St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, boasts a distinguished and varied musical tradition, in which the College Choir plays a major role.

With musical activities ranging from intimate chamber/consort singing to large-scale choral consorts, from Anglican Evensong to Choral Compline, members of St Catharine’s College Choir have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of musical activities; and in its role as an ambassador for St Catharine's outside the College walls, the Choir’s concerts and recordings, educational and community work, has earned it a reputation for innovation and excellence.

The focus of the Choir’s activities is the Chapel, with one of the est acoustics in Cambridge, and the regular weekly services of Evensong, Eucharist and Compline. At Sunday Evensong we sing the Anglican liturgy in its traditional form, while at Thursday night Compline we use Medieval Gregorian chant, choral and instrumental chamber music to create a more intimate atmosphere. The Choir gives regular concerts, often of major choral works such as the Monteverdi Vespers and Mozart's Requiem, in collaboration with professional instrumentalists. The choir is also embarked on a series of recordings for the Resonus label, the latest of which - Gaudent in Coelis - was released in March 2017.

The Choir is made up of approximately 24 singers, drawn mainly from undergraduate and graduate students at St Catharine’s College, but also open to students from other colleges. Prospective singers may wish to apply for a Choral Scholarship in advance of their arrival at Cambridge; singers can also audition when they arrive in Cambridge as freshers. The Choir is a lively and sociable group, a characteristic of the College as a whole. This is enhanced by the opportunities provided for choir members to share meals together, tour and record together and play a part in some of the most significant events in the College’s calendar. St Catharine's aims to attract talented and ambitious singers who are nevertheless not wanting to devote all their energies to this one activity. Members of the Choir have the opportunity to be involved in a wider range of musical and non-musical activities such as running the College Music Society, playing for, singing in and even producing musicals and operas.

Since its founding in September 2018 at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM), the Trio Meraki has given regular concerts in London and Birmingham. This trio will make its french debut here in the Lot, at the Ferrandou Atelier where the three musicians will reside during Easter weekend 2019. These formidable musicians will perform masterpieces by Beethoven, Chopin, Rebecca Clarke, Fauré, Haydn, Schubert, Schumann.

Momoko Arima, the Japanese violinist, began studying her instrument at the age of three. She won the Kyoto Golden Award at age five. She is currently in Rodney Friend's class at RAM. She has performed as a soloist in ten countries, including the United States at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 2018, she won the First International Prize of the Città di Padova. She plays on a violin by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1864).

Yong-Jun Lee, the South Korean cellist, is known as a soloist, chamber music player and first cellist in several orchestras in London. He started piano at age five, cello at seven, at the Seoul Arts Center, then in England at the famous Purcell School of Music, and finally at RAM with Professor Mats Lidstrom. He participated in the recording of Leonard Cohen's famous Hallelujah and regularly plays with the country-folk band "Ferris & Sylvester ".

Mateusz Duda is a Polish pianist. He began his studies in Radomsko, his hometown, at seven years old. After several competitions in Poland and Canada, he joined the classes at the RAM with Colin Stone and Michael Dussek. He has performed concertos Rachmaninoff No 3, Brahms No 2 and Chopin No 1. As a player of chamber music, he has performed at Chopin's birthplace in Zelazowa Wola and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London.

The Daphnis Wind Quintet was formed in 2017, with students from RAM and RCM who had previously played together in the National Youth Orchestra and the University of London Symphony Orchestra. They are the winners of the Nicholas Blake Prize 2018 at the Academy. Daphnis have received coaching from Keith Bragg, Robin O’Neill, Mel Ragge, Sam Coles, Moriarty Winds and Notus Winds. The last couple of years have seen some of its members appear as concerto soloists in genres ranging from baroque to contemporary. As orchestral musicians, they are also on the extras list or trialing with Sinfonia Cymru, BBC SSO, RSNO, RLPO, RPO and Philharmonia. Recent engagements have included performances at The Purcell School and at the Royal Academy of Music. Daphnis have an interest in outreach work and all types of music, from orchestral transcriptions to jazz

Consisting of three outstanding musicians, Trio Opal started their partnership in 2017. They have performed at Wigmore hall, Colston hall, St. Mary Perivale, Royal Academy of Music, St. Barnabas Ealing and many more venues in the United Kingdom. They regularly have lessons with each musicians’s professor, including Gyorgy Pauk, Christopher Richter and Michael Dussek. After being nominated by the Academy, they are competing for the Patron’s Award and were luckily chosen to be in the final round, which will be held at Wigmore Hall on 30 th January 2018. They were also chosen to represent the Academy in the intercollegiate trio competition in April 2018 in Birmingham. Altogether they have at least 15 concerts booked from January to June 2018

Eriko Nagayama - Violin
Born in Tokyo, Eriko Nagayama is currently in her second year studying as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of György Pauk. She started playing the violin at the age of four, and for many years studied violin and chamber music at the Toho Gakuen School of Music under Koichiro Harada, who founded the renowned Tokyo String Quartet.
Eriko has won several awards including first prize and also the Jean Schmidt prize for outstanding musicianship at the Yokohama International Music Competition in 2015, chaired by Gérard Poulet, Wilfrid Parry Brahms Prize 2016, and Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize. As a chamber musician she performed at various venues including Suntory Hall, since awarded full scholarships from the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Academy for two years. Additionally, she had several opportunities to play as Leader or Principal Violin at the Toho Gakuen Orchestra (Tokyo), the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra of the Encounter (Santander, Spain), and the Academy Symphony Orchestra (Royal Academy of Music, London). Eriko has participated in several festivals and academies including PyeongChang Music Festival, Ishikawa Music Academy, Kyoto French Music Academy, ProQuartet in Paris, Encuentro de Santander, and International Menuhin Music Academy Masterclass in Gstaad.
She has been granted the fellowship to study in London for the 2017/18 academic year by the Program of Overseas Study for Upcoming Artists sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japanese government. She plays a violin by Nicolo Gagliano, Naples, 1755 kindly on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.

Joel Siepmann - Cello
Joel Siepmann was born 1990 in Tübingen where he started taking cello lessons at the age of 6. During the time in Tübingen he won first prizes in the nation wide competition „Jugend musiziert“ in both solo and chamber music categories. In October 2011 he started his studies with Christoph Richter at the Folkwang Undiversität der Künste. 2015 he completed his Bachelor degree with the best possible mark (1,0) In addition to his studies, Joel took part in masterclasses and had lessons with Steven Isserlis, Lynn Harrell, David Geringas, Pieter Wispelwey, Jerome Pernoo, Peter Bruns, Troels Svane and Xenia Jankovic. In 2012 Joel won the HighPotentialClassics competition at the Folkwang Universtity of Arts and performed the Saint-Saens Cello concerto in a minor with the Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester. In 2014 he took part in the Easter tour of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO) with concerts in Thessaloniki and Abu Dhabi. From September 2013 until September 2014 Joel received a scholarship sponsored by the Lions Club in Essen and received a scholarship from the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Foundation. In April 2014 he won the Girardet-Prize for young musicians as part of the Folkwang Prize.
During his studies in Essen Joel played in different orchestras including the Chamber Orchestra of Cologne (director Christoph Poppen), Klassische Philharmonie Bonn and in the independent orchestra “Spira Mirabillis”. Since 2016 Joel has been a member of the “Villa Musica Akademie Rheinland-Pfalz”, which gave him the opportunity to work with renowned artists such as Peter Eötvös, Joseph Kalichstein and Isabelle van Keulen. In September 2016 he started his Postgraduate studies with Guy Johnston at the Royal Academy of Music in London generously sponsored by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Joel has been interested in various musical styles from an early age. He has performed as multi-instrumentalist (guitarist, cellist, pianist and composer) in different bands and groups and in theatre and video productions throughout his musical life. At the Royal Academy of Music he also started to take baroque cello lessons with Joseph Crouch to expand his musical horizons.
Joel plays on a Cello by Giulio Ettore Degani from 1906 generously loaned to him by the Royal Academy of Music

Yi-Shing Cheng - Piano
Winner of the Wilfrid Parry Prize Brahms duo competition in 2016 and the Rex Stephans Schumann Lieder Accompanist Prize in 2017, Yi-Shing Cheng is a highly active chamber musician and vocal accompanist, performing with many outstanding instrumentalists, singers and her piano trio, Trio Opal. She has performed at Wigmore Hall, BBC radio 3, Colston Hall and many more venues in the United Kingdom. In April 2018, her piano trio will be giving three evening concerts in Dordogne, France.Yi-Shing has received solo lessons from Boris Berman, Jacques Rouvier, and Yu-Jane Yang; and chamber lessons from Maxim Vengerov, György Pauk, Imogen Cooper, Ian Brown, Maurice Hasson, Daniel Müller-Schott, Daniel Hope, Bengt Forsberg, Silvia Rosenberg and many more.Yi-Shing also has experience as a composer. She was commissioned by the Thunder Tune Music Company to compose for the Academy of Taiwan Strings for a concert at the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She has also composed for the album “Troubadour”, which was published in Taiwan.She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in piano from National Taiwan Normal University and has been based in London since 2014 when she started studying with Michael Dussek. She has obtained her professional diploma and Master’s degree with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music and is currently undertaking her advanced diploma at the Academy, with the generous support of Clumber Studio scholarship and Frederic Jackson Award.

Connaught Brass is a quintet made up of second year students from The Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The ensemble was formed in 2016, created by a group of friends who have known each other for several years. The members have all previously been principal players in notable orchestras including the National Youth Orchestras of Great Britain, Scotland and Wales.
The quintet consists of Aaron Akugbo and Harry Plant playing trumpet; Robyn Blair, french horn; Christopher Brewster, tenor trombone and; Aled Meredith-Barrett playing tuba. All players hold major scholarships at their conservatoires.
The group were honoured to have been invited to play for the Royal Academy of Music’s 2016 carol service which was their inaugural performance. They were also delighted to represent the brass department of The Royal Academy of Music in a masterclass with the contemporary American composer Anthony Plog, playing the composer’s own work which also features in the programmes in France.
The ensemble’s ambition is to explore and share the broadest range of musical repertoire with as wide an audience as possible, bringing brass chamber music to the forefront of the musical world.​

The Czigány Quartet was formed in September 2017 by the following postgraduate students from the Royal Academy of Music:

• Aliayta Foon-Dancoes Violin
• Emily Earl Violin
• Clara Loeb Viola
• Eliza Millett Violoncello

In the short time that they have been playing together, the Czigány Quartet have been accepted onto the Royal Academy’s prestigious Davey Posnanski Quartet Scheme, through which they are mentored by Garfield Jackson, violist of the Endellion Quartet. The quartet also receive tutelage from Jon Thorne, Levon Chilingirian, and John Myerscough (of the Oculi Ensemble, Chilingirian and Doric String Quartets respectively).

In October 2017, the quartet were awarded the St Peter’s Chamber Music Prize in association with the Royal Academy, for which they will perform two recitals as part of the Eaton Square Concert Series, 2018. They have performed in masterclasses for internationally renowned musicians such as Krzysztof Chorzelski, of the Belcea Quartet, Hartmut Rohde, Nathaniel Anderson-Frank, and members of the London Haydn Quartet. Further to this, the quartet performed in the masterclass series element of the prestigious Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition in April, where they worked with Miguel da Silva, Raphael Todes and Christoph Richter.

The Czigány Quartet are members of the contemporary music group at the Academy, the Manson Ensemble, and were chosen to perform in a project which included Andrew Norman’s “Try”, as well as collaborating with composition students. In light of these successful collaborations, the Czigány Quartet will continue working with the RAM Composition Department in several workshops and concerts in Summer 2018. More recently, the Czigány Quartet performed Steve Reich’s ‘Different Trains’ in the Brunidbár Arts Festival, Newcastle. They have also recently performed in a side-by-side project with the Nash Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, and took part in the Vacation Chamber Orchestra Easter course, continuing their studies with Jon Thorne.

In the summer of this year, the Czigány Quartet will partake in a residency in Ferrandou, Dordogne, collaborating with the British baritone, David Wilson-Johnson. The quartet have also been awarded the role of Fellowship Quartet at the Wintergreen Summer Music Academy in Virginia, where they will perform several recitals as well as working and performing with Rachel Barton Pine.​

Kilian van Rooij - violon
« Kilian has a remarkable perception of sound quality and is one of very few people in the world that has his own recognizable musical voice. »
Maxim Vengerov

Kilian van Rooij is one of today’s young promising violinists. Born in the Netherlands into family of musicians to a Dutch father and German mother, Kilian began to play the violin at the age of 7. He received a broad and a thorough education at the young talent class of the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, the Netherlands. At the Conservatory he is instinctively trained by Peter Brunt and Mireille van der Wart. After finishing the Conservatory in the Hague, Kilian proceeded to the Amsterdam Conservatory where he finished his undergraduate degree Cum Laude, mentored by Vera Beths, who is worldwide known for her incredibly extensive repertoire from baroque to contemporary music. She inspired Kilian to keep an eye open for a wide range of genres and become intrigued and passionate about finding unknown gems in music literature. Because of this passion, he performed the violin concerto 'Styx' by Andre Douw at his final exam, which was originally written for Vera Beths. The concerto was recorded in 1982 by Joan Berkhemer, but had never been performed live for an audience. Douw was very impressed and prized Kilian for his intelligent and clear-cut performance.
As a foremost talent, he received the Edna Seabright Memorial Prize and a scholarship for his distinctive audition at the Royal Academy of Music. At the academy he was mentored by Chilingirian and Philippe Honoré. Shortly before Kilian came to London, he was invited to France by Baritone David Wilson-Johnson and pianist David Owen Norris. David Wilson-Johnson has been Kilian’s musical guide ever since.
Kilian graduated with honors and distinction in july 2017.
Kilian van Rooij has won several international competitions, such as the ‘Premio virtuosite competition’ and 'Premio citta di padova competition' in Italy. He appeared as a soloist with multiple Dutch orchestra’s, playing violin concertos like ‘Symfonie Espagnole’ by E. Lalo, M. Bruch's Concerto No .1 and ‘The Four Seasons’ by Vivaldi. He performed solo recitals all over Europe and played at several festivals including the prestigious 'Prinsengracht Festival' and the ‘Gstaad Menuhin festival'.
Currently Kilian plays on a violin build by Spiritus Sorsano (Turin,1731) loaned to him by the Royal Academy of Music. Passionate about bringing classical music to new and young audiences around the world Kilian is currently working hard to live his dream.

Asagi Nakata - piano
Born in 1995 and currently studying for her Masters at the Royal Academy of Music with Prof. Christopher Elton with a scholarship. She previously studied with a scholarship at the Junior Department of the Royal College with Professor Ian Jones, and with Professor Tatiana Sarkissova.
She has won several competitions including the EPTA Belgian International, Franz Liszt Weimar (2009), the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Junior (2010) and was runner up in the Windsor International Piano Competition in 2015. Other successes include First Prize in the Marlow International Concerto Competition (2007), Third Prize in the James Mottram International Competition (2008), and Fourth Prize in the Ettlingen International Competition (2010). Asagi was recently selected as one of sixteen semi-finalists in the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition which will take place in October 2017.
Asagi has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall and St. James’s, Piccadilly, and is a regular soloist in the St. Paul’s Bedford Lunchtime Concert Series and the Emmanuel United Reform Church, Cambridge Lunchtime Concert Series. Performances abroad include Japan, Holland, Belgium, Prague, Germany in the presence of Alfred Brendel and Poland where she was invited as guest performer at the 64th Duszniki International Chopin piano festival. She has performed with the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of South Bohemia, Southbank Sinfonia and Finchley Chamber Orchestra.
Asagi is grateful for the support from the Drake Calleja Trust, Talent Unlimited, and The Countess of Munster Musical Trust for their Derek Butler Award. She is also a Concordia Foundation Artist. In her spare time Asagi enjoys cooking and learning German.
In recognition of her high achievements in music at the Royal Academy of Music, Asagi received the Greta Parkinson Prize, Vivian Langrish Prize, the Peter Latham gift and the Nancy Dickinson Award.