New 2019 CMF Artists

October 14, 2019

PRESS RELEASE

October 2019

City Music Foundation announces 2019 CMF Artists

City Music Foundation (CMF) is pleased to announce the seven artists joining the CMF Artist Programme as ‘2019 CMF Artists’: Anna Cavaliero (soprano), Echéa String Quartet, Iona Fyfe (folksinger), Mingyuan Ruan (accordion), Iyad Sughayer (piano), Giacomo Susani (guitar) and Rosalind Ventris (viola).

Chosen from over 150 applicants, these seven successful artists were selected through a series of audition stages judged by Ian Ritchie (Chairman), Festival Curator & Artistic Director, Eugene Asti (Pianist), Levon Chilingirian (Founder & Violinist, Chilingirian Quartet), Robert Cohen (Cellist), Peter Donohoe (Pianist), Leslie East (Chairman ABCD & former CEO, ABRSM), Jonathan Groves (Founder & Managing Director, Groves Artists), Richard Heason (Director, St John’s Smith Square), Andrew Marriner, (Clarinetist – Principal of LSO 1986-2019), Ivo Neame (Jazz Pianist), Celia Nicklin (Oboist – Former Principal of ASMF), Joan Rodgers (Soprano), Sebastian Scotney (Editor, London Jazz News).

CMF’s mission is ‘turning talent into success’. We select exceptional classical soloists and chamber ensembles, as well as jazz, folk, and world musicians, at the start of their professional careers. At this time, when managing ‘the business of music’ can be a challenge, CMF supports them with a comprehensive career development programme. We arrange artistic and business mentoring, run workshops, make CDs, videos, photos and websites, commission new music, secure airtime on BBC Radio 3 and promotion though online, print and social media, plus we put on our own recitals, residencies and concerts. In addition we do agency and management, fixing performances at venues and festivals throughout the UK and beyond.

CMF Alumni tell us of the many ways CMF has helped them during the very fragile early stages of their professional careers, by helping them to develop their unique creative vision, and gaining recognition and a network for them within the music industry.

Our aim is that CMF artists are ready for four decades or more of contributing to society’s culture and wellbeing – reaching hundreds of thousands of people through live performance, CDs, streaming, broadcasts, teaching and mentoring – and giving back a thousand fold what CMF has given them.

Now in its seventh year, previous CMF artists include Samson Tsoy, who recently made his debut with Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Gergiev, Misha Mullov-Abbado, with his new cello concerto commissioned by BBC Radio 3 being premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 23^rd November, Pedro Segundo, in-demand drummer on the international circuit (from baroque to jazz), Nérija, multi-award winning jazz supergroup, Helen Charlston, mezzo –soprano and Handel Singing Prize winner recently signed to Rayfield and Lotte Betts Dean, multi-genre mezzo-soprano recently signed to Emblem.

Anna Cavaliero, soprano

British-Hungarian soprano, Anna Cavaliero is a singer to watch. Member of the 2018/19 Studio of the Opéra National de Lyon, she won the Opera Prelude Singer’s Prize (2019) and second prize in the Lies Askonas Competition (2017). A 2017-18 Britten-Pears Young Artist, she was awarded the 2019 Alvarez Young Artist by Garsington Opera.

Her recent operatic engagements include: Ground Ivy/The Fairy Queen (Waterperry Opera Festival); Soliste, Mme Rossignol/ Romeo and Juliet (Boris Blacher, Théâtre de La Croix Rousse/ Opéra de Lyon); Zerlina/ Don Giovanni (Waterperry Opera Festival); Fortuna, Damigella, Venere/ L’incoronazione di Poppea (Longborough Festival Opera); Mab, Adelaide/ The Enchanted Pig (Jonathan Dove, Hampstead Garden Opera); Euridice (cover)/ Orfeo ed Euridice (Longborough Festival Opera); Die Prinzessin/ The Hogboon (Peter Maxwell-Davies, Philharmonie de Luxembourg); Galatea/ Acis and Galatea (Snape Maltings); and in War is my Condition with Ante Terminum Productions (Brunel Museum and BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’).

After graduating from Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music, Anna completed her studies with Barbara Bonney at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She is a Samling Artist, member of the Handel House Talent Scheme, and performs regularly in recital and concert through the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, Opera Prelude, and Live Music. Upcoming concerts include recitals for Oxford Lieder with Sholto Kynoch and Handel’s Messiah at Hereford Cathedral.

https://www.annacavaliero.com

Echéa Quartet, string quartet

Prizewinners of the International Anton Rubinstein Chamber Music Competition (2018) and Finalists in the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition (2019), the Echéa Quartet was formed in 2017 at the Royal Academy of Music. They have recently been awarded the RAM String Quartet fellowship for 2019/20. Mentored by John Myerscough, Levon Chilingirian, and Simon-Rowland Jones, they have performed Mendelssohn’s Octet in collaboration with the Selini Quartet at the Musikverein (Vienna), collaborated with Marin Alsop at the World Economic Forum (Switzerland) and were featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’. This summer, the quartet toured in North America, giving 26 recitals in Vancouver, Victoria and Detroit. The quartet workshopped violinist/composer Henning Kraggerud’s Preghiera at the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, where they premiered a quartet by James May, winner of the West Cork Composition Competition. They were invited to the ‘Evolution of the String Quartet’ course at the Banff Centre for the Arts where they worked closely with the JACK, Eybler and Parker Quartets. Highlights of next season include recitals at St Martins-in-the-Fields and St James’ Piccadilly, and performing in concerts as part of the Festival de Los Siete Lagos in Patagonia, Argentina.

http://echeaquartet.com

Iona Fyfe, folksinger

Iona Fyfe is one of Scotland’s finest young folk singers, rooted deeply in the singing traditions of the North East of Scotland. The youngest ever winner of Scots Singer of the Year at the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2018, she has been described as “one of the best Scotland has to offer” (Global-Music.de). With a number of high profile appearances under her belt, Iona, 21 years of age, has toured throughout the UK, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Canada and Australia with her band. Iona has performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra as part of the World Premiere of Disney Pixar’s Brave in Concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Released in 2019, Dark Turn of Mindis Iona’s first EP entirely in English, featuring six ballads and songs found in both Appalachia and Aberdeenshire. It has been described as “a new interpretation to the country genre” – Maverick. In 2018, Iona performed at Interceltique Festival De Lorient where she was described as “a Scottish folksinger, magical and charismatic” (Rolling Stone, France). Iona studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and graduated with a first class honours degree in Traditional Music.

https://ionafyfe.com

Mingyuan Ruan, accordion

International soloist, Mingyuan Ruan, is the first classic accordionist to win the 27th IBLA international music competition and played as an award-winning contestant at Carnegie Hall in New York City. After graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing (China), she completed an Advance diploma in performance at the Royal Academy of Music as a student of Professor Owen Murray.

Winner of numerous competitions, she recently received the First Prize of the 64th Coupe Mondiale (CIA) International Accordion competition in chamber music, the Gold medal of the 3rd Berliner International Music Competition and the Golden Award for solo performance in the National Accordion Performance Competition part of the Beijing Arts Festival.

Her performance in the soundtrack of the film ‘Black Coal, Thin Ice’ – winner of the Golden Bear Award at the 64^th Berlin International Film Festival – was highly praised.

Mingyuan is a passionate advocate of the classical repertoire for accordion. She regularly played with China NCPA Orchestra (the resident orchestra of the National Centre for the Performing Arts) and has appeared on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, London Palladium and Carnegie Hall.

Iyad Sughayer, piano

Rising star, Jordanian-Palestinian pianist Iyad Sughayer, has already been invited to perform as soloist with many leading orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the European Union Chamber Orchestra, the Manchester Camerata as well as the Cairo and Amman Symphony Orchestras.

He has performed on the stage of the Bridgewater Hall, the Stoller Hall – where Iyad made his debut on BBC Radio 3 – the Laeiszhalle (Hamburg), Kings Place and Wigmore Hall.

After studying with Mohammed Sidiq in Jordan, Iyad pursued his studies at Chetham’s with Marie Louise Taylor and Murray McLachlan. He then graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music as a scholar and from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he was awarded the prestigious Trinity Laban Gold Medal. In 2018, he returned to the RNCM to complete the International Artist Diploma with Murray McLachlan, Martino Tirimo and Graham Scott.

He is about to embark on a tour in the US, Europe and the Middle East and is very proud to announce the release of his first album featuring the solo works of Khachaturian with BIS in November 2019.

https://iyadsughayer.com/

Giacomo Susani, guitar

Recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, the classical Guitarist Giacomo Susani has won numerous prizes and awards including the London International Guitar Competition, the David Russel Guitar Prize, the XVII Koblenz International Guitar Competition and received support from The Julian Bream Trust, The Calleva Foundation, The Countess of Munster Musical Trust (Star Award), Help Musicians UK (Ian Fleming Award), The Worshipful Company of Musicians (Yeoman programme) and The Park Lane Group. He has been a D’Addario Artist since 2018.

In 2016 he was selected by the International Guitar Foundation – Young Artists Platform for a concert tour in the UK. In 2018 he was invited by EuroStrings – European Guitar Festival Collaborative to perform and teach masterclasses in numerous guitar festivals across Europe. He continues an intense performing schedule as soloist and chamber musician playing in prestigious venues in England (The Athenaeum Club, St. Martin in the Fields, King’s Place -Hall One, St James’s Piccadilly among the most recent) and in Europe.

https://www.giacomosusani.com/

Rosalind Ventris, viola

Rosalind Ventris pursues a varied international career as a soloist and chamber musician. Her career was launched as a prizewinner of the Tertis Competition, aged 17.

As a recitalist, she has appeared at the Bozar, Royal Festival Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, Flagey, Aldeburgh Festival, Slovak Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw. Rosalind has performed as soloist with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, l’Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and the Belgian National Orchestra. She has collaborated with Mitsuko Uchida at Marlboro Festival, the Arcanto Quartett at the Beethovenhaus in Bonn, and Gerhard Schultz at the Salzburg Festival, Tabea Zimmermann at the Wigmore Hall, and she has also given concerts with the Benedetti-Elschenbroich-Grynyuk Trio, and the Aronowitz Ensemble.

Recent engagements include performances at the Cheltenham, Ryedale, Båstad, Sion, and West Cork, and Machynlleth Festivals, Great Music in Irish Houses and concerts at Kings Place, Auditorium du Louvre, and the Concertgebouw.

Rosalind has recorded Richard Blackford’s Kalon for string quartet and orchestra with Czech Philharmonic and for the labels Delphian, Signum and Navona.

She regularly performs with the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective and she is the violist of flute, viola and harp ensemble Trio Anima. Rosalind also teaches at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

She read Music at Cambridge and studied with David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

https://www.rosalindventris.co.uk/

2019-20 CMF Community Concert Series

City Music Foundation presents CMF Artists (new and former) in a series of monthly lunchtime recitals at The Hospital Church of St Bartholomew the Less (and the Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great) throughout the 2019-20 season. These concerts are linked to the professional development, and as such are an opportunity to perform new repertoire in an intimate setting.

Wednesday 16^th October 2019
Echéa Quartet (string quartet)
Haydn, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel
St Bart’s the Less

Wednesday 13^th November 2019
Giacomo Susani (guitar)
Programme to include works by Albèniz, Giuliani and Frescobaldi
St Bart’s the Less

Wednesday 18^th December 2019
Rosalind Ventris
Programme to include J.S. Bach, Imogen Holst and Sally Beamish

St Bart’s the Less

Wednesday 15^th January 2019
Anna Cavaliero (soprano)

Programme of baroque repertoire
St Bart’s the Less

Wednesday 26^th February 2019
Iyad Sughayer (piano)

Programme to include Khachaturian and Mozart

St Bart’s the Great

Wednesday 18^th March 2019
Iona Fyfe (folksinger) with Aidan Moodle (guitar and vocals)

Programme to include songs from Aberdeenshire and Appalachia
St Bart’s the Less

Wednesday 15^th April 2019
Mingyuan Ruan (accordion)

Programme to include Scarlatti and Chinese repertoire

St Bart’s the Less

2020 CMF Residency

20-24^th July 2020

Fifth CMF Summer Residency at the Wallace Collection

For further information: