Musicians
Hungarian violinist Tamás András is Concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 1996, he was prize winner of the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark and received third prize at the Joseph Szigeti International Violin Competition in Hungary in 1997. Tamás has appeared as a soloist with the Budapest Philharmonia Orchestra, the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra and the London Mozart Players among many others, and has given recitals and chamber concerts throughout Europe, the USA and Japan. He has also appeared as guest leader of several orchestras in the UK including the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Tamás is currently Co-Leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
“Carmine Lauri’s name and fame are enough to fill up the concert halls…At the end of Henryk Wieniawski’s 1stConcerto in F# minor, the Manoel Theatre exploded in a well-deserved roar of applause and would not be mollified before Mr Lauri chose to concede an encore with a caprice also by Wieniawski...”
Albert G. Storace, Sunday Times.
“Whenever Lauri performs, whether as chamber performer or as soloist with orchestra, he fills the house…. The combination of affable charm which tempers his intense concentration, highly accomplished mix of expressive and robust musicianship plus solid rapport with orchestra and audience, make a heady combination which can only lead to success. It is a fully deserved reputation because Mr Lauri is not only a very accomplished musician and technical wizard but is also very matter-of-fact and establishes a full, warm rapport with both orchestra and audience.”.
“Carmine is the ideal concertmaster, leads with a positive attitude, has a great sound and is a world-class violinist. Any orchestra would benefit from Carmine’s leadership, as he will reach the hearts of music lovers around the world…”
Yannick Nezet Seguin
Carmine Lauri is Concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and has served as co-leader and leader of the London Symphony Orchestra for the past 25 years. Born in 1971, he started playing the violin at the age of four. In 1988, he was awarded the Associated Board scholarship to continue his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Maurice Hasson and Zakhar Bron.
Carmine has more than once been called at short notice to replace an indisposed soloist, and has recently made his debut performing Paganini’s 1st violin concerto for 1st time under such circumstances in the Berlin Philharmonie with the Berliner Symphoniker.
As a regular soloist with the Oxford Philharmonic he was the first to perform the 2 Wieniawski Concertos, the Korngold and Glazunov concertos with conductors including Sir Antonio Pappano and the Music Director and founder of the OPO Dr Marios Papadopoulos, whose charisma and musical vision has been an inspiration to this unique institution of uncompromising standards. Carmine has also performed other concertos ranging from Bach, Vivaldi, Bottesini and Piazzola with the orchestra and has appeared in numerous chamber music concerts with principal members of the OPO and was also invited to join Maxim Vengerov in duo performances as soloist accompanied by the orchestra both in Oxford and at the Barbican Hall in London. Carmine enjoys a very close and respectful collaboration as Leader of the Orchestra, earning him respect from visiting conductors including Valery Gergiev, Yuri Temirkanov and Vladimir Ashkenazy, over a span of 15 years as member.
As soloist with other world class orchestras, Carmine has performed numerous concertos, particularly from the romantic repertoire which are closest to his heart. He appeared as soloist with orchestras including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic and Brno Czech State Philharmonic, the Orquesta Municipal de Caracas, the Malta Philharmonic, The Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, the Guanajuato Symphony in Mexico and others. His passion remains to perform repertoire that displays both technical virtuosity and romanticism, particularly the music of Paganini, Wieniawski, Sarasate and their contemporaries. He is particularly known for his rendition of salon pieces for violin and piano, always prioritising spontaneity of expression and flair, with the aim of bringing back the magic of the incomparable “old school of violin playing”, honouring the old violin masters, particularly Jascha Heifetz, Ivry Gitlis, Maurice Hasson and Nathan Milstein, to name a few. All of whom remain Carmine’s lifetime inspiration and aspiration. His 2 CDs “Bravura” and Violin Extravaganza stand witness to his talent and he performs such technically demanding repertoire with masterful virtuosity and natural musical panache.
Carmine is particularly very fond of transcriptions by the great Jascha Heifetz and has personally researched Heifetz’ collection in America for transcriptions and alterations that so far have never been published.
As a long-time member of the LSO Carmine led the orchestra for the past 25 years under distinguished conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir John Eliott Gardiner, Sir Antonio Pappano and Gianandrea Noseda, just to name a few, and had the privilege to have led the orchestra in concert for both Sir Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink for their last appearance with the orchestra before their sad demise. He also premiered 2 violin concertos accompanied by the LSO both at the Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall and has earned worldwide recognition also having led the orchestra in countless soundtracks for movies including Harry Potter, Star Wars and the latest movie Maestro, and through his characterful playing, charisma and experience he has brought to the orchestra clients from all over the world who requested him to be at the helm of the leader’s seat for their projects, including composers John Williams and Alexandre Desplat.
Lauri performs regularly on a number of prestigious Stradivari instruments, ranging from early to Golden Period to late examples, kindly loaned to him over the years by various institutions and private collectors. He has collaborated with many international soloists who had requested that he joins them to execute a surprise encore at the end of their concerto appearance, either in concerts as leader with the Oxford Philharmonic or the London Symphony Orchestra, including amongst others Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Victoria Mullova, Nikolai Znaider, pianists Cedric Tiberghien and Simon Trypceski and the gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos.
Carmine is one of the unique musical ambassadors of his native country Malta, which, as a result of making a name for his country as a world class violinist and soloist, bestowed upon him the Honour of Member of the Order of Merit (M.O.M). He was elected as both an Associate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, for his achievements in his career.
« Anna-Liisa Bezrodny is outstanding – technically brilliant and interpretatively virile. She is no mere performer: she is a real and true musician. Bezrodny’s performance was gripping and assured, over-arching and yet keenly responsive to the flickering shades and shadows of moods. Her playing is impassioned and has a surging pulse. Yet she has a clear head and is capable of coolly calculating her effects without losing spontaneity. When appropriate, she plays at white heat, thrillingly, combined with superb technique »
Jessica Duchen
Anna-Liisa Bezrodny (10.9.1981) is Finnish/Estonian violinist who was born into a distinguished family of musicians, and grew up in Finland. She is currently in great demand as a soloist, recitalist, chamber musician and pedagogue around the world, receiving brilliant and praising critiques of her performances.
Already at the age of two she began her violin studies with Prof. Ivi Tivik, and at the age of nine she began her studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, in the class of her parents, Prof. Igor Bezrodny and Prof. Mari Tampere-Bezrodny. Her later years (2001-) took her to London, resulting in winning the most prestigious award in Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Gold Medal in 2006, previously won by masters such as Bryn Terfel and Jaqueline du Pre.
Over the years Anna-Liisa has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in the most prestigious concert venues of the world, including Gewandhaus Leipzig, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican Hall, Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, Cadogan Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Finlandia Hall, Estonia Hall, St. Petersbugh Philharmonic Hall, Moscow Conservatoire Great Hall, and countless others. Anna-Liisa has worked with outstanding maestros such as Leif Segerstam, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi , Kristjan Järvi, Leonid Grin, Nikolay Alekseyev, Eri Klas, Okko Kamu, Olari Elts, Eugene Tzigane, Johannes Gustavsson, Taavi Oramo, Sian Edwards, Sascha Goetzel, Juha Kangas, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Arvo Volmer, Mihkel Kütson and numerous others.
She has recorded a debut CD on ALBA RECORDS with pianist Ivari Ilja, gaining an extremely praising response from all over the world (works including Elgar Sonata, Sibelius Humoresques, Prokofiev Sonata in D, and Rimsky-Korsakov), Tamberg Violin Concerto with Mihkel Kütson and Vanemuine Orchestra, a DVD for ERP Records “Ad Patrem Meum” including Haydn and Mozart Concertos, and most recently the Mendelssohn Octet with Maxim Vengerov for DECCA Records, as well as the early opus of the Enescu Quintet for Bayerische Rundfunks, with the Sonoro Ensemble.
Anna-Liisa is a recipient of countless awards and prizes, for example winner of special prize of the Rotary Club, winner of the Ian Fleming Charitable Award of the Musicians Benevolent Fund (London), winner of the Martin Musical Scholarship Award, (London), Hattori Foundation and Myra Hess Trust prizes, Ricci Foundation Winner 2009, Young Artist of the Making Music Foundation 2009, Heifetz International Violin Competition, Brahms International Competition etc. In 2005 Anna-Liisa Bezrodny was awarded the PROMIS Award for talented young musicians from the London Symphony Orchestra, and in the same year received an honorary prize from the Pro Musica Foundation in Finland.
In season 16/17 Anna-Liisa was awarded an honorary Musician of the Year Award from the Estonian Cultural Foundation, for her internationally prosperous and productive concert-activity.
Anna-Liisa’s playing has been heard on several occasions on Finnish and Estonian National TV ́s and National Radio, NBC and BBC Radio 3 in the United Kingdom. The past seasons have taken Anna-Liisa
Bezrodny to perform with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), Moscow Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Leipzig, MDR Symphonieorkester Leipzig, Estonian National Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Riga Symphony Orchestra, Georgian Chamber Orchestra, Vilnius Philarmonic, Pecs Philharmonic, and countless others.
Anna-Liisa is a very devoted chamber musician, partaking in countless festivals around the world, and she has collaborated with some of the most outstanding musicians, for. ex. Ivry Gitlis, Maxim Vengerov, Ida Händel, Liana Isakadze, Alexander Rudin, Mackenzie Melemed, Jan-Erik Gustafsson, Peeter Laul, Jean- Efflam Bavouzet, Lisa Batiashvili, Gilles Apap, Sayaka Shoji, Vikingur Olafsson, and many others. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to contemporary music, giving world-premieres to several pieces for ex.by Finnish and Estonian composers, such as Aulis Sallinen , Sebastian Fagerlund, Erki-Sven Tüür, Tõnu Kõrvits, Jaan Rääts, Harri Wessmann, Rein Rannap, Ülo Krigul and others.
Additionally to her busy solo career, Anna-Liisa has held a professorship positions at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as well as Purcell School in London, and is very passionate about music education for our future generations. She has held masterclasses in Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, Romania, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Russia and the U.K., and is extremely eager to promote the young generation to involve classical music into their everyday lives. In addition Anna-Liisa is fluent in six languages including English, Russian, Estonian, Swedish, Finnish and German.
Anna-Liisa Bezrodny is the new Artistic Director of the Tallinn Chamber Music Festival, and the director of the Tallinn Sinfonietta, Estonia. Her future plans include playing the Brahms Double with cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson and the Niederreinische Philharmonie, as well as with the Kuopio Philharmonic, Corigliano “Red Violin Concerto” tour in Germany etc. She currently plays on a Hieronymus II Amati violin from 1678, kindly on loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. She is the Co-Concertmaster and Soloist of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, founded by maestro Marios Papadopoulos, already for the last 12 years.
Anna Kosińska is Co-Concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since her solo debut in New York’s renowned Carnegie Hall, she has performed regularly in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Vienna Musikverein, Tonhalle Zürich, The Charles Bronfman Auditorium Tel Aviv, Cadogan Hall London, Berlin Philharmonic, Lincoln Centre New York and Warsaw Philharmonic.
She is a major prize winner of many international violin competitions, including The International Violin Competition Carnegie Hall, New York, The International Violin Competition in Lugano, Switzerland. She was also awarded multiple scholarships, including Sholarship of the President of the Republic of Poland, Sholarship at the Music Institute and Society in Warsaw, Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland, Music and Art Govermental award of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
Anna Kosińska recorded for Naxos, Decca, ARD, ZDF, Medici and Polish Television TVP.
Anna is a member of The Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Guest Co-Leader of the Malta Philharmonic and Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, guest violinist in Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin and Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin.
Born in London in 1979, Ruth Rogers began violin lessons at the age of five. In 1997 she was awarded a Foundation Scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study with Itzhak Rashkovsky. She graduated in 2001 with First Class Honours and was awarded the Tagore Gold medal – the College’s highest accolade – by HRH The Prince of Wales. From 2008 until 2012 Ruth was the co-leader of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and in 2015 was appointed as one of the Leaders of the London Mozart Players. She regularly guest leads the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and has appeared in principal roles with the Hallé, Philharmonia and RLPO. She has led orchestras under the batons of such maestros as Daniele Gatti, Sir Colin Davis and Sakari Oramo. As chamber musician, Ruth has performed at the Aldeburgh and Bath Festivals with the Tate Ensemble, and is a member of the Iuventus String Quartet and the Aquinas Piano Trio. She has appeared at the Wigmore Hall with the Nash Ensemble. Ruth appears regularly with the Oxford Philharmonic.
A disciple of the legendary Soviet violinist Boris Goldstein, Adrian Adlam is a violinist of great versatility who combines careers of performing, conducting and teaching with equal passion. He has appeared as a guest concertmaster with leading European orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Hague Philharmonic, the Southwest German Radio Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the Scottish BBC Symphony Orchestra, working with many of the most eminent conductors of our time. He has broadcast for both radio and television, while his CD recordings have included major chamber music works by Spohr, Beethoven, Bartok, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky. His recording of the complete violin sonatas by Carl Nielsen received a supersonic award, and his recording of the Schubert octet was voted surround sound audio DVD of the year in Germany. His live broadcasts of the Bartók Solo Sonata and Berg violin concerto on Deutschland Radio Berlin were received enthusiastically and described as a mature ‘combination of technical expertise with musical integrity’. Following a recital at the Wigmore Hall, Adlam’s playing was described in the Strad magazine as ‘florid, lyrical and majestic’. As Artistic director of the International Freden Music Festival in Germany he has been responsible for the commissioning of over thirty new works for chamber ensemble and orchestra from a wide pool of internationally established composers. The festival was recently awarded the German Praetorius award in recognition of its outstanding contribution to the arts.
Born in London, David Alberman received his LRAM diploma from the Royal Academy of Music at the age of sixteen. He studied the violin privately with Igor Ozim in Cologne, and then studied Classical Languages and Philosophy at Oxford University for four years. After playing with the Academy of St. Martin’s, and playing as guest concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, a long-standing interest in contemporary music led him to join the internationally renowned Arditti Quartet, who specialise in new music. During his time with the Quartet, he played the world premieres of more than 200 works, and made a number of prize-winning recordings. Having left the quartet, he joined the London Symphony Orchestra as Principal Second Violin and later Chair of the Board where he remained until 2023. He has also been in demand as a teacher and coach (e.g. at the New World Symphony Academy in Miami Beach, the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, the Chamber Music Academy of the Aix-en-Provence festival, and in 2025 will coach among other places, at Domaine Forget in Quebec and at the Lucerne Festival). In 2025 he will also be playing chamber music recitals in Littlehampton, Galatina (Puglia) and Quebec.
Matthew Denton has performed for more than 20 years as the leader of the Carducci String Quartet, winning prizes at international competitions including the Concert Artists Guild (USA), Kuhmo (Finland), Charles Hennen (Holland), Osaka (Japan), Bordeaux (France) and London (UK). He has recorded over 25 CDs for labels including Signum, Naxos, BMG, Somm, Nimbus and has performed at major concert halls around the world. In 2015 the Quartet won a Royal Philharmonic Society award for ‘Shostakovich15’ – a project which included a performance of the complete Shostakovich quartets in one day, at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Matt studied with Felix Andrievsky at the RCM and then continued as a Junior Fellow, studying with members of the Amadeus, Alberni and Chilingirian Quartets. He is a violin professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Matt plays on a historic Brother’s Amati violin from 1603 – ‘The Hurwitz ex Cooper’.
Evgenia Epshtein is Associate Concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg), Russia, she began her violin studies at the age of six and attended the High School for Gifted Musicians under Vladimir Milshtein. Evgenia immigrated to Israel in 1990 where she studied with Arthur Zisserman, Yair Kless and Irena Svetlova at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music. She then studied with Benzion Shamir at the Rotterdam Royal Academy, where she received her master’s degree. As co-founder of the Aviv Quartet, Evgenia is a winner of the Third Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (1999 Grand Prix and four special prizes), the Bordeaux String Quartet Competition (2003) and Charles Hennen Music competition (1999).
Greta Papa is a Greek-Albanian award-winning violinist who has vast experience in solo, chamber and orchestral music performances, with extensive repertoire and expertise in both classical and contemporary styles. Her career took off when she became the youngest member of the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra, selected by Leonidas Kavakos. Greta took part in many festivals and concert series in Greece, including solo performances including Brahms Violin Concerto, Chausson Poeme, Vivaldi Seasons, Brahms Concerto for Violin and Cello, Sarasate Zigeunerweisen with both State Orchestras of Athens and Thessaloniki as well as soloist at Onassis Cultural Centre and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre.
Greta moved to London to study her Masters with Andrew Watkinson at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with full scholarship, obtaining her MPerf with distinction. While she was at the GSMD she worked with prominent string quartets such as the Endellion and Takacs.
She was also granted a full scholarship to study with Stephanie Gonley at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, for the Artist Diploma and Advanced Professional Diploma with distinction.
Greta has performed with orchestras such as the LSO, ECO, ACO, BBC NOW, working with conductors a such as Sir Simon Rattle, Marin Alsop, Michael Tilson Thomas and others.
In 2021, Greta formed the Waldstein Quartet performing in notable venues across England such as Wigmore Hall and Dartington Summer School. Following this, Greta formed the Waldstein Piano Trio with cellist Miguel Angel Villeda and pianist Christos Fountos. Since then, the trio has won several international chamber music competitions such as Vienna International Competiton in Musikverein, Medici International Competition in London, Amadeus International Music Awards in Mozarteum, Maurice Ravel International Competition in Paris, Grand Prix Virtuoso in Beethoven Haus as well as the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition at Wigmore Hall when they were the only group from the London colleges of music that won among others.
In 2023 the trio was invited in Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, to work with acclaimed chamber music groups such as Gryphon Trio, Parker Quartet, Jack Quartet and Eybler Quartet.
Greta plays a Pressenda violin, generously loaned by Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
Derbyshire UK- born Lizzie Ball has been performing as a violinist and vocalist internationally in classical, jazz, improvisation for nearly two decades, and is in busy demand as a collaborator, solo artist, project leader and mentor. She holds an MA as an Instrumental Scholar (reading Music) from St John’s College, Cambridge University, and two postgraduate diplomas in solo performance from the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London. She is most known for her creation, in 2012, of Classical Kicks Productions, to bring classical music out of the concert hall to a wider audience, with diverse performers, and key concerts including at UK festival -Bestival and a residency at Soho’s famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club (both upstairs and main house). In 2020 was made Guest Director of Vilnius based dynamic young chamber orchestra, ‘Mikroórkestra’. She has worked regularly as soloist/orchestra leader for a variety of artists, projects and tours including Hugh Jackman (as leader of the orchestra for his acclaimed 2019 The Man, The Music, The Show European Stadium Tour), The Sixteen, Nigel Kennedy -as Leader of his Orchestra of Life for over 8 years, Ariana Grande and Liam Gallagher.
Lizzie’s recent work as a ‘violinist composer’ with violin, a loop pedal, some basic software plugins, creates a one-woman orchestra approach. She scores creative productions which include a heavy interplay between immersive visuals and sound design. In 2018 she created with theatre producer and director, Emily Blacksell, ‘Corrido: A Ballad for the Brave’, about the life and times of artist Frida Kahlo, premiering at the V and A Museum alongside the historic Frida Kahlo exhibition ‘Making Herself Up’ in 2018, in which Frida’s own clothes and personal items were exhibited for the first time outside of Mexico. She has also recently collaborated on an audio-visual production about climate change called ‘All the Ends of the World’ with The Sixteen and videographer Heather Britton. Alongside her performing work, Lizzie is passionate about creating new ways of teaching and mentoring music professionals.
Lizzie has over 2 decades of workshop/outreach projects experience, alongside her performing commitments. Lizzie used the extra time in the pandemic created by work cancellations to qualify as a Transformational Coach. Lizzie has since established her own creative business, Set Your Stage Coaching, to widen the possibilities of her teaching work in the area of creative mentor-coaching. In 2021, she was appointed as the Violin Professor for Britten-Pears Foundations acclaimed ‘Aldeburgh Young Musicians’ scheme, and was awarded an ‘Enterprise Award’ from the Royal Philharmonic Society of UK for her enterprising approach to creativity. In 2018 she was awarded an Honorary MA Degree from the University of Derby for her services to music, and is currently an Associate Artist for Lichfield Festival until 2025.
Victor Dernovski was born in St Petersburg and gave his first concert with a symphony orchestra in the prestigious Philharmonia Hall in his hometown, aged 9. In 1980, he joined the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, studying with Leonid Kogan and Igor Bezrodny. In 1986, Dernovski joined the Moscow Soloists ensemble under the direction of Yury Bashmet, and in 1995, was appointed a leader of the Orchestre National de Lyon. Since 1997, Dernovski has been leader of the L’Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse. He has been invited to guest lead a number of prestigious orchestras, including the Hallé Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the London Symphony Orchestra (guest co-leader). Alongside this, Dernovski participates in numerous festivals in Europe and the United States as a solo and chamber musician. He was appointed Assistant Concertmaster of the Oxford Philharmonic in 2018.