Program :

Mozart sonata for piano and violin K.304 in e minor

Poulenc- violin sonata FP119

Interval

Prokofiev- violin sonata no.1 in F minor op.80

Ravel- Tzigane

Louisa STAPLES

Hailed „ A passionate authority, a communicative sensitivity and a sound of luxurious depth; here is a young woman we have not finished hearing about“ (Bachtrack 2018), Berlin-based British violinist Louisa Staples has already performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues including the Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall, L’Auditorium de Radio France, Forbidden City Concert Hall and the Roundhouse.

Louisa is recently a major prize winner in competitions including the Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition and the Carl Flesch International Competition,where she was awarded three additional prizes.

Recent highlights include performances of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto and Bernstein’s Serenade in St.John`s, London, a concert series as soloist with the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, invitations to festivals including the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Schiermonnikoogfestival and the Harrogate International Music Festival in addition to numerous solo recitals across Europe.

Louisa has undertaken masterclasses with eminent musicians including Philippe Graffin, Zakhar Bron, Rainer Schmidt, György Pauk and Robert Levin and performed with orchestras including the City of London Sinfonia, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, London International Orchestra, Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire and the Orion Orchestra.

She has given numerous live radio broadcasts on channels such as BBC Radio 3, RBB Kulturadio and France Musique.

An avid chamber musician, Louisa has recently given performances of chamber works in venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Mendelsohn Remise and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She is also the joint Artistic Director of the Alderney Chamber Music Festival- an annual festival which celebrates and brings together some of the world’s most promising young musicians.

From 2008-2017 Louisa was a student of the Yehudi Menuhin School where she was a student of Professor Natasha Boyarsky, she is currently a pursuing her bachelors degree at the Hochschule für Musik „Hanns Eisler“ in Berlin, in the class of Professor Antje Weithaas.

Louisa performs on an 1815 violin by Gofriller and a bow by D.Peccatte, Kindly loaned by Jane Ng and Matthew Coltman.

https://www.francemusique.fr/musique-classique/le-concours-long-thibaud-crespin-2018-violon-en-direct-66863

https://www.francemusique.fr/musique-classique/3-questions-a-louisa-staples-finaliste-du-concours-long-thibaud-crespin-66912

Katie Yao Morgan – biography

Katie Yao Morgan was born in Crawley to British and Chinese parents and

began to play the piano when she was four years old. In 2010 she won the

ABRSM Sheila Mossman Memorial Prize for her high mark in Grade 8

piano exam and additionally received a Gold Award in 2011.

In 2010 she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied

regularly with Marcel Baudet. In 2011 she won second prize in Category B

(12-16) section of the Pianist of the North Competition, and in 2014 she

was awarded ‘Mention of Honour’ in the International Piano Competition

in Enschede, Holland. In 2016, she was awarded Diplôme de JEUNE

ESPOIR in the 10th Adilia Alieva Competition held in Annemasse, France.

Katie has performed at The Wimbledon Festival and several private

venues; in 2013 she performed Mozart’s Concerto KV449 with the

Menuhin School Orchestra, and in September 2014 two performances of

Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.2 with a chamber ensemble. In spring 2015

she toured the Southwest of England, performing in Bridport and

Dartmouth, and later in Scotland, including New Lanark, Edinburgh and

Blair Atholl. In 2016 she performed Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A

minor with the Dorking Chamber Orchestra and in 2017 with the Mihail

Jora” di Bacau OrchestraFilarmonica in Cantu, Italy.

She has taken part in summer courses at Tignes, France and Blonay,

Switzerland with teachers including Marcel Baudet, Edith Fischer and

Jorge Pepi-Alos. She has also received masterclasses from Ronan O’Hora,

Idil Biret, Dominique Merlet, Dmitri Alexeev and Ronald Brautigam. She

has performed with duos at the Wigmore Hall.

Katie is a member of ‘Trio Pantoum’ with SongHa Choi (violin) and

Maxim Calver (cello). The trio won 1st prize in the Intercollegiate Piano

Trio Society Competition held in Birmingham Conservatoire in 2018. In

February they toured The Netherlands, performing in a number of venues

including Akoesticum and the Conservatory in Amsterdam, also appearing

on Dutch radio Spiegelzaal.

From September 2018, Katie is continuing her musical studies at the

Amsterdam Conservatory with Frank Peters. She recently won 1st prize at

the Regional finals of the Princess Christina Concours in the Netherlands.