The Musicians

Pavlo Beznosiuk - Director and Violin
Robert Howarth - Director and Harpsichord/Organ
Richard Tunnicliffe - Cello
Katarina Bengston - Violin
Josep Domenech - Oboe
Joanne Green - Violin
Roger Hamilton – Harpsichord
Simon Jones - Violin
Simon Kodurand - Violin
Huw Daniel - Violin
Anneke Scott – Horn

Pavlo Beznosiuk - Director and Violin
The Ukranian/Irish violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk has been described as an artist with "star quality", a rare performer who is equally at home on instruments as diverse as modern, Classical, Baroque and Renaissance violins, viola and medieval fiddles, he has been praised for his versatility and virtuosity. Well-known as a soloist, chamber musician and concertmaster, he has led and directed numerous period instrument orchestras including the Academy of Ancient Music, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Hanover Band. He performs with the ensemble Hausmusik and founded the Beethoven String Trio of London. His all-embracing talents come to the fore in his work with the New London Consort, of which he has been a keen member for more than twenty years. Pavlo Beznosiuk's extensive list of recordings is a testament to his popularity as one of the field's outstanding players. These and his innumerable recordings for the BBC and European radio and television stations have established him in his pre-eminent position in the field of early music.

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Robert Howarth - Director and Harpsichord/Organ
Robert Howarth studied music at the University of York where he won the Department prize for his outstanding Musical contribution. He quickly established himself on the music scene in England. He is now a Principal continuo player the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and also plays regularly for the English Baroque Soloists, Gabrieli Players and the New London Consort as well as occasional appearances with the Freiberg Baroque Orchestra.

As musical assistant to Ivor Bolton, Robert works regularly for the Bavarian State Opera, Salzburg Festival, Opera National de Paris and Florence's Maggio Musicale. As a conductor he has worked in the Hamburg State Opera, conducting Handel's Alcina, for the Northern Sinfonia in England and also with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg in concerts with Angelicka Kirschlager and Thomas Hampson. For the Festival of Ambronay he conducted Handel's Athalia and he also opened the Munich Opera Festival in 2004 conducting Handel's Messiah with the Bayerische Staatsorchester and Chorus.

He conducted a Monteverdi cycle for Graham Vick and the Birmingham Opera Company which culminated in highly acclaimed performances of Ulisse in 2005. In 2006 he is directing Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and Handel's Tolomeo for English Touring Opera and will be assisting on a new production of Handel's Orlando in Munich. In the late Autumn of 2006 he will also be conducting Ulisse for Welsh National Opera.

As a soloist he has played Concertos with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Frans Bruggen in Spain and England, and with La Serenissima in Mexico and England.

His chamber music recordings with La Serenissima, Ricordo and his own group, The English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble have all met will great critical acclaim, winning special recognition in both the Gramophone and BBC Music magazines. He is currently an Artistic Director of the Avison Ensemble of Newcastle, for whom he has recently recorded some solo Harpsichord works as part of a complete works project.

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Richard Tunnicliffe - Cello
Richard Tunnicliffe has worked with all of the best known names in the field of period-instrument performance. He is currently a member of the viol consort Fretwork, principal cello of the Avison Ensemble and a guest principal of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

He frequently appears as a soloist, and his repertoire extends from 16th century divisions for viol through to contemporary cello and gamba works. During 2006-7 he will be recording the Cello concerti of the Durham-based 18th century composer, John Garth (with the Avison Ensemble), the solo cello music of Domenico Gabrielli (among the first works for solo cello), and music by John Joubert (with pianist, John McCabe).

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Katarina Bengston - Violin
Katarina Bengtson was born in Stockholm and finished her undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music there in 2001. She then moved with a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, where she studied modern violin with professor Eric Gruenberg. She completed her Postgraduate Diploma in 2002, and finished her second Diploma in 2004 having studied the baroque violin with Catherine Mackintosh and Micaela Comberti. At RAM, Katarina performed extensively as soloist and with chamber ensembles, and with the Period Instrument Orchestras. In her last term she organised and performed with her departmental colleagues Bach's Brandenburg Concertos 3, 4, 5 and 6.

Katarina has worked with musicians such as Jordi Savall, Christophe Rousset, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Margaret Faultless and Trevor Pinnock and Andrew Manze.

She has performed, toured and recorded on violin and viola with ensembles like The English Concert, the Sixteen, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Purcell Quartet and Academy of Ancient Music, and is one of the co-founders and leaders of Harmony of Nations Baroque Orchestra.

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Josep Domènech - Oboe
Born in Spain in 1977, Josep started in Barcelona studying oboe with Josep Julià. Later he moved to Basel to study at the "musik akademe der Stadt Basel" with Omar Zoboli (oboe) and Sergio Azzolini (chamber music). After this he Studied "Second Phase" with Alfredo Bernardini at the "Conservatorium van Amsterdam".

Josep was first oboe with the EUBO and has played played with many ensembles around Europe like: "Les Talens Lyrics", "Avison Ensamble", "Balthasar Neumann Ensemble" ,"Kölner Akademie","Capriccio Basel", "La Risonanza", "Barroca de Sevilla","The King´s Consort", "Bach Vereniging", "Musica Ad Rhenum" and "Concerto Köln",...

In 2006, Josep was awarded First Prize in the International Early Music Competition in Rugge (Belgium).

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Joanne Green - Violin
Long-time Avison Ensemble member Joanne Green began her career in Melbourne taking a Bachelor of Arts in Music and performing with the Melbourne Symphony. Gaining the Clarke Scholarship from Melbourne University in 1993 enabled Joanne to complete a postgraduate degree at the Royal College of Music under Felix Andrievsky, where she also studied baroque violin with Catherine Mackintosh.

A full-time member of the Northern Sinfonia for a number of years, Joanne recently went freelance in order to pursue the many and varied offers of work with other ensembles and particularly to pursue her interest in period performance. She has since worked with major orchestras and ensembles including the Academy of Ancient Music and BT Scottish Ensemble, and of course The Avison Ensemble.

Joanne plays a very active part in The Avison Ensemble's education work and this year devised and led the Wandering Minstrels programme in schools throughout Newcastle and Northumberland.

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Roger Hamilton - Harpsichord
Roger Hamilton was born in Ireland and his first professional musical experience was as a horn player and singer. Subsequently he read Music at Clare College Cambridge, and studied conducting and harpsichord at the Royal Academy of Music London and the National Opera Studio London. Since being named as an Arts Council of Great Britain Young Conductor of the Year in 1992, he has worked with a wide variety of symphony orchestra, chamber orchestras, and opera companies.

In the concert hall he has conducted the Südwestrundfunkorchester Stuttgart, The English Concert, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, European Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the National Arts Centre Ottawa, Israel Camerata, and Fränkishces Kammerorchester. He has also been assistant conductor for the Berlin Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, London Classical Players and Salzburg Camerata Academica, among others.

In opera he has conducted productions for Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, New Kent Opera, Opera Northern Ireland, Cambridge University Opera and Midsummer Opera London, and he has been assistant conductor for many companies including the Göttingen Handel Festival, Maggio Musicale Florence, Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris.

As a harpsichordist he has performed and recorded with many ensembles including The English Concert, English Baroque Soloists, London Classical Players, Les Arts Florissants, Avison Ensemble and Concordia.

He is Music Director of The Band of Instruments, resident ensemble of Oxford University's Music Faculty. For two years he was Lecturer in Performance Practice and Keyboard Studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and he has also taught at the Britten-Pears School, Trinity College of Music London, and been a lecturer at New College Oxford. He has made editions of many 17th, 18th and 19th century works, including Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria which has been the basis for productions in Athens and Florence.

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Simon Jones - Violin
After graduating from Bristol University, Simon Jones spent a year at Oxford University where he joined the newly-formed European Baroque Orchestra, becoming its first ever leader. Subsequently he developed a successful career as a freelance violinist, touring and recording with most of the main Period Instrument groups and holding principal posts with The Academy of Ancient Music, The Brandenburg Consort and The King's Consort. In 1997 he was appointed leader of The King's Consort, a post he held until 2004.

In recent years Simon has been developing his solo career, having recently performed recitals in Austria, Germany and Spain as well as Vivaldi's Four Seasons at several UK venues including the Wigmore Hall. Since 1990 he has directed his own ensemble, Réjouissance, specialising in music of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, in performances in the UK and Europe. Further tours are planned as well as a recording of the music of Nicola Matteis. Réjouissance is ensemble in residence at both York University (were Simon was awarded his PhD in 2003) and at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where, in September 2004, Simon took up the post of Head of Historical Performance.

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Simon Kodurand - Violin
Simon was born in Cardiff in 1980 and began playing the violin at the age of thirteen. He gave his concerto debut at the age of seventeen before going on to study at both the Royal College and Royal Academy of Music, where he was awarded a scholarship. Since leaving the Academy Simon has pursued a busy career on both the modern and baroque violin, playing and recording with a number of groups including La Serenissima, The Avison Ensemble, The Academy of Ancient Music, The Sixteen, The Kings Consort, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of St. Johns, English Symphony Orchestra, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra and is currently leader of The London Charity Orchestra. As a soloist and chamber musician Simon made his debut at the Purcell Room in 2004, recorded Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht with the RAM Soloists whilst at the Academy and has recently recorded concerti by Vivaldi and Valentini with La Serenissima.

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Huw Daniel - Violin
Huw Daniel, from Neath, South Wales, was a pupil at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera. He was organ scholar at Robinson College, Cambridge, graduating with a first-class honours degree in Music in 2001, and became an Associate of the Royal College of Organists. He then studied baroque and modern violin for two years at the Royal Academy of Music, with Simon Standage and Hu Kun.

Huw plays with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, The King's Consort, English Concert, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Avison Ensemble, The Sixteen, London Handel Orchestra, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, and Les Arts Florissants, and leads the English Touring Opera Baroque Orchestra and the Baroque Orchestra of the Casa da Musica, Porto, Portugal. He was a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra in 2004, whose members formed Harmony of Nations, which has already performed all over Europe.

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Anneke Scott - Horn
Anneke Scott is "rapidly emerging as one of the outstanding younger exponents of the natural horn". Having begun her studies at The Royal Academy of Music, London she was awarded prestigious scholarships to further her study in France and Holland where she concentrated on the various aspects of period horns.

Since her graduation from The Royal Academy of Music in 2000 she has been in demand with ensembles in the UK and continental Europe. She is principal horn of Harry Christopher's The Symphony of Harmony and Invention (the orchestra of The Sixteen) and is frequently principal horn with The English Concert, The Hanover Band, Freiburg Baroque, The Early Opera Company and Concerto Caledonia. She has also performed with The Academy of Ancient Music, Concerto Copenhagen, English Baroque Soloists, Europa Galante, The Kings Consort, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre des Champs Elysees. She has recently been appointed principal horn of the Parisian ensemble Opera Fuoco.

For many years she has had a keen interest in chamber music which led to her becoming a founder member of The Etesian Ensemble. Through this ensemble she met the fortepianist Kathryn Cok with whom she formed a duo specialising in classical and romantic repertoire for horn and fortepiano.

An integral element of Anneke Scott's career has been research. Recently she has been invited to study for a PhD and teach period horns at the Centre for Early Music Performance at the University of Birmingham. She has also received the great privilege of being invited by The Bate Collection, Oxford to perform in concert on one of their magnificent original Hofmaster horns dating from the mid 18th century.

At the other end of the spectrum she has performed with the specialist contemporary music ensemble The London Sinfonietta and can be heard on two albums with The Nigel Waddington Big Band.

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