Gareth is from Caerleon in Newport, South Wales. He showed an interest in music from an early age, taking up the Clarinet at the age of seven, followed by Saxophone aged nine and Bassoon aged twelve.

He began at the RWCMD as a saxophonist, but after a few months, realised that his future didn’t lie in the saxophone world but as a bassoonist. He studied the bassoon under Meyrick Alexander and Steve Marsden. He graduated in 2013 with a first class honours BMus degree. Gareth continued his studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama graduating in 2014 with an MMus in Orchestral Artistry. There he studied with Dan Jemison, Helen Simons, Amy Harman, Peter Whelan and Miriam Gussek, and had regular sit-ins with the London Symphony Orchestra. 

In 2015, Gareth became a member of Southbank Sinfonia, a chamber orchestra made up of graduates from colleges across the world. He performed the Mozart bassoon concerto with the Orchestra during the programme. In 2016 he went on to be a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Foyle Future First Scheme. Following this he has been living in London working regularly with orchestras such as the LPO, RPO and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera along with Sinfonia Cymru and Orpheus Sinfonia. 

After beginning his musical career studying with Emma Roberts, and with four years in the National Children’s orchestra, Timothy Ellis is now a second year postgraduate horn player at the Royal Academy of Music, having previously been a first study pianist, also at the Academy, studying with Carole Presland.

Timothy currently studies horn with Michael Thompson, Richard Watkins, Martin Owen, Katy Woolley, and Roger Montgomery, and has worked at the Academy with conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Oliver Knussen, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Robin Ticciati. Also at the Academy, he has worked with Maxim Vengerov, and has won the Dennis Brain Horn Prize. Timothy was this year awarded a Countess of Munster Musical Trust ‘Star Award’ and is extremely grateful for the trust’s continued support of his studies. Timothy is currently on trial with both the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, whilst other ongoing professional work includes guest principal with the London Sinfonietta, and session work with Isobel Griffiths Ltd. 

Rosemary Hinton studied at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Benedict Holland and Tomatada Soh. She finished an Ensemble Fellowship with the Open Academy department of the Royal Academy and with Wigmore Hall’s Learning department in 2016 and is regularly involved with community and educational work. Rosemary has performed at many prestigious concert venues in the UK and abroad under the direction of conductors such as Charles Dutoit, Semyon Bychkov, Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Edward Gardner, Vladimir Jurowski, Vasily Petrenko, Antonio Pappano, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Oliver Knussen and David Zinman. Rosemary freelances with a variety of orchestras including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as well as teaches at Queens College, London and is a chamber music coach for the Cambridge Suzuki Young Musicians. She became a Concordia Foundation Artist in 2014 as part of this has performed recitals in and around London, including at St James Piccadilly.

Hannah Turnbull grew up in Surrey and had a keen interested in music from a young age. She began playing the flute age six, piano age ten, and finally the double bass age fifteen.

In 2009 Hannah was offered a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. She graduated in 2015 after completing an undergraduate Bachelor of Music degree and postgraduate Master of Arts degree.

Hannah was a member of Southbank Sinfonia in 2015 and now enjoys a busy and varied career as a freelance modern and historical double bassist, performing throughout the UK with a range ensembles from symphony orchestras to historical performance groups. 

Michael Newman is a Cellist equally comfortable in Classical, Jazz and Folk styles. He recently completed Masters Degree with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with renowned Swedish Cellist and Composer Mats Lidström

He is Cellist in the Fitzroy Quartet who regularly perform throughout the country and abroad including venues such as Wigmore Hall, St Martin in the Fields, Colston Hall and St James' Piccadilly. They have won many prizes and competitions and the Quartet are currently Associate Ensemble at Birmingham Conservatoire as well as having been Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music in 2016/17. Michael is also passionate about contemporary classical music and has worked  with London Sinfonietta as well as with many composers bringing their works to life for the first time.

As a soloist, he has performed throughout the UK in recitals as well as performances of Brahms Double Concerto with Settle Orchestra and Schumann Concerto with Orchestra of the City, Michael was also awarded the Royal Academy’s Peter Halling Memorial Prize. Prior to studying at the Academy he studied at the Royal Northern College of Music under Nicholas Trygstad, where he won the Nossek Prize for romantic chamber music, and at Chetham’s School of Music, with Sue Lowe and Chris Hoyle.

Michael studied jazz at Chethams with Les Chisnall (Piano) and Steve Berry (Bass/Voice). As a Composer he recently had his Suite for Singer and ensemble performed at Lancaster Jazz Festival and Manchester University. Other current projects include writing a Suite of pieces for Double Bassist Toby Hughes and research into the Chamber Music of Darius Milhaud and other neglected composers. He also has a strong interest in languages.

Swiss cellist Timothée Botbol has given solo performances in venues including Kings Place, Chapel Royal – Hampton Court Palace, Lausanne Steinway Hall and Kultur-Rockt Festival in Germany. In February 2017 he was awarded the Grand Prize Special from all categories at the II Augustin Aponte International Music Competition, Tenerife with an invitation to return for a concert in 2018.

Timothée began his musical education in Geneva at the prestigious Jaques Dalcroze Institute and later progressed to the Geneva Conservatoire and the Lausanne Haute École de Musique where he studied with Patrick Demenga and received his Master of Performance with distinction. He has participated in numerous masterclasses with renowned teachers including Gary Hoffman, Franz Helmerson and Miklòs Perényi. He recently obtained his Artist Diploma from Royal College of Music with distinction under tutorship of Alexander Chaushian, where he was supported by a Musicians’ Company Lambert Studentship, the A F Marescotti City of Carouge Award and the Fondation F & M-F Minkoff.

A keen orchestral musician, Timothée has performed with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, in venues including Geneva’s Victoria Hall, Lausanne’s Salle Metropole and Palais Beaulieu and Montreux’s Auditorium Stravinsky, under conductors including Markus Stenz and Christian Zacharias, and with soloists including Leonidas Kavakos.

In addition to cello, Timothée has performed regularly as a baritone soloist, singing at Geneva’s Victoria Hall accompanied by the Geneva Chamber Orchestra.  Future performances include solo recitals in St John’s Smith Square, St James’s Piccadilly Church and Elgar Room – Royal Albert Hall.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Emily graduated from Royal Academy of Music with a Distinction for her MA in Performance and was also awarded a Dip RAM for an outstanding final recital. Prior to this Emily studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where she graduated with a First Class BMus (Hons) Degree.

As a soloist, Emily won the RNCM Viola Competition and is also the recipient of the Rachel Godlee Prize for Viola. An avid chamber musician also, Emily won the Edinburgh Quartet Apprentice Competition in April 2016 and joined them for a tour of Scotland in July. Emily regularly performs throughout the UK and Europe, and was invited to be an 'Artist in Residence' in the Cantiere International d'Art di Montepulciano, Italy. She also performed for HRH The Duke of Wales during his visit celebrating the centenary of Stoke-on-Trent. Emily has participated in Masterclasses with some of the world’s leading violists, including Nobuko Imai, Thomas Reibl and Lawrence Power.

Emily is a founding member of The Fitzroy Quartet. The quartet are winners of The Wolfe Wolfinssohn Prize and in addition were awarded the Sir John Barbiroli Memorial Prize. They were invited to be the chamber group in residence at St Peters, Eaton Square, as their prize winners for 2016 and most recently have been been appointed as Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music for 2016/17. Most notably the quartet won the CAVATINA Intercollegiate Competition in 2016 leading to performances at the Wigmore Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields. They have a busy season ahead performing in the Jubilee hall London and numerous festivals across the UK.

As an orchestral musician, Emily has appeared with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic Orchestras, The Northern Chamber Orchestra, The European Union Youth Orchestra and Sinfonia Cymru (directed by Rachel Podger). She was also invited to perform alongside Sting and Bryn Terfel for Terfel’s 50th birthday celebrations at the Royal Albert Hall. She has taken part in the BBC Proms Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Aldeburgh Music Festival and performed in many countries across Europe.

She plays a 1773 German Viola and a W. R. Retford bow, of Hill and sons

Alexandra was born in 1991 and began violin lessons at the age of 5 in Christchurch, New Zealand. During the following years she received many awards and prizes around New Zealand including 2nd place at the Sentinel Performers Competition (2005) and 3rd place at the National Concerto Competition (2008).

2006 brought Alexandra to London to study at the Purcell School of Music in London. Through her studies there, she had her solo recital debut at Wigmore Hall in October 2009 and, in November of the same year, at the Watford Colosseum performing Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Purcell School Symphony Orchestra. Since then, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in many prestigious venues around London and the U.K, most regularly with her duo partners, pianists Gamal Khamis and Antonina Suhanova. A laureate of numerous competitions, Alex has won the Province of Terni Soloist Award from Associazione Mozart Italia (2014), Kenneth Loveland Gift Award, U.K (2016), Hattori Foundation Senior Award, U.K (2017) and the Development Prize at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (2017).

In 2010, she was awarded “The Henry Weinrebe Award” scholarship by the Guildhall School of

Music and Drama (London) studying there with Professor David Takeno. Following her graduation in 2014, she commenced her postgraduate studies at The Royal College of Music with Radu Blidar and Yuri Zhislin graduating in July 2017 with a Masters in Music Performance and the Artist Diploma Qualification. She was an RCM Lark Scholar supported by a Leverhulme Postgraduate Studentship and by awards from the Countess of Munster Trust, the Martin Music Scholarship Fund, the Drake Calleja Foundation and the Help Musicians UK Foundation.

Alex performs on a violin made by Francesco Maurizi of Appignano, c.1850.