Performers
Poppy Beddoe | Clarinet and Artistic Director
Working as a soloist, orchestral and chamber musician, Poppy performs extensively throughout the UK and internationally. Poppy studied Music at King's College London, graduating in 2014, followed by a Masters at the Royal Academy of Music in 2016.
In 2021 she released her debut album, Soliloquy, with Ulysses Arts which features her own transcriptions of Bach and Hildegard of Bingen.
Her most recent recording is Matthew Taylor’s Concertino with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The Concertino was written for Poppy in 2021. The recording was broadcast on BBC Radio Three in March 2024 and released on disc by Toccata Classics in June.
In November 2022 she was a visiting artist at the University of Houston, Texas, where she gave solo recitals, lectures, masterclasses and premièred music commissioned by the University and the Texas New Music Ensemble. Poppy returned to Texas in 2024 as a Guest Artist at the Texas New Music Festival where she premiered several new clarinet works, gave masterclasses and lectures.
Poppy is looking forward to appearing as a soloist in the 2025 Malcolm Arnold Festival with his second Clarinet Concerto. Other Concerto Highlights in the 2025-2026 season include the Mozart Concerto with Piccadilly Sinfonietta and the Rietz Concerto with Bushey Symphony Orchestra and George Vass.
Other upcoming engagements include concerts in London, Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol and various venues in the South of France.
Poppy works regularly with MishMash Productions, a company which tours concerts targeted at younger audiences; she recently joined them at the Cheltenham Festival and the Nottingham Chamber Music Festival and is looking forward to performing at the Wigmore Hall with MishMash in 2025.
Poppy teaches at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and works extensively with the Academy’s Widening Participation team to make classical music more accessible to all.
She is the Artistic Director of the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival and an annual concert series in the South of France.
Poppy was elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in 2023.
Aaron Akugbo | Trumpet
Born in 1998 and of Nigerian-Scottish descent, Aaron Azunda Akugbo hails from Edinburgh and is poised as a future leading exponent of his instrument. He brings a wide-ranging musical taste to his artistry and despite being classically trained, cites Louis Armstrong as his biggest musical inspiration. He is a charismatic performer with an abundance of natural humour which translates into an effortless engagement with people and audiences.
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and an ex-principal of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Aaron can often be seen freelancing in the principal chairs of some of the most prestigious orchestras in the UK including the Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.
In 2020, as part of the Southbank Centre’s ‘Behind Closed Doors’ concerts series, Aaron made his London debut at the Royal Festival Hall playing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto with Chineke!, Europe’s first Black and Minority Ethnic orchestra. His performance received glowing reviews, with the Arts Desk describing him as “a refined soloist… His sound was sweet, often lyrical… with perfect clarity and intonation”. Within the orchestra, Aaron has played in the UK’s top concert halls including Chineke’s BBC Proms debut. Aaron made his Wigmore debut playing Saint-Saëns Septet Op. 65 for trumpet, piano and strings with members of Chineke! as well as participating in the orchestra’s tour of Europe playing in halls such as the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Kölner Philharmonie.
Recent and forthcoming highlights include recitals at St George’s Bristol, the Bath International, Lichfield, Glasgow Cathedral and Lucerne Festivals. The latter of which saw him perform the world premiere of a new piece by Joy Guidry commissioned for him by the I&I Foundation entitled They know what they’ve done to us. In 2022 he performed as soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and will play Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto with the Orchestra of the Swan in 2023.
Besides his solo and orchestral performances, Aaron is also a founding member of Connaught Brass. In 2022 the group were finalists at the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) awards in London and were also selected to be Artists of the Tillett Trust, City Music Foundation and Kirckman Concert Society. They were the inaugural winners of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Award in 2019 and attended the prestigious Britten Pears Chamber Music Residency in March 2022.
In early 2019, Aaron was a finalist in the Girolamo Fantini International Trumpet Competition whilst also being awarded the special prize for best performance of “Vulcano Club” by Piergiorgio Ratti. Aaron was subsequently invited by competition panellist and trumpet soloist, Tine Thing Helseth, to the Risør Kammermusikfest in Norway where he received masterclasses from Tine herself whilst also performing as a soloist. Aaron has received both lessons and attended masterclass from many of the top trumpet players including Urban Agnas, Reinhold Friedrich, Jeroen Berwaerts, Gabor Tarkovi, Guillaume Jehl and Eric Aubier. He plays on a combination of Vincent Bach Stradivarius and Scherzer instruments.
Oliver Wass | Harp
Oliver Wass holds a First Class Masters Degree from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Imogen Barford. He graduated from the University of York with a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry.
He has won the Suoni d’Arpa International Competition in Italy, the International Harp Competition of Slovenia, and the Jury Prize at the International Harp Competition in Szeged, Hungary. In May 2016 he became the first harpist ever to win the Guildhall Gold Medal – the Guildhall’s most prestigious prize. Previous winners of the competition include Jacqueline du Pré, Bryn Terfel and Tasmin Little.
He has performed every major harp concerto, including Lyra Angelica with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto with The Mozartists at the Wigmore Hall, the Debussy Danses with 12 Ensemble at the Wigmore Hall, and he has directed the Handel Harp Concerto in the Barbican Hall.
He plays both modern and early harps, and recently performed the Handel Harp Concerto with the English Concert at the Wigmore Hall on the triple harp. He has played with baroque groups including La Serenissima, La Nuova Musica, Ex Catherdra and The English Concert. He owns an Italian triple harp and a Spanish Cross Strung Harp.
He has given recitals at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall, where he was praised by Seen and Heard International for his “tremendous dynamism” and "remarkable range of timbres and warmth of tone”.
He is an experienced orchestral player, and has performed with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Ulster Orchestra.
Playing with “verve and polish” (The Times), his flute-viola-harp trio, The Pelléas Ensemble, won the Royal Philarmonic Society Henderson Award and the 2017 Elias Fawcett Award for Outstanding Chamber Ensemble at the Royal Overseas League competition. In 2016 they won both the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition. Their debut CD was released on Linn Records in 2021.
Oliver studied with Charlotte Seale at the Junior Department of the Guildhall, where he became the only harpist to have been a prize-winner in the prestigious Lutine Competition. He was also Principal Harp in the National Youth Orchestra. He spent his teenage years making fireworks in his parents’ basement, which is – remarkably – still surviving.
Henry Chandler | Violin
Henry Chandler recently completed his studies at the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied as a scholar under Maciej Rakowski, receiving generous support from the John Lewis Partnership, Atwell Charity and Kathleen Trust. He is now in demand as a recitalist, chamber musician and orchestral
player following a successful Wigmore Hall debut with the Alke Quartet in March 2017 (finalists of ROSL competition 2017). He has appeared as soloist with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Oxford University Philharmonic and regularly performs recitals with pianist John Paul Ekins. Henry has performed in prestigious venues around the world, such as the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St Petersburg, Banff Arts Centre in Canada, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall and all the major UK concert halls. He has also toured extensively around China, Japan and Denmark. Henry has performed chamber music alongside musicians such as Raphael Wallfisch. He regularly plays with the Royal Opera House Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and other London orchestras. As a young musician, Henry won numerous prizes such as the Award for Young Musicians in 2009 and the Esther Coleman prize for Outstanding Musician. He has participated in masterclasses with Maxim Vengerov, Rachel Podger and Alina Ibragimova, amongst others. Henry read music at Pembroke College, Oxford University with an instrumental scholarship, and appeared as a soloist in the Sheldonian Theatre after winning the university’s concerto competition. Henry plays on a fine Italian instrument by Fernando Gagliano (Naples, 1778), and a French bow by H.C.Lamy (c. 1920).
Tim Lowe | Cello
Following his recent Wigmore Hall recital Tim’s playing was described as “... compelling in every respect: probing, virtuosic and yielding by turns – a true example of outstanding musicianship.” (Musical Opinion)
Tim spends much of his time playing solo and Chamber recitals throughout the UK and Europe and has played recitals many times in major London venues including Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, QEH, Cadogan Hall and Purcell Room. He has played most of the major cello concertos in recent seasons.
Tim is the cellist of the Rossetti Ensemble and he enjoys many other collaborations, for example, in contemporary chamber operas. He played in the world premiere of Philp Glass’s opera The Trial with Music Theatre Wales and during the 2020 lockdown in OperaGlass Work’s much praised production of Britten’s Turn of the Screw conducted by John Wilson.
He has recorded chamber music CDs for various labels, including recently for Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, and Champs Hill. The recently released recording of Walton’s Piano Quartet with the Rossetti Ensemble (Naxos) has been widely praised. “A lovely flow and interaction between the players…” Andrew McGregor BBC CD Review (30 January 2021) The Rossetti’s CD for Toccata Classics of Robert Fürstenthal’s music was also very well received, including Tim’s account of the Cello Sonata (“…cellist Tim Lowe offers up especially exquisite beauty in the Cello Sonata and the Lento of the String Quartet.” (Fanfare Magazine).
Tim has played live on TV and radio in the UK and across Europe including regularly on BBC Radio 3.
As an orchestral player Tim is Guest Principal Cello with many major UK orchestras including the English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the John Wilson Orchestra.
Tim is a Cello Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he has a large class and also coaches chamber music. He teaches and coaches regularly on courses and festivals throughout the UK and Europe. He is the Artistic Director of York Chamber Music Festival. He plays a cello made by Carolus Tononi in Bologna in 1716.
Abby Bowen | Viola
Abby particularly enjoys performing in smaller ensembles and works with the English Chamber Orchestra, 12 ensemble, Britten Sinfonia, Sinfonia Cymru and the London Mozart Players. She also performs with larger orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the CBSO. Abby also dedicates a large amount of time to chamber music, including performances at the Stamford International Music Festival, Wye Chamber Music Festival and the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival as well as exploring contemporary music in a chamber setting with Riot Ensemble and Lontano Ensemble. She has a keen interest in theatre and currently performs on the West End production of Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, as well as recording for the Small Island Installation at the National Theatre. In March she will perform for director of The National Nick Hynter’s production of Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre in London as the viola chair holder. Abby studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Martin Outram, where she graduated with a 1st class degree and as the recipient of the Maurice Loban Viola prize. She then completed her masters as a full scholar at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Takeno.
Angus McCall | Cello
Belfast-born Angus McCall is an award-winning solo, chamber and orchestral cellist working in London and further afield.
Angus recently became a member of the word-renowned BBC Symphony Orchestra - flagship orchestra of the BBC Proms and an orchestra in residence at the Barbican Centre in London.
Angus graduated with First Class Honours in German from the University of Oxford and then a Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music.
Before winning his current position Angus held a post in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and enjoyed a busy freelancing career with most UK-based professional orchestras including the Philharmonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Hallé Orchestra and others. Work with these ensembles has taken him on tours of China, Japan, the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Angus performed the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra in 2022, as well as a solo recital broadcast on BBC radio thanks to the Arts Council and BBC NI Young Musicians’ Platform Award.
Other solo and chamber engagements include the Belfast International Chamber Music Festival, the Fidelio Trio Winter Chamber Music Festival, the Boyne Music Festival and the Clandeboye Festival with Barry Douglas.
Angus has benefited from a host of inspirational teachers including Robert Cohen, Richard Harwood, Josephine Knight and Tim Hugh, as well as occasional coaching from Tim Gill and Rebecca Gilliver.
Angus plays on a modern cello built by Andreas Hudelmayer in London which he commissioned in 2022 and a German bow by Hermann Richard Pfretzschner made in 1920.
James Flannery | Viola
Born in Northamptonshire, James started playing the Viola through the local music trust at the age of 12. James then took his studies further and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama since 2016 in the Class of Rachel Roberts. This resulted in him graduating in July 2022, with a Masters in Performance. James now spends his time freelancing in London and the UK playing and touring abroad with various symphony and chamber orchestras, while also trialling for full time positions. He also spends a lot of time playing in the Orchestra pit for various Opera and Ballet companies and also very much enjoys playing chamber music. James also can be found on various Film/Tv Soundtracks and on tour with Various Pop artistes, due to his work in the commercial recording sector of music too. In his spare time, James enjoys going to see Operas, running and reading through chamber music with friends which is often enjoyed with the odd Negroni. He is really looking forward to spending the week in Berkshire, playing some great repertoire and having the chance to catch up with friends!
Ryan Corbett | Accordion
BBC New Generation artist, Royal Over-Seas League Gold medallist and Classic FM Rising Star, Ryan Corbett is an accordionist hailed by Sir James MacMillan as “one of the most astonishing and surprising newcomers in Scottish music.” A leading exponent of his instrument, he has given over eight hours of radio broadcasts and a televised performance at the Scottish Coronation of HM King Charles III. Corbett has enlarged the repertoire by creating hundreds of new arrangements for accordion, but no matter how strong his passion for the instrument, it is his dedication to musical integrity that takes precedence.
Recent seasons have seen recitals across Europe at venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, he has also performed in the USA, Mexico, and China. In the UK Corbett frequents major festivals including Bath, Beaminster, Beaumaris, Budleigh, Buxton, Cambridge Summer Music, Chipping Campden, Cumnock Tryst, Deal, Edinburgh, Lake District, Lammermuir, Lichfield, St Magnus, Norfolk & Norwich, Oxford Song, Paxton, Perth, Ryedale, Southrepps, and the Keyboard Festival at St George’s Bristol. He makes his debut at London’s Wigmore Hall this year.
Passionate about collaboration, Corbett regularly performs with soloists and ensembles alike. He has performed with BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Red Note Ensemble, Maxwell Quartet, singers Nicholas Mulroy, Ben Johnson and Lotte Betts-Dean, cellist Santiago Cañón-Valencia, violinist Geneva Lewis, and trumpeter Aaron Akugbo. Together with his accordion teacher Djordje Gajic, Corbett performs his own arrangements of Stravinsky’s Petrushka and Bach’s ‘St Anne’ Prelude and Fugue which was described as "musically unified and utterly compelling" (Seen and Heard International). He also works with composers to create new music for the accordion. This year he gave the premiere of Daniel Soley’s accordion concerto with Britten Sinfonia, and he will give the UK premiere of Mikhail Pletnev’s accordion concerto this August.
Ryan Corbett won first prize at the 2022 Bromsgrove International Musicians’ competition and is a prize winner of international accordion competitions in Italy, Germany, and China. He was nominated in the Young Artist category of the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and has been listed as ‘one to watch’ by BBC Music Magazine, Interlude HK, The Scotsman and Scala Radio. Corbett was a Tillet Trust and Munster Trust recital scheme artist and is the first accordionist to be part of the prestigious BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist scheme since its launch in 1999. He has also performed at private events for Sir Jackie Stewart and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
Born in Glasgow in 1999, Corbett studied at the Music School of Douglas Academy, St Mary’s Music School, and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He was introduced to the accordion aged eleven, when his grandmother bought a small instrument for him and his brother to try. As the instrument wasn’t airtight, the only way to play it was like a piano, while the other pulled the bellows across the floor. It was soon fixed, and Corbett would spend hours playing Scottish folk music on it rather than practising the piano or violin on which he was receiving lessons. He continued to teach himself accordion until the age of fourteen, when he began studying with Djordje Gajic. These studies were supported by Cross Trust, Drake Calleja Trust, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, RCS Scholarship Fund and Help Musicians UK.
Ryan Corbett plays a Bugari Spectrum classical piano accordion made in Castelfidardo, Italy. This was made possible by private sponsors, the John Mather Trust, and Dewar Arts Awards.
Emma Lisney | Violin
Emma Lisney finished studying at Pembroke College, Oxford in 2018, graduating with First Class Honours. She started playing the violin at the age of six, studying with Pauline Scott and currently studies with Paul Barritt. She has had masterclasses with Vadim Repin, Pinchas Zukerman and Maxim Vengerov. In March 2016 she won first prize at the Oxfordshire Concerto Competition, performing Prokofiev’s second violin concerto with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.
She has given many performances throughout the United Kingdom, including recitals for Operation Smile UK and partnering Dame Emma Kirkby in concerts in London and Norfolk. Other collaborators include the Endellion String Quartet, Ryan Wigglesworth, Sian Edwards, Duncan Ward, Huw Watkins and Michael Whight. She also performs regularly with the Lisney Trio. She has a wide repertoire, performing work from the Baroque up to contemporary music and this year appeared at the Living Notes Festival, performing music by Helen Grime.
Recent performances include the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Newbury Symphony Orchestra and performances of the same concerto with with the New English Concert Orchestra in the ‘Battle Proms’ which take place at various stately homes (including, Blenheim Palace and Highclere Castle).
She was a member of Southbank Sinfonia for their 2019 season and is now a member of the first violin section of the Philharmonia Orchestra. She is also the leader and co-founder of the Seraphin Project.
Emma currently plays on a violin made by G.B Guadagnini (Turin,1772), kindly lent by a generous benefactor.
Pedro Lopez | Flute
Based in London, Pedro Lopez maintains a busy schedule teaching and performing in London and Europe. Recent performances include concerts and recitals at prestigious venues such as Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Royal Opera House, among others.
After graduating from the Royal College of Music, where he was awarded the Artist Diploma, Pedro has regularly performed with orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Opera House Orchestra, English National Opera, Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the BBC Concert Orchestra. In 2017, he was Principal Flute on trial with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, an orchestra with which he continues to collaborate.
Pedro is an enthusiastic chamber musician and performs in a variety of ensembles. He was awarded the 1st Prize and the Critics’ Prize at the El Primer Palau International Chamber Music in Barcelona, and has brought classical music to remote regions of Europe—recently performing in the iconic Lofoten Islands in Norway.
Recent highlights include appearances at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Het Concertgebouw, Royal Opera House, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square, the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Riyadh International Opera Festival in Saudi Arabia, and a lecture at St Catherine’s College in the University of Oxford.
Franklin Onyeso | Composer
Franklin Onyeso is a composer, conductor and pianist based in London. His pieces have been
performed by a wide variety of ensembles, including the RNCM Session Orchestra, City of
London Symphonic Winds and the London Sinfonietta. In 2021, his work 'Dance of the Snags' won the MusicFirst National Young Composer's Competition. Franklin went on to hold the Frequencies New Music Residency 2023 with Music for Youth and he is currently composer-in-residence with Regent Brass. In 2024, he held the composer-in-residence post with the Berkshire Chamber Music Festival and returned as the festival’s composer-in-residence for the 2025 season. His works have been played across the UK in prestigious venues that include the Royal Albert Hall, the CBSO Centre, and Westminster Abbey. As a performer, Franklin was nominated for Brass Bands England’s Young Bandperson of the Year Award 2024 for his contributions to the banding community as a bass trombonist; he also regularly performs as an orchestral and collaborative pianist. Franklin is grateful to hold the Sony Music UK Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies composition with Philip Cashian.
Victoria Gill | Violin
Victoria is a London-born violinist who has enjoyed a varied musical career throughout the United Kingdom.
She was educated at the Purcell School of Music, and later graduated with a First Class degree in Music from Christ Church, University of Oxford. She finished her further education at the Royal Academy of Music. Across these years, she was under the tutelage of Yossi Zivoni and Philippe Honoré. Victoria enjoys a busy freelance career with numerous ensembles, including the Sinfonia of London, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, Britten Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, Glyndebourne Sinfonia and London Mozart
Players. She was pleased to join the Salome Quartet in 2023 for the critically acclaimed production "Dr Semmelweis" (London, West End). Victoria has also performed as a concerto soloist with the Kensington Chamber Orchestra (2021) as a Concerto Competition Finalist with the Oxford Philharmonic (2018). Victoria plays on an eighteenth-century Widhalm violin, for which she is most grateful to the Harrison Frank Foundation, for generously providing and loaning the instrument.
Ben Michaels | Cello
Ben Michaels is a British cellist based in London, passionate about chamber and contemporary music. He is committed to celebrating the creation of new music. Most recently Ben premiered his project - for cello, by cellists - 6 newly commissioned solo works written by different cellist-composers. He was awarded the inaugural Keith Harvey Memorial Award by the London Cello Society (2022) in support of this project.
2024 included making world premieres as part of Apartment House at Wigmore hall, echoing around Lightroom for an immersive David Hockney exhibition with music by Nico Muhly, playing an original score of contemporary music onstage as a solo cellist for 3-actor contemporary theatre and performing French baroque opera with the English Concert.
Before exploring his passion for music, Ben studied Biochemistry at Clare College, Cambridge. Ben plays a Gaetano Gadda cello, generously provided on loan by an anonymous benefactor.