The London Ensemble - Player Biographies

Performers include:

Former Principal Cellist of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Alasdair Strange won the Associated Board Scholarship to study with Derek Simpson at the Royal Academy of Music, London. On completion of his studies, Alasdair was awarded the DipRAM, the Academy's highest award for performance, as well as the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship. Alasdair was first prize-winner in many competitions, including the Alessandro Pezze, May Mukle, Herbert Walenn, Harry Isaacs, Florence Hooten and David Martin Prizes as well as the 'Young Musician of the West'.

Alasdair's concerto appearances include Penderecki's Cello Concerto No. 2 at the Barbican Hall with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain to great critical acclaim, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

Alasdair Strange is privileged to have collaborated closely with the legendary composer, Gyorgy Ligeti, on his Cello Concerto for a gala performance at the Ligeti Festival, London, in the presence of the composer.

Alasdair has given numerous recitals throughout Europe with pianist Viv McLean, including appearances at the Kultur Kreis Festival, Hannover, the Southwark Festival, Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room on London's South Bank, as well as at many music societies and concert clubs throughout Great Britain.

As a chamber musician, Alasdair has performed alongside such luminary artists as Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Yuri Bashmet and Daniel Hope, and he currently performs as cellist in the Thorsen-Strange-McLean Trio with Marianne Thorsen (Leader, Nash Ensemble of London) and Viv McLean (First Prize-Winner, Barcelona International Piano Competition).

Other solo highlights include performances of the Brahms Double Concerto at the Barbican Hall, as well as concertos by Elgar, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn D, Boccherini G and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations at venues including the Fairfield Halls, Snape Maltings Aldeburgh, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Wembley Town Hall, St. James' Piccadilly and the Royal Albert Hall. Alasdair has also appeared as a soloist at the Chichester and Dulwich Music Festivals.

As an orchestral Principal, Alasdair has worked under such illustrious conductors as Haitink, Giulini, Rostropovich, Ashkenazy, Abbado and Sir Colin Davis on extensive European tours at concert halls including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin's Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London, Symphony Hall Birmingham and at the Edinburgh, Salzburg and Vienna International Festivals.

Alasdair is Artistic Consultant and concert artist at the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden 2009/10 in Røros, Norway, with performances broadcast on Norway's national classical radio, NRK Klassisk.

Alasdair Strange is Artistic Director of the London Ensemble (www.classicalmusicians.com) and Managing Director of the London Soundtrack Orchestra. In May 2009, the orchestra performed the world premiere of Hitchcock's 'Psycho' accompanied by live strings for SKY Movies. Alasdair performs on a 1690 Ruggieri cello.

Winner of the First Prize and the Rolex Prize at the 2002 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Viv McLean has performed at major venues including the Barbican Hall, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, St David's Hall, Cardiff, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh and the Wigmore Hall, as well as in the Palau de la Musica Catalan in Barcelona, Spain, the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, Germany, the Paderewski Museum in Warsaw, Poland, and various venues throughout France, Finland, Malta, Israel, Cyprus, Japan and the USA.

His concerto work includes appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, National Musicians' Symphony Orchestra and with conductors including Daniel Harding, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwel Hughes, Carl Davis and Wayne Marshall.

As a chamber musician, Viv has appeared with leading groups such as the London Ensemble, the Ysaye String Quartet and the Leopold String Trio. He has performed in festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival and Harrogate Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival, Hanover in Germany, and the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France.

In 1996, Viv won the piano section of the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition and was selected as one of three winners of the National Federation of Music Societies' Young Artists Competition, leading to various recitals and concerto appearances throughout Great Britain. Viv has recorded regularly for BBC Radio 3 since making his recital debut through the 1996 BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded recitals for WDR 3 in Germany and Radio Bialystok in Poland. His commercial releases include recordings for such labels as Sony Classical Japan and Naxos.

Viv studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he held the Hodgson Fellowship and received financial assistance from the Hattori Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. In May 1998, Viv made his Wigmore Hall recital debut through winning the Friends of the Royal Academy Wigmore Award.

Future plans include concerts in France, Norway, Japan and the UK.

Joel Hunter is in great demand both as a principal orchestral player and as a chamber musician all over Europe. Having graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 1997 he has gone on to perform in the worlds most prestigious concert halls with many leading ensembles and orchestras working regularly under conductors such as Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, John Elliot-Gardiner and Lorin Maazel.

He spent two years as co-principal viola with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 1998-2000, before returning to London to embark on a busy and diverse freelance career. He appears frequently as guest principal viola with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and many other orchestras and ensembles including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Filharmonica Toscanini (Italy) and the English Sinfonia.

He currently holds the post of principal viola with the Goldberg Ensemble and works with many other chamber orchestras such as the London Mozart Players, London Chamber Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia and Sinfonia 21. In January of 2005 he accepted a new position in the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester in Stockholm as principal viola.

As a chamber musician Joel has appeared alongside such eminent artists as Yo-yo Ma, Augustin Dumay, Piers Lane and members of both the Vogler and Artemis quartets. He has toured Italy, Hungary and France as a member of the Cat quartet and often performs chamber music with established groups such as the Wakeford ensemble and the contemporary group Psappha. He has broadcast extensively on BBC Radio 3 with many orchestras and ensembles.

In 2001 he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music for his services to the profession.

Harriet Mackenzie has toured Europe, America and Japan as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. In 2004 Harriet gave her highly acclaimed Wigmore Hall debut as part of the Park Lane Young Artists Series. Since then she has given recitals in such prestigious venues as the "Marble Hall" in Budapest, the National Portrait Gallery as part of the McCann Series, the Beers Van Berlage Hall in Amsterdam, the Expo Dome in Japan, the British Library, the Purcell Room, St Martin- in-the- Fields and she was invited to return to the Wigmore Hall again for the closing concert of the Saint- Saens Festival playing with the Florestan Trio.

She has broadcast recitals "live" for BBC Radio 3 and for Hungarian National Radio and played the Sibelius concerto with the Ukraine Philharmonic at the Chernigiv Festival in 2002 and has subsequently been invited back every year. She has collaborated with composers such as Anthony Payne, David Matthews, Robert Fokkens, Mauricio Kagel, and Gyorgy Kurtag. These contemporary influences also colour Kosmos sound. Robert Fokkens is currently composing a violin concerto for her to be premiered in the "Fresh" Series at the South Bank in May with the New Professionals Orchestra.

Harriet studied at the Royal Academy of Music graduating with First Class honours and a DipRAM. She has received awards by the musicians Benevolent Fund, the Hattori Foundation and is a recipient of the Manoug Parikian Award and the Elise Owen award. Her teachers have been Sheila Nelson, Howard Davis, Maurice Hasson, Hermann Krebbers and Marianne Thorsen. She has played with some of the best Gypsy violinists during her study in the States and has an extensive knowledge of Greek music from a family connection with Greece.

Other highlights for next year include playing Tchaikovsky concerto and a recital for the Chernigiv Festival, Ukraine, the performance of unpublished Bax Sonata in the Purcell Room and Mozart concerto and Sonatas in Beijing with the ContempoAIR Ensemble for the 250 anniversary of Mozart.

Gabrielle Painter has performed throughout Europe, Canada and the United States as soloist, chamber musician and leader. Her concerto performances range from Beethoven to Szymanowski and Lou Harrison and she recently performed the violin solos of Swan Lake and Coppelia at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Sadlers Wells and Herodus Atticus (Athens). A passionate chamber musician, Gabrielle has been Guest Artist at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), performed with the internationally renowned Mark Morris Dance Group and in numerous concert series including the London Festival of Chamber Music, Crwth Concert Series(UK), Cathedral of Saint John the Divine (NY), the Miller Theatre (NY) and the Mostly Music Series (Chicago).

Gabrielle is the violinist of the Szabo Piano Trio who toured Hungary and Ireland last summer and recorded for Lyric FM Radio as well as performing in their own concert series in London and Chichester. Dedicated to the performance of music of our time, Gabrielle was a founding member of the New York based furious band premiering many new works and recording for CRI and New World Records. Gabrielle also plays as guest leader and in guest principal positions in many of Britain's leading orchestras.

Equally dedicated to teaching, Gabrielle has held the position of adjunct violin professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook working with undergraduate, masters and doctoral students. She has given master classes and performance workshops at universities throughout New York, Chicago and Canada and at the Royal Academy of Music.

Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she studied with Diana Cummings, a Master of Music degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she will also receive her Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree. Gabrielle was a scholarship student of and Teaching Assistant to Mitchell Stern. Winner of the Montgomery Violin Competition (United States) Gabrielle has also been the recipient of awards from the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, the Ackerman Awards and the Thomas Jefferson Scholarship Awards.

Alison Dods studied with Erich Gruenberg at the Royal Academy of Music and with David Takeno while she was at Cambridge University where she read Theology.

As a member of the 'Gogmagogs' for 5 years she worked with musicians such as John Tavener and Django Bates, creating theatrical works for string ensemble. A member of the Tippett Quartet for 6 years, she premiered many new quartet works alongside classical repertoire at venues such as the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room, London.

She has performed and recorded with artists as diverse as Melvyn Tan, Nitin Sawney, Errollyn Wallen, Nigel Kennedy, and also composed with her own eight-piece electro acoustic band with whom she appeared at the Rhythm Sticks Festival at the South Bank, London. Currently plays regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra. Recently she has been performing some of the piano quintet repertoire with the Schubert Ensemble of London, touring the UK and Canada.

Conny Lindgren received a scholarship to study violin with Erich Gruenberg OBE at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997. Conny became leader of the Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia and graduated in 2001 with a Postgraduate Diploma, having earlier been awarded the BMus and LRAM diplomas.

Conny was leader of the Nordic Youth Orchestra, co-leader of the European Union Youth Orchestra and also played in the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra. He has performed at major venues throughout Europe and in South America, China, Russia and Egypt with conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Ivan Fischer and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Currently, Conny works as a free-lance violinist having played with some of the leading orchestras in Europe, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He frequently tours Europe and has made several recordings for Swedish Radio, the London Ensemble and in Abbey Road and Phoenix Studios.

Conny has also made solo appearances with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and at Conway Hall in London. In the MGM movie musical 'De-Lovely', starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, Conny performs alongside Robbie Williams and Natalie Cole.

Andrew Strange was the Elizabeth Willmore Viola Scholar at the Royal Academy of Music. During his studies, Andrew led the National Youth Chamber Orchestra of Great Britain and was a sub-principal of the European Union Youth Orchestra, recording and undertaking extensive tours around Europe and South America under conductors such as Haitink, Giulini, Rostropovich and Sir Colin Davis.

Andrew performs regularly as a freelance violist with orchestras such as Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Symphony, National Symphony, Brighton Philharmonic, European Sinfonietta, Primavera Chamber Orchestra, and is currently the Principal Viola of the London Ensemble, for whom he has recorded several soundtracks.

Andrew continues to tour extensively, a recent highlight being concerts at the Ulriksdaal Festival in Sweden.

Recent concerts include the performance of Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence with Lynn Harrell and Dmitri Sitkovetsky at the prestigious Diamond Chamber Series in London.