West Wight Arts Association
Visiting Artists 2023/24 Season

Described by Le Monde as "possessing the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves", since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, British pianist Viv McLean has performed in all the major venues in the UK as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. Viv’s concerto work includes appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of such conductors as Daniel Harding, Wayne Marshall, John Lubbock, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwell Hughes, Philip Hesketh, David Charles Abell, Stephen Bell, Carl Davis, Rebecca Miller, Chloe Van Soeterstede and Marvin Hamlisch. Recent concerto highlights include Mozart K467 with the ECO at the Royal Festival Hall, Grieg with the LPO at the Barbican, Rachmaninov’s 3rd Concerto with the RPO in Cambridge, Gershwin, Bernstein, de Falla and Ravel with the Hallé at the Bridgewater Hall, The Sage Gateshead and other venues in the North of England, and Beethoven's 5th Concerto with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall. Engagements in the coming months include a tour with the London Concert Orchestra playing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in venues including the Royal Festival Hall London, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Bridgewater Hall Manchester, Usher Hall Edinburgh and the Royal Concert Hall Glasgow. Viv will also be doing a series of words & music concerts with the acclaimed writer, Jessica Duchen, featuring works by Beethoven and based on her new novel “Immortal”.

Viv plays regularly with the Adderbury Ensemble and the Le Page Trio and has also performed with other leading chamber groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet, the Sacconi String Quartet, members of the Elias, Allegri, Tippett String Quartets and Leonore Piano Trio, Ensemble 360, the Galliard Wind Ensemble, the Bristol Ensemble, the Berkeley Ensemble and the Leopold String Trio. He has collaborated with musicians such as Natalie Clein, Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Lawrence Power, Mary Bevan, David Le Page, Matthew Sharp, Guy Johnston, Ruth Rodgers, Kate Gould, Clare O'Connell, Alice Neary, Adrian Brendel, Fenella Humphreys and many others.

He has performed at numerous festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival, Buxton Festival, Music in the Round Festival and Harrogate International Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Festival International de Musique Classique d’Aigues-Mortes, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden. Since 2014, Viv has been pianist-in-residence at the Glossop Festival.

Viv studied from an early age with Ruth Nye and, after attending Chetham’s School of Music, he went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne and Maria Curcio. At the Academy he held the Hodgson Fellowship and was made an Associate of the Royal Academy in 2005. He made his Wigmore Hall recital debut through winning the Friends of the Royal Academy Wigmore Award. Whilst studying at the Academy, he was the winner of the piano competition at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition and was selected as one of the winners of the National Federation of Music Societies' Young Artists Competition.

Viv made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded for Classic FM, WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and for the Sky Arts television channel. His commercial releases include recordings for such labels as Sony, Naxos, Nimbus, RPO Records, ICSM Records, Harmony & Imagination Records and his most recent releases are a Chopin recital and a selection of live recordings for Stone Records.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary season in 2023, Onyx Brass continues to be the leading light in establishing the brass quintet as a medium for serious chamber music, inspired by the pioneering early years of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, and indeed mentored by Philip himself. To this end, the group has commissioned and performed the world premières of over 200 new works, with many more in the pipeline for performance and recording.

It is a point of justifiable pride for the group to play authentic and sometimes challenging music, yet remain a group which is utterly accessible to audiences: there is no need to “dumb down” when programmes are presented in the entertaining and articulate fashion that has become the group’s trademark. A brief snapshot of the composers whose work Onyx has premièred includes David Sawer, Thea Musgrave, Stuart MacRae, Michael Nyman, Joe Duddell, John Tavener, Judith Bingham, John McCabe, Tarik O’Regan, Cheryl Frances Hoad, Timothy Jackson, Gabriel Jackson, Giles Swayne, Graham Lynch, Steve Martland, Jonathan Dove, John White, Paul Mealor, Julian Philips, Rory Boyle, Kenny Wheeler, Guy Barker, Gwilym Simcock, Trish Clowes, Charlotte Harding, and Emily Hall. During 2014, Onyx Brass toured the country, bringing contemporary brass music to bandstands, parks and public spaces as part of the Tour de Brass! The project was generously supported by PRS for Music’s New Music Biennial Scheme, and the Tour passed through London’s Southbank Centre and Glasgow UNESCO City of Music for special performances coinciding with the Commonwealth Games. The featured commission, “Bronze and Iron” by David Sawer, was recorded live for the NMC label and BBC Radio 3.

During its first 28 years, Onyx has toured extensively: there are very few corners of the UK that remain unvisited! The group has also performed regularly at festivals and concert halls in the USA, Ireland, France, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Nigeria, Bermuda and Borneo to unanimous critical acclaim, acclaim that has been similarly forthcoming for its recordings. Its nine solo CDs are notable for their innovative and entertaining programming: for example, pairings of Bach and Shostakovich fugues, contemporary music linked with the renaissance music that inspired it, and disc featuring a partnership with the extraordinary baritone voice of Mark Stone. BBC Music Magazine described the group as “easily the classiest brass ensemble in Britain”, Gramophone hailed “some of the most thrilling chamber brass-playing of its kind” and the Observer described “an eclectic ear opener of a disc, virtuosically played”. Onyx’s discography are also regularly featured on BBC Radio 3, whose presenters and reviewers have been unstinting in their praise: “Stunningly crisp brass playing” (Kate Molleson) “Playing just brilliantly here…these consummate musicians…play faultlessly” (Suzy Klein); “fantastic classical brass quintet, their virtuosity is absolutely staggering…They are brilliant!” Sarah Walker; “Wonderful, virtuoso brass quintet” (Roger Vignoles, Record Review).

Education is a large part of the remit of Onyx Brass: they have led workshops and masterclasses in an enormous variety of contexts that range from Primary School reception classes to the Juilliard School of Music in New York. They have held various residencies, including at Radley College, The Royal Welsh School of Music and Drama, Westminster Abbey Choir School and Imperial College, University of London. They have commissioned several collaborative works for brass and primary school singers, with themes inspired by sport and dance, as well developing a free online and in-person repertoire resource for beginner brass players to play alongside the group. “The Oynx (sic) Brass players were really good teachers and nice to work with” (Theo, age 5).

Work with singers also forms a central part of Onyx’s work: the group recorded an album for Hyperion with the Westminster Abbey Choir, featuring the music of Parry, which reached the top spot in the specialist classical chart. In recent years the group has worked regularly with the BBC Singers and the Choir of St. Bride’s, Fleet Street, as well as superb amateur choirs such as the Brighton Festival Chorus and the choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge. Much of this work has been under the auspices of the remarkable John Armitage Memorial trust, with whom Onyx Brass has been affiliated since its inception.

The individual members of the group are also active orchestral musicians: they hold and have held permanent positions in the London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of English National Opera, the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force

In March 2023, Ariel was honoured to receive the Prix Serdang, a Swiss prize awarded by the distinguished Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. The prize is endowed with CHF 50,000 and is in recognition of a young pianist’s achievements, and an investment in their future.

Prior to this Ariel won 3rd Prize at the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition. In the same year he was a prize winner in the YCAT (London) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions.

This season Ariel records Mozart with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, gives recitals at the Kissinger Festsommer, Fundaçion Juan March in Madrid, Wigmore Hall and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Further afield Ariel takes part in the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival in Australia, gives concerts in the USA, and undertakes a tour of Colombia. In 2023 he was nominated as a Rising Star Artist by Classic FM

Highlights over the last year include return visits to Wigmore Hall, the Miami International Piano Festival, and Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.

He undertook a tour of Argentina and gave recitals in the Homburg MeisterKonzert series, the Menton Festival, Perth Concert Hall (broadcast by BBC Radio 3), and across the UK including the Brighton and Bath Festivals.

Solo appearances include the Israel Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras. In 2021 Linn Records released his recording of music by Schubert to critical acclaim.

Ariel was born in Jerusalem, where he studied with Lea Agmon and Yuval Cohen. Now based in London, he recently completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne and Ian Fountain.

Margaret Fingerhut has a distinguished career which has taken her all over the world, and is particularly known for her innovative recital programmes. As a concerto soloist she has appeared with the all the UK's major orchestras, and she is frequently heard on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM and many radio stations worldwide. Margaret is a Visiting Lecturer at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2015. She has given masterclasses in the USA, Canada, Japan and China, and she is a regular guest at international summer schools such as Chetham's, Jackdaws and Dartington.

Her extensive discography on the Chandos label has received worldwide critical acclaim and won many accolades. Her many recordings reflect her long-standing fascination with exploring lesser-known repertoire, including works by Bax, Berkeley, Bloch, Dukas, Falla, Grieg, Howells, Leighton, Novák, Stanford and Suk as well as several pioneering collections of 19th century Russian and early 20th century French piano music. Two of her Bax recordings were short-listed for Gramophone awards, and her disc of solo piano music by the Polish/French composer Alexandre Tansman was awarded the accolade of “Diapason D’Or” in France. Her disc of encores "Endless Song" was Featured Album of the Week on Classic FM and was selected as “Editor's Choice” in Pianist magazine. She was the soloist in the première recording of Elgar’s sketches for his Piano Concerto slow movement, and she also made the first recording of a recently discovered student piece by Rachmaninov.

The distinguished Piatti Quartet are widely renowned for their ‘profound music making’ (The Strad) and their ‘lyrical warmth’ (BBC Music Magazine). Since their prizewinning performances at the 2015 Wigmore Hall String Quartet Competition, they have performed all over the world and made international broadcasts from many countries.

The Piattis are famed for their diverse programming and for passionate interpretations across the spectrum of quartet writing, and have commissioned and recorded some of the most major and impressive works added to the quartet canon in recent years.

Since their inception they have always had projects in the recording studio with critically acclaimed releases through Linn, Somm, Champs Hill, Hyperion, Delphian, and NMC record labels. Their wide ranging discography and repertoire is thanks to their enthusiasm and curiosity in collaborating with a broad range of artists including some of the most recognisable names in classical music such as Nicky Spence, Julius Drake, Michael Collins, Barry Douglas, Janina Fialkowska, Melvyn Tan, Ian Bostridge, Katherine Broderick, Adam Walker, Simon Callaghan and the Belcea Quartet.

Contemporary music has been ever present in their repertoire and leaving a legacy to the quartet genre through commissions is one of the quartet’s central tenets. Major commissions and dedications have stemmed from Mark-Anthony Turnage, Emily Howard, Charlotte Harding, and Joseph Phibbs whilst they have premiered a mesmerising number of new works over the years beginning with Anna Meredith back in 2009. The Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Flagey Radio Hall Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, and the Aldeburgh Festival are some of the high profile occasions where new music has been presented and recordings of Turnage’s quartets 1-4 and Gavin Higgins’ chamber music has also been extensively lauded by critics.

Historical research into quartet music that has been undiscovered or deserves to be better known has led to the premiere recording of Ina Boyle’s (Ireland) SQ in E minor, and performances of lesser known quartet gems by Ralph Vaughan Williams, E.J. Moeran, Rachmaninov, Ireland, Haas, Ulmann, and Durosoir.

The quartet’s name is dedicated to Alfredo Piatti, a 19th Century virtuoso cellist who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music (the alma mater of the founder’s of the quartet) and also a major exponent of chamber music and contemporary music of his time.

Award-winning Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis has created a brand new style that embraces classical, gypsy jazz and folk. Hailed as a ‘current-day improvising Paganini’, his inclusive and innovative approach to music has united audiences and is influencing a new generation of string players.

As a composer, Kliphuis has dedicated his art to the challenges on our planet. His climate change suite ‘The Five Elements’ accompanied the Royal mission to Stockholm to much acclaim, and Triple Concerto ‘Phoenix Rising’ (commissioned by NTR ZaterdagMatinee) considers our past, present and future.

An in-demand educator and author of the best-selling book “Gypsy Jazz Violin”, Tim is Professor of String Improvisation at the Conservatoire of Amsterdam and Director of the gypsy jazz summer school Grappelli-Django Camp. In 2022, he started the world’s first comprehensive online course for jazz violin, Tim Kliphuis Studio.

As a Sony Classical artist, Kliphuis recorded Vivaldi-inspired ‘Reflecting the Seasons’ in 2016, followed by ‘Brandenburg’, based on Bach’s Concertos, and his own ‘Ulysses’ Violin Concerto in 2018. He was awarded the Scottish Jazz Award, South African Woordfees Award and the Polish ‘Swing Raven’ Prize.

After his master’s degree in classical violin at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, Kliphuis studied with the European Sinti gypsies. He recorded and toured with gypsy guitar legends Fapy Lafertin, The Rosenberg Trio and Angelo Debarre.

An invitation to the Richard Strauss Festival in Germany started the Tim Kliphuis Trio (Nigel Clark, guitar and Roy Percy, double bass) whose mission is a ‘total music’ without stylistic barriers. They performed at the Amsterdam Canal Concert, curated the world fiddle night at Celtic Connections Glasgow, celebrated Stéphane Grappelli at the Django Reinhardt Festival in Samois-sur-Seine and shared the stage with Les Paul, Richard Galliano, Frankie Gavin, Martin Hayes and Daniel Hope. The Trio collaborated with the Netherlands and Tallinn Chamber Orchestras, The Hague and Cape Town Philharmonic and Sinfonietta Amsterdam and toured America, South Africa and Russia. 

In between Trio tours and orchestral projects, the Tim Kliphuis Sextet with Nigel Clark, Roy Percy and string players Janneke van Prooijen, Frank Brakkee and Charles Watt continues to wow audiences across Europe: a colourful crossover approach to classical and jazz music.

Tim Kliphuis is a DPA Microphones, Pirastro Strings and Zeta Violin artist

Métis musician, Cole Knutson grew up in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada where he studied piano starting at age twelve and completed his undergraduate degree in classical saxophone performance with Allen Harrington.

He received a Masters in Piano Accompaniment Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London on full scholarship, where he studied with Julius Drake and Eugene Asti, played for the studio of Yvonne Kenny, and regularly worked with Professor Rudolf Piernay. Cole was also employed as a staff accompanist while at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, playing for lessons, classes, masterclasses, and performances at the school. In the fall of 2023, Cole will begin studies with Prof. Wolfram Rieger at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Germany.

In the fall of 2022, Cole was made a scholar at the Liedzentrum Liedakademie in collaboration with Heidelberger Frühling and the Pierre Boulez Saal, led by Thomas Hampson. Additionally, Cole participated in the 2023 SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, led by Renée Fleming. He was also recently appointed as a scholar at the Académie Orsay-Royaumont for 2023–2024 season in France. As an active recitalist, Cole has enjoyed recent performances at the Heidelberger Frühling Lied Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal as part of the Schubert Woche, London’s Wigmore Hall, Montréal’s Salle Bourgie, and Paris’ Salle Cortot. He regularly enjoys performances at The Oxford Lieder Festival, LSO St. Luke’s, throughout the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, France, Austria, and North America.

Recent award-winning performances with regular duo partner, Joël Terrin, include the Kattenburg Concours de Voix in Lausanne, Switzerland, the 2022 Kathleen Ferrier Awards at Wigmore Hall, accompanist for Joël in the 2022 finals of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) at Wigmore Hall. Other recent award-winning performances at the Concours Musical International de Montréal in 2022 and the 2022 International Mozart Competition with baritone Michael Lafferty. Winner of the 2021 London Song Festival Competition with French-Canadian mezzo-soprano, Anika France-Forget. Other prizes include prizewinner of the 2020 English Song Prize at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, winner of the 2020 Oxford Lieder Young Artist Platform, and the HWE and WL Tovery Scholarship.

Cole is also a recipient of a grant from the prestigious Sylva Gelber Music Foundation to support his research into programming in the song recital. He is a laureate of the 2017 and 2018 Franz Schubert Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria. Cole is grateful to be part of the last class offered by the founder, the late-Deen Larsen. As a classical saxophonist, in 2017, Cole was awarded Second Prize at the National Music Festival of Canada following his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of twenty, and served as principal saxophonist of the National Youth Band of Canada for half of a decade.

His artistic endeavours have received continuous support through Métis Nations Saskatchewan, the Gabriel Dumont Institute, SK Arts, the Guildhall Trust, the Art Song Foundation of Canada, and The Sylva Gelber Music Foundation.

Swiss baritone, Joël Terrin studied in Lausanne with Frédéric Gindraux before moving to London to work with Prof. Rudolf Piernay at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Joël completed the Artist Diploma programme with distinction. He also frequently works with Dame Felicity Lott, Eugene Asti, François Le Roux and Graham Johnson.

Joël, a Samling artist and former Oxford Lieder Young Artist, also participated in programmes such as Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Académie Orsay- Royaumont in Paris with pianist and duo partner Cole Knutson.

He has sung the title role in Christiné’s Dédé, Maximilian in Bernstein’s Candide, the baritone solo in Weill’s Berliner Requiem, Melchior in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Urbain in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne, and several other roles for the Opéra de Lausanne. He also created a recital and workshop for children in collaboration with Opéra de Lausanne and a workshop during the Youth Olympic Games of 2020.

He has worked with the London Symphony Orchestra on several projects such as Michael Tippett’s Discovery Day, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, curated a recital in the series « Futures: the musical voices of our time », participated in Wigmore Hall’s Schumann Study Group, Ravel Study Group, a contemporary music recital, and a recital of French mélodies. Joël participated in the inaugural French Song Exchange hosted by Wigmore Hall in London and Salle Cortot in Paris; venues he has since performed at on numerous occasions. He also recorded Glanert’s songs for the BBC and assisted Graham Johnson for his book « Poulenc: The Life in the Songs ».

Recent competitions include the Migros competition in Switzerland, the finals of the 2022 Kathleen Ferrier Awards, and the 2022 Young Classical Artist Trust (YCAT) finals. Joël has won second and third prizes at the Kattenburg Competition in addition to auxiliary prizes such as the audience prize, prize for the best contemporary music interpretation, best Swiss candidate, and an opportunity to curate a recital of his own design, sponsored by the competition. He also won second place at the Somerset Song Prize in 2019, the English Song Prize, and the Paul Hamburger award at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He has also received support from the Friedl Wald and the Colette Mosetti foundations.

Upcoming engagements include the Boulanger Competition, several concerts with the Académie de Royaumont in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, a free-choice recital awarded at the Opéra de Lausanne, the curation of a crossover project with the Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne, the main role in Weill’s Der Silbersee at the Opéra de Lorraine, and several recitals with pianist Cole Knutson.

Widely praised for his exceptional musicality and depth of interpretation, Thomas Luke is an award-winning pianist whose performances have been broadcast on national television and radio.

Thomas was the keyboard category winner of the prestigious BBC Young Musician 2020 competition. With a multitude of accolades to his name, he has been awarded first place in the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at the Junior Royal Academy of Music and has been recognised by the Vienna International Music Competition for possessing "outstanding talent, a remarkable musicality and a very accomplished technique".

Born on the Isle of Wight, UK, Thomas began his piano lessons at the age of four before continuing his studies with Eleanor Hodgkinson at the Junior Royal Academy of Music in London at the age of twelve. In 2022, he won a full scholarship to study at London’s illustrious Royal College of Music, where he is now a Margaret Mount Scholar supported by a Leverhulme Arts Scholarship, studying piano with Vanessa Latarche.

Acclaimed for his exemplary and spirited playing, song accompanist and chamber musician Jonathan Ware is a regular guest in the world’s leading recital venues, with recent appearances at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the John F. Kennedy Center, Elbphilharmonie, Philharmonie Luxembourg, L’Auditori, the Concertgebouw, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées and the Pierre Boulez Saal.

Appearing alongside some of today’s most exciting Lieder singers, the 2022/23 season sees Jonathan Ware with Elsa Dreisig at Bayerischer Rundfunk, Kölner Philharmonie and Wigmore Hall in a new 1920s programme; with Bejun Mehta at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Luxembourg and Mozartfest Augsburg; with Camilla Tilling at Spivey Hall in a Jenny Lind-inspired selection; and Brenda Rae at Wigmore Hall in Schubert and Strauss. Following recent appearances at Verbier Festival and Lied Festival Würzburg with Ema Nikolovska, the pair reunite at Wigmore Hall this season, where he also collaborates with tenors Simon Bode and Kieran Carrel.

Last season Jonathan Ware enjoyed a string of UK dates alongside violinist Randall Goosby, violist Timothy Ridout and cellist Maciej Julakowski, appearing at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, St George’s Hall, Bristol, Leeds Town Hall and Wigmore Hall. Ridout and Ware present an all-Schumann programme in the UK this summer and North America further ahead.

Awards include the Pianist’s Prize at both Das Lied and Wigmore Hall/​Kohn Foundation International Song competitions, as well as First Prize with Ludwig Mittelhammer in the International Hugo Wolf Competition. 

Born in Texas, Jonathan now resides in Berlin where he teaches at Hochschule ​‘Hanns Eisler’ and Barenboim-Said Academy. He regularly attends Academia Vocalis and Samling Institute as a mentor. 

In 2022 Jonathan Leibovitz was a prize-winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Concert Artists Guild (New York) International Auditions held at Wigmore Hall.

A top prize winner at major competitions in Israel and Europe, including 1st Prize at the prestigious Crusell Competition in Finland and a Special Prize at the Carl Nielsen Competition in Denmark, this year Jonathan completes his Masters at the Music Academy in Basel with François Benda.

Solo highlights include appearances with the Israel Philharmonic, Israel Chamber, Haifa Symphonic, Ostrobothnian Chamber, Lapland Chamber and Kuopio Symphony Orchestras working with conductors including Elena Schwarz, Adrien Perruchon and Tung-Chieh Chuang.

This season Jonathan makes his debut with the London Mozart Players and appears  as soloist with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia conducted by Yoel Gamzou and the Israel Sinfonietta. He records and performs chamber music with Südwestrundfunk in Bruchsaal and takes part in the Hauho Festival in Finland. 

An avid chamber musician Jonathan founded the Avir Wind Quintet, and has collaborated with the ‘Mietar Ensemble’ and the Israeli Contemporary Players.  He has given recitals across Israel, in Germany, Switzerland and Finland.

Jonathan made his debut with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 18 performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.  During the 2019/20 season he joined the Israel Philharmonic as a member, and has appeared as guest with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israel Chamber and Jerusalem Camerata.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1997, Jonathan’s  musical education began with Eva Wasserman. He went on to study with Yevgeny Yehudin at the Buchmann Mehta School of Music where he won numerous awards including 1st Prize laureate of the Aviv Competition of the

Irish guitarist Manus Noble is one of the UK's leading classical guitarists, known for his strong, unique sound, original compositions and varied recital programmes. Noble studied with Craig Ogden, Gary Ryan and Michael Lewin, graduating from the Royal College of Music with First Class Honours and the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction. He then went on to launch his career to wide critical acclaim, winning awards from the Musician's Benevolent Fund, Ian Flemming Trust, Countess of Munster Trust, Ivor Mairants Guitar Competition, Royal College of Music Guitar Competitions and being accepted onto the Park Lane Group, Countess of Munster and Making Music Concert Series.

Career highlights include recitals at major UK venues such as the Purcell Rooms, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Sage Gateshead, Bridgewater Hall, Kings Place and Wigmore Hall, as well as giving recitals and masterclasses at Festivals across the UK and Europe. Noble is also in high demand as a teacher, having taught at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as well as directing the National Youth Guitar Ensemble in Wales. He is also now Director of the Bunagee Guitar Festival.

In 2019 Noble graduated from the European Institute of Guitar Making under the tutelage of Stephen Hill and Evan Kingma, and now works as a luthier. For more information, click on 'Noble Guitars'. Manus Noble uses Concerto Carbon Cases, Knobloch Strings, GuitarLift supports and performs on guitars made by Manus Noble, Stephen Hill and Jim Redgate.