work, Wigmore Hall education, LPO Funharmonics and ETO education department.

“Catherine Ring, once more, was superb” ClassicalSource.com
“Catherine Ring’s timpani-playing (in Brahms Symphony No.1) was particularly noteworthy” ClassicalSource.com

Russell has recently obtained his Masters degree from the Royal Northern College of Music, studying trumpet with Gareth Small. He also studied at the college as an undergraduate receiving tuition from Tracey Redfern, Jamie Prophet and John Miller. While at the RNCM he performed with a number of the college ensembles, with performances at Bridgewater Hall, Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall and the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms series.

Russell has given concerts in many locations around the world. In 2008 he travelled to New York to participate in the International Festival of Wind at the Carnegie Hall. With the RNCM he has performed at the WASBE conference in Ohio, at the Stresa Festival under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda, and as a member of the RNCM Sinfonia at the Cantiere Internazionale d’Arte in Montepulciano. In 2010 he toured China with the Amadeus Orchestra performing in many of the country’s major cities including Beijing and Xian.

Russell is also a very enthusiastic chamber musician. He was awarded the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Prize in 2010 as part of a brass quintet and currently plays with a quintet who specialise in contemporary brass repertoire.

As a soloist Russell has given recitals at the Lichfield Festival and at St Anne’s Church, Manchester. He also performed Richard Rodney Bennett’s Trumpet Concerto with the Wiltshire and Swindon Youth Orchestra of which he was a member from 2004-2008.

Since graduating from the RNCM Russell has been fortunate enough to record The Miners’ Hymns a new work for brass ensemble, as well as work with the Hallé Orchestra.

Raffaele was born in Anghiari, Tuscany, Italy in 1989. He began to play the trumpet at 10, in his local wind band. He continued his studies at the Liceo Musicale F. Petrarca in Arezzo with Marco Anthony De Novellis and Simone Ferrini, then at the Conservatorio C. Monteverdi in Bolzano with Marco Pierobon, where he graduated in 2009. In this period of study he also had lessons with Rex Martin, Roger Bobo and Reinhold Friedrich.

From 2009 Raffaele completed his masters with Marco Pierobon at the Istituto Musicale A. Peri in Reggio Emilia. He is currently studying with Emanuele Antoniucci.

During his studies he collaborated with various youth orchestras like the Bedfordshire County Youth Orchestra, with whom he played in the Royal Albert Hall, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Orchestra in the USA the Junge Philharmonie Salzburg conducted by Isaac Karabtchevsky, the Orchestra Giovanile Italiana and the Royal Northern College of Manchester Orchestra conducted by Roland Böer.

In 2009 he participated to the Festival Junger Kunstler in Bayreuth, Germany, wherehe worked with conductor Elisabeth Fuchs. In 2009-10, he also participated in the Internationale Junge Orchesterakademie in Germany.

Raffaele has collaborated with the Orchestra del Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino conducted by Zubin Mehta, the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi, Trieste, working with conductors Julian Kovatchev and Andrea Battistoni, the Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi in Milan conducted by Xian Zhang, the Orchestra del Festival Puccini, Torre del Lago Puccini, Lucca, the Orchestra of the Opera Festival, Firenze, the Orchestra Bruno Maderna, Forlì, the Orchestra Camerata Strumentale, Prato, the Orchestra Città di Ravenna and the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina with whom he recently performed as soloist at the Teatro della Pergola in Firenze.

In 2010/2011 Raffaele assisted Emanuele Antoniucci in the trumpet class of the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole, near Firenze.

Phillippa Slack was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in 1988. She moved to Manchester at the age of 7 where she began her musical education, initially on piano. She took up French horn at the age of 12 under the tuition of Liz Goodall and became Principal Horn of Stockport Youth Orchestra. She was subsequently Principal Horn of Hallé Youth Orchestra for three years.

Phillippa studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she gained a Bachelor of Music with Honours. She studied with Lizzie Davis and Julian Plummer. Her performance opportunities at the RNCM have included two opera productions, Principal Horn in Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, Chamber Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. With the RNCM she has also participated in a tour to America for the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles conference in Ohio, Cincinnati and a tour to Italy in summer 2010 with RNCM Sinfonia for the Cantiere Internazionale D’Arte De Montepulciano. With her Brass Quintet, she won the RNCM 2010 Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Prize. Her Wind Quintet was awarded ‘highly commended’ in the 2010 Trevor Wye Woodwind prize and performed a programme of contemporary wind quintet music at the Cantiere Internazionale D’Arte de Montepulciano in 2010.

Phillippa recently completed her Master of Arts with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, on a full scholarship funded by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. She studied with Michael Thompson, Richard Watkins, and Martin Owen. During her year at the Royal Academy of Music, Phillippa performed the Strauss Horn Concerto no. 1 with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, and won the RAM 2011 Dennis Brain Horn Prize.

Her professional engagements include work with the Hallé Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Brass, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Professional Access Scheme on the Natural Horn.