OUR
ARTISTS
Isabelle Haile - Soprano
Isabelle Haile is an Ethiopian-Romanian soprano who recently completed a Masters with Distinction in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music and was awarded a DipRAM for her outstanding final recital.
As an Academy Bach Scholar, Isabelle has performed regularly under the direction of internationally renowned conductors, such as Philippe Herreweghe and Masaaki Suzuki.
Isabelle’s operatic roles include: Diana in La Calisto (Cavalli), Morgana in Alcina (Handel), First Lady/First Boy in Die Zauberflöte (Mozart) and Chocholka in The Cunning Little Vixen (Janacek).
She also was awarded the ‘Provincia di Roma’ Special Prize in the Final of the International Sacred Music Competition 2014 in Rome.
In 2015, Isabelle performed as a soloist in a concert for Her Royal Highness Princess Anne at Senate House, University of London.
In 2019, Isabelle was Highly Commended in the Isabel Jay Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
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David Shaw - Violin/Composer
David Shaw was born in North Wales, but now resides in London. He is exploring a variety of different art forms, both musical and visual.
David sees the voice as a portal to express her inner child, as well as to feel spiritually feminine and masculine energies.
The violin has played a huge part in David’s life, and he views it as a way in which we can listen to the vibrations of ancient trees.
Alongside this, he is exploring nature through macro photography, in a way which perceives all that is natural to be magical.
He works through intent based ritual, and photographs often through the night as well as day, observing the unusual forms and expressions of living creatures.
David believes that the Welsh hills he grew up in and his Jewish DNA, are some of the biggest attributers in regards to his artistic and musical life, and is incredibly excited to explore this in more depth with the DNA festival.
Christi Park - Violin
Korean-American violinist, Christi Park, specialises in repertoire ranging from early 17th Century to contemporary works for historical instruments and voice.
Christi has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Chicago Cultural Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Chicago Symphony Center, Cité de la Musique in Paris, and the Rudolfinuim in Prague, and many others.
Acclaimed for her “...bittersweet, beautiful compelling sound,” she has also appeared on America’s National Public Radio as a soloist and interviewee.
Christi has performed and toured alongside the members of Les Arts Florissants under the direction of William Christie. She has also worked with a wide range of renowned professional musicians in the US and abroad, including Phillipe Herreweghe, Trevor Pinnock, John Butt, Masaaki Suzuki, Ton Koopman, David Rabinovich, Päivyt Meller as well as performing alongside Elizabeth Wallfisch, Jaap ter Linden, Ingrid Matthews, Elizabeth Blumenstock, Julie Adrijeski, Rachel Podger, Bojan Cicic, and Hiro Kurosaki.
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Julia Portela Piñón -
Mezzo-Soprano
Julia Portela Piñón is London-based Spanish mezzo-soprano.
She is currently in her first year of the Advanced Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studies with Caitlin Hulcup and Yvonne Howard supported by the Norman Ayrton Award. She completed in the same institution a Bachelor of Music in Performance (2018) and a Master of Arts in Performance (2020).
In March 2020, Julia was a prizewinner in the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg International Singing Competition and she was commended in the Marjorie Thomas Art of Song Prize back in 2017.
Operatic performances include Angelina (Rossini’s La Cenerentola) Idamante (Mozart’s Idomeneo) and Meg (Verdi’s Falstaff) at Iain Ledingham’s Opera Scenes Summer Course; Mercédès (Bizet’s Carmen), Prince Orlofsky (Strauss’ Die Fledermaus) and the title role in Giulio Cesare (Handel) for Royal Academy Opera Scenes.
She has also sung in the chorus of Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers and Massenet’s Chérubin and has recently played the role of Puck in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Royal Academy Opera.
During the pandemic, Julia played the title role in G&S’ Iolanthe for a virtual production organised by Green Opera and was part of Audentia Ensemble’s virtual project of Mahler’s 8th Symphony Finale conducted by Ryan Bair.
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Zhenyan Li - Composer
Zhenyan Li (b. 1998) is a Chinese composer based in London. Her works are inspired by theatrical elements, especially the performing style of traditional oriental theatre.
Li has been commissioned by the Chinese Oriental Ensemble of Beijing, Manson Ensemble, Royal Academy Opera and Barcelona Modern Ensemble.
As an active collaborator, she has worked on projects with the Architectural Association, London Film School, Leeds Lieder Festival and SOAS University of London, as well as individuals, writers David Alfred, Sam Redway, Emma Harding, artist Toby Tobias and percussionist Beibei Wang.
Most recently, she composed for musicians Mark Simpson, Huw Watkins, Robin Michael and George Fu and she is currently working on pieces for the Theory Today project and Trio Estatico ensemble.
Li has finished her Bachelor of Music degree and Master of Music degree in composition at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Professor David Sawer, Edmund Finnis and Rubens Askenar. She will continue to pursue her doctoral degree at the same institution
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Anna Morozova - Violin
Anna Morozova is a young violinist of Russian origin based in Warsaw and is an Alumna of the Moscow State P.I.Tchaikovsky Conservatoire.
In 2017, Anna relocated to Warsaw, where she began her Master’s Degree of Arts at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music studying with Professor Tadeusz Gadzina, and graduating with first-class honours in 2019.
During her studies, she collaborated with such collectives as Warsaw National Philharmonic, Polish Orchestra Sinfonia Iuventus and actively participated in music festivals such as: Chamber Music Festival (Rhodes, Greece, 2014); 9th Warsaw Chopin Festival Birthday Concerts (Warsaw, Poland, 2018); The European Festival of Music Academies (Warsaw, Poland, 2020).
She has given concerts in Russia and Europe, and at the age of 12 she made her debut swith orchestra as a part of a music festival in Boston (USA). She collaborated with leading musicians such as Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Vladimir Yurovsky, Yuri Temirkanov, Fabio Mastrangelo, Mikhail Pletnev, and has taken part in master classes of Felix Andrievsky, Pavel Vernikov, Vladimir Ivanov.
She currently combines a performing career with teaching at the School of Music of ARTE Foundation in Warsaw.
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Bernado Simões - Composer
Originally from Brazil, but also Portuguese, Bernardo Simões has already had an unusual singular career among his fellow composers.
Experiences encompass working as a film director (in “Mítica Films”); a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Marketing in ESPM; performing Brazilian Popular Music; writing for soundtracks; and compositions for musicians from different places and nationalities of the world.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, he studied Composition under Wladimir Tourinho (Master of Composition of Villa-Lobos School) and classical piano with Marly Muniz (professor of piano from UFRJ). In this period, he composed pieces performed by the Brass Quintet of the OSB (Brazilian Symphony Orchestra) (“Preludio e Fuga”) and a “Sonata Concertante” for Violin and Piano, which helped him, among other pieces, to enter the Bachelor’s Degree at the Royal Academy of Music.
Mr. Simões then studied under the guidance of Rubens Askenar for 2 years and before that, 2 years with Gary Carpenter. Since living in London, Bernardo Simões’ portfolio enfolds pieces such as “Aracê” and “Pairedolia” (both for Orchestra), “Blurred” (10 Instrument Ensemble), “Refraction” for Brass Quintet, and a “Guitar Rhapsody” among others.
He was awarded with the “Bache Prize” by RAM in 2019. His compositions have been already premiered in Slovenia, Brazil and in the UK and commissions for new pieces were made by the Solent Duo, Ensemble Renard (Wind Quintet), Mario Kurjak (Guitarrist) among others. In the near future Bernardo Simões’ Opera “A Gathering” will be premiered in the Brazilian Embassy and, in 2020 after his graduation, he will proceed to a Master’s degree at RAM.
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Anastasia Matkovskaia - Piano
Anastasia was born in Moscow in 1998.
She started playing piano when she was 4 years old. In 2009, she was accepted to study at the Central Music School at the Moscow State Conservatory.
She started studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2017 with Tessa Nicholson. She took part in many international competitions: Night in Madrid (2 prize; Madrid, Spain, 2013), Nodar Gabunia Competition (3 prize; Tbilisi, Georgia, 2013), Gershwin Competition (3 prize; New York, USA, 2015), Lilian Davies Prize (London, UK, 2017), Euregio Piano Award (Geilenkirchen, Germany, 2018).
Anastasia’s recent major recitals: chamber music recital in Russian Cultural Center in Paris (23/02/19), solo recital in Bedford (07/05/19) and chamber music recital in London (22/02/20).
Anastasia also took part in open masterclass with Professor Joanna MacGregor on the Piano Open Day (24/09/19) in the Royal Academy of Music, Autumn Piano Festival (31/10/19) and Beethoven 250+ Festival (13/10/20).
Rowan Jones - Clarinet
Rowan Jones is a London-based clarinet player completing a BMus (Hons) at the Royal Academy of Music, where she holds a scholarship learning with Chris Richards, Ben Mellefont and Mark Van de Wiel.
She studies bass clarinet with Laurent Ben de Slimane, having studied Eb clarinet with Chi-Yu
Mo. She is a keen orchestral and chamber musician, who also has a passion for wider experimental art and music collaborations.
Rowan has enjoyed performing with the RAM Symphony Orchestra under the batons of Edward
Gardner, Sir Mark Elder, Marin Alsop and John Wilson. She was tutored by the New London
Chamber Ensemble as Principle Clarinet of the National Youth Chamber Orchestra from 2015-2916.
She has also performed with the Academy Opera Sinfonia as Principle Clarinet. Outside of the
Academy, Rowan regularly performs with the Audentia Ensemble, having recently recorded Marino Arcaro’s Concerto Apinayé for Naxos in 2019.
Rowan is a founding member of Sylva Winds, a wind quintet formed at the RAM in 2019 where they received 1st place in the Nicholas Blake Woodwind Ensemble 2019/20. Whilst enjoying performing traditional quintet repertoire in concerts around London, Sylva Winds have also collaborated with composers, commissioning new works and performing world premieres, most recently at the Brunel Museum and at the Brazilian Embassy in London.
As a soloist, Rowan also gave a performance of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto at Christ Church
Spitalfields, London in 2018.
Soli Nallaseth - Piano
Born in New York in 1999, Soli Nallaseth’s early childhood involved a lot of travelling and exposure to a variety of people, cultures and languages.
At the age of 16, Soli left India to study at Chetham’s School of Music in England with Dr. Murray McLachlan.
On graduation, he moved on to the Royal Academy of Music, where he is currently studying under Professor Colin Stone, having undertaken his first two years under the guidance of Professor Sulamita Aronovsky.
Further proving his commitment to the piano, Soli has also taken masterclasses with the likes of Daniel Barenboim and Maria João Pires.
He was a prizewinner at the 23rd International Chopin Piano Competition in Mazovia in 2015. In the same year he was awarded a full scholarship to renowned chamber music course Musica Mundi. Most recently, he was a semi-finalist at the 6th Manchester International Concerto Competition, held in August 2019.
Having made waves in his native India, Soli has developed a special relationship with the Symphony Orchestra of India. He has already been invited to play with them thrice, under the batons of Mr. Marat Bisengaliev in 2014, Mr. Piotr Boskowszki in 2015, and in multiple concerts at the Prithvi Theatre, the Experimental theatre and the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre in late 2019, as part of the Celebration for the 50th Anniversary of the Centre and 25th Season of the Orchestra, and the success of their collaboration has led to their interest in inviting him to play with them again in the future.
Most recently, Soli performed with the London-based Audentia Ensemble in February 2020.
Edward Mascall-Robson - Composer
Edward Mascall-Robson is a British-Japanese composer, performer and engraver based in both Japan and the United Kingdom.
His music often explores layers and abstraction of musical material through permanent transformation.
He currently studies composition at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of David Sawer. He has worked with artists and ensembles such as the Manson Ensemble (London), conductor Elias Brown (London), flautist Yuki Saito (Japan), koto performer Leo Konno (Japan), and work for Midori Goto’s charity organisation, MUSIC SHARING.
He has also written music for screen and dance. A passion for engraving and music copying, he has engraved work for publishers, including Universal Edition.
As a soloist and chamber koto (Japanese stringed instrument) performer, he studied the instrument with Curtis Patterson and is a member of the Sawai Soukyoukuin.
He has performed and toured internationally, including in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, at venues such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and Kioi Hall. His performances have been broadcasted on national television and radio, and he has also contributed to CD recordings.
An advocate for new music, he formed an ensemble, which then went on to win awards and featured on NHK-FM. His repertoire extends from traditional to new commissioned works.
Leona Crasi - Piano
Leona Crasi is a progressive and versatile Romanian pianist. Her projects consist of classical solo and chamber music recitals, premiers and recordings of contemporary works, and multimedia collaborations with composers as well as visual artists and designers.
In 2019 she was featured as part of the ‘New Stages Concert Series’ with the performance ‘Analogos’, and later in the Royal Academy Piano Festival and Bloomsbury Music Festival with multimedia project ‘Play’.
Her current research project focuses on extended performance techniques, particularly such as those found Gyogy Kurtag’s ‘Jatekok’ collection.
Leona is an active participant in national and international competitions, performing across Europe, United States and Africa.
Most recently, she was awarded prizes in the HRH Lalla Meryem International Competition in Morocco and at the XIII Hungarian Music Competition in Romania.
As an active solo performer, her concerts in recent years include appearances at the Lucerne Piano Festival in Switzerland, The Aegean Arts Festival in Greece and the Hungarian Institute in Vienna.
Leona started her music studies at the ‘Sigismund Toduta’ Music School in Cluj, Romania, she later continued to study at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, USA, before pursuing her bachelor degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she is currently finalising a Masters of Music degree with Colin Stone.
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Bin David Li - Composer
Bin Li (b. Fuzhou, China) is a composer, artist and Qin (琴) player based in New York City. Published by Edition Wandelweiser, his recent work explores the immateriality of sound and its derivatives.
His open scores have been realized in Klangraum (Düsseldorf), Cosy Nook (London), Inner Field (Brooklyn), Gänsemarkt (Hamburg), A Place to Listen (Canada), Score Follower and The Unseen Festival.
Bin's conventionally notated music has been performed in the Aspen Music Festival, the Avantin Suvisoitto (Finland), the Bargemusic, the Tenri Cultural Institute, the Palais Montcalm (Quebec), the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Yogyakarta Contemporary Music Festival (Indonesia) and the Chinese National Contemporary Music Symposium.
Leading performers and ensembles including Dante Boon, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra and Ensemble Multilaterale have featured his music.
Bin released his first album "i am also here" via Edition Wandelweiser Records in December 2019.
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David Denyer - Composer
David Denyer is a British-German-Armenian multi-award-winning composer, violinist, and sound artist based in London.
David is especially prolific composing within the experimental and fringe theatre scenes of London, having performed in various West End venues, the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as various theatres around the UK and Europe.
He nurtures a number of longstanding professional relationships with theatre directors and producers, alongside working within film, art installations, and on experimental video-game projects.
His work has been featured by the ICA, BBC, Channel4, ITV, National Geographic, and the British Museum, amongst many others.
Additionally, he is a founding member and performer in the Echoshed Collective for contemporary music, he plays in the South-London rock band Modern Woman, is violist and songwriter for the newly-formed black metal band Wēven and generally takes any opportunity to fill dark rooms with unbearably loud and deeply unsettling noises.
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Ellen Drewe - Composer
Ellen is a composer and conductor currently finishing her studies at the Royal Academy of Music.
She has written commissioned pieces for a variety of ensembles and venues such as the the Royal Academy of Music 200 bicentenary commissions, Martin Read Foundation, Pianist Nicola Meecham (Warehouse Waterloo), BSO Kokoro Ensemble, The Royal Parks, The Eumelia Trio, The Brunel Museum and the V&A Museum.
She has received awards for her compositions such as being shortlisted for BBC Young Composer of the Year Award 2016, Martin Read Foundation Award and the BSO Kokoro Young Composers Call for Scores Award, as well as appearing on BBC Breakfast, talking about the music installation project ‘Music for Trees’ based in Regents Park. She is currently the Conductor and Musical Director for the Luna Collective, based in London.
Masimba Ushe - Bass
Masimba is a British born Bass singer of Zimbabwean heritage.
He is currently finishing his MA in Vocal Studies at the Royal Academy of Music. For as long as he has known, music has historically been a sign of hope in Zimbabwe. From folk music shared from community to community, to the fusion of musical genres with Zimbabwean folklore.
Being a British born Zimbabwean there is a lot he feels that he still needs to learn about his ancestry, and this is something that he has begun to explore more since beginning to study singing. Using DNA music ancestry is a great way for him to find out more about his ancestral background.
The musical journey he has been on so far, and continues to travel on, still has a long way to go but is worth every minute.
Alongside his studies he has performed the role of Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Uppermill Festival in 2019 and then again with King’s Opera in 2020. His debut performance in Opera was as part of the Bass chorus in Grange Park Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess in 2019.
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