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Louisa
Forrester, Piano
and Violin
 Louisa
Forrester was born in Melbourne, Australia, and graduated with Bachelor
of Music Honours from the University of Melbourne in 1998. She came
to England for postgraduate studies on the piano at the Royal College
of Music, supported by a Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship,
an Associated Board International Scholarship, and the Clarke Scholarship.
After gaining a Distinction for her Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced
Performance, Louisa completed her Masters in Musical Performance in
2001. During this time she studied piano with John Byrne and violin
with Ani Schnarch, helped by support from the Countess of Munster Musical
Trust and the Musicians Benevolent Trust. Following the completion of
her studies, she spent two years as the Jenny Marsh Chapman Junior Fellow
at the RCM.
While in Australia, Louisa had much performing success as both a violinist
and pianist, winning many competitions, performing numerous concertos
with orchestras including the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and performing
as member, concertmaster and soloist with the Australian Youth Orchestra
and Camerata Australia.
Since moving to England, Louisa has enjoyed similar success, winning
many prizes at the Royal College of Music including the highest prize
for piano, the Chappell Gold Medal in 1999, and the Marjorie and Dorothy
Whyte award on her graduation in 2001. She has toured Asia and Australasia
as a member of the RCM Premiere ensemble and performs regularly as a
soloist and as a chamber musician throughout London and the UK. She
has performed many concertos with orchestras in Australia, the United
Kingdom, Europe and New Zealand, including the European Premiere of
Australian composer Carl Vine's Piano Concerto in 2001 with the RCM
Sinfonietta. In January 2003 she made her Purcell Room debut as part
of the Park Lane Group Young Artist Series, and in February 2004 she
gave her solo Wigmore Hall recital debut. Last year, she won the Piano
section of the Royal Overseas League music competition, winning the
Coutt’s award and the Tait Memorial Trust Award.
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Gabrielle
Painter, Violin
Gabrielle Painter has performed throughout
Europe, Canada and the United States as soloist, chamber musician and
leader. Her concerto performances range from Beethoven to Szymanowski
and Lou Harrison and she recently performed solos at venues including
the Royal Albert Hall, Sadlers Wells and Herodus Atticus (Athens). A
passionate chamber musician, Gabrielle has been Guest Artist at the
Banff Centre for the Arts and in numerous concert series including the
London Festival of Chamber Music, Crwth Concert Series (UK), Cathedral
of Saint John the Divine (NY) and the Mostly Music Series (Chicago).
Gabrielle is the violinist of the Szabo Piano Trio who have toured Hungary
and Ireland, recorded for Lyric FM Radio as well as performing in their
own concert series in London and Chichester. Dedicated to the performance
of music of our time, Gabrielle was a founding member of the New York
based furious band premiering many new works and recording
for CRI and New World Records.
Equally dedicated to teaching, Gabrielle has held the position of adjunct
violin professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook
working with undergraduate, masters and doctoral students. She has given
master classes and performance workshops at universities throughout
New York, Chicago and Canada and at the Royal Academy of Music. She
is currently teaching at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama.
Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Royal Academy of
Music in London, where she studied with Diana Cummings and a Master
of Music degree from Stony Brook (NY) where she also received her Doctorate
of Musical Arts Degree in May this year. Gabrielle was a scholarship
student of and Teaching Assistant to Mitchell Stern.
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Helena
Wood, Violin
 Helena
Wood began playing the violin at the age of three and is now regarded
as one of Britain’s leading young violinists. She began her studies
at the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department where she won
many prizes and competitions and continued there as a scholar, completing
her studies in 2001 with a First Class honours degree. Helena’s
teachers included, Pamela Spofforth MBE and for seven years Itzhak Rashkovsky.
More recently, Helena spent an intensive three months studying in New
York with Professor Joey Corpus and also travelled to Holland for tuition
with Herman Krebbers. In 1996 she was a national finalist in the BBC
Young Musician of the Year and has gone on to win many awards and prizes.
As a chamber musician and orchestral leader, Helena is in great demand.
Having been a member of Pro Corda chamber courses for many years, she
has carried on to perform chamber music regularly with musicians such
as John Lill and Freddy Kempf. She is a guest leader with numerous chamber
orchestras in England and regularly works with some of Europe’s
finest symphony and chamber orchestras.
International tours as a soloist include concerts in Israel, Romania,
France and Switzerland, as well as tours of Italy and Spain. Having
been performing concertos since the age of twelve, she has been invited
to perform as a soloist with orchestras such as the European Sinfonietta
and the London Mozart Players. These have taken place in many of London’s
major concert venues including the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Barbican
Hall. Helena has been received with great acclaim in recitals at the
Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and Royal Festival Hall and continues to
enjoy a busy recital and concerto schedule both in Europe and the UK.
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Síona
Loughnane, Violin
 Síona
Loughnane currently lives and freelances in the New York City area.
Born in Ireland, Síona studied at the Victorian College of the
Arts School in Melbourne, Australia and at the Liszt Academy in Budapest,
Hungary. She has performed extensively in Europe, Asia, North and South
America and Australia as a member of the European Community Orchestra
and the Binneas String Quartet. The Quartet was awarded the Special
Jury Prize in the Inaugural Shostakovitch String Quartet competition
in St. Petersburg in 1987 and consecutive residencies at the Royal Conservatorium
of Music in Toronto and at the Banff School of Fine Arts, Canada. Síona
has performed with the London Sinfonia, the Australian Chamber Orchestra,
the Melbourne and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, Ensemble 21 of Moscow
and for Music on Line, Vienna.
Having completed a Masters in Music Performance Degree at the Victorian
College of the Arts, Síona became a member of the National Symphony
Orchestra of Ireland in 2000. Three years later whilst the orchestra
was touring the East Coast of the United States she met her husband
Larry Meyers and moved to New York City. From a large family of traditional
Irish musicians, Síona also frequently performs at traditional
Irish cultural forums with her mother, Sean-nos singer Eilín
Begley and her brother Cian Loughnane.
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Rachel
Dyker, Viola
 As
a freelance musician, based in London, Rachel Dyker combines a busy
schedule of orchestral work with chamber music, teaching and education
work. Principal Violist with the Orchestra of the Swan, Rachel also
works regularly with the City of London Sinfonia, Sinfonia ViVA, Southern
Sinfonia, the Apollo Chamber Orchestra and the Manning Camerata.
Solo engagements have included a performance Hindemith’s Trauermusik
with the Southbank Sinfonia, an appearance at the Ludlow Festival in
a recital ‘Genius and Passions’ celebrating the bicentenary
of the birth of Berlioz, and regular recitals of the solo Suites by
Bach. Rachel also performs regularly as part of the Dyker Duo with her
brother, violinist Gabriel Dyker and with The Regency Ensemble; the
tutors of the SSCMS.
As well as teaching a class of private students, Rachel is also the
viola tutor for the Brighton Youth Orchestra and the Co-ordinator and
Musical Director of the Sussex Schools Chamber Music Scheme.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Music from the Royal College of Music, where
she studied with Christopher Wellington and Brian Hawkins. On completing
her degree at the RCM, Rachel continued her studies privately with Simon
Rowland-Jones.
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Sarah
Suckling , Cello
 Sarah
Suckling read music at Cambridge University where she was an Instrumental
Scholar and continued her studies at the Royal College of Music. She
was a beneficiary of the Countess of Munster Musical Fund and won the
1998 Muriel Taylor Cello Competition.
Sarah enjoys performing as a soloist and chamber musician and has given
concerts around the UK and abroad including a tour of British Embassies
in Australia and the Far East. Sarah’s special interest in playing
contemporary music led to a solo recital in the Park Lane Group series
at the Purcell Room in 2000.
She has had several works written for her, and as a member of Contemporary
Consort has given concerts, workshops and broadcast live on Radio 3.
As the cellist in Ensemble X, she toured with Errollyn Wallen’s
multimedia theatre show ‘Jordan Town’. Sarah freelances
with many orchestras including the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields,
the City of London Sinfonia and Britten Sinfonia.
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Alexandra
Mackenzie, Cello
Alexandra Mackenzie has toured throughout Europe, North America and
Asia as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She has performed
with numerous orchestras in New York and Europe with repertoire ranging
from Wagenseil to Tchaikovsky, Haydn to Lutoslawski and Bruch to Beethoven.
Alexandra can frequently be heard on National Public Radio in New York
and has played for Classic FM, Radio 3, the World Service and German
National Radio. She has recorded for VOX records, SONY records, NAXOS
and Oxford Classics. The latter of which includes a set of Mozart String
Quartets.
An avid chamber musician and passionate supporter of new music Alexandra
Mackenzie has notably appeared at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Alice Tully
Hall, The Royal Albert Hall and the Southbank. She has collaborated
with such artists as Lynn Harrell, Lara St John, Sarah Davis Buechner,
Adam Neiman, the Meridian String Quartet and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
She has commissioned and premiered numerous cello works from such composers
as Elijah Yarborough, Daniel Goode and Michael Finckel.
Alexandra graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where
she studied with Florence Hooton and David Strange, with a BMus (First
Class Hons.) a performance diploma and prizes including the Patten Award
and Carr Prize. She gained a Masters degree and Artists Certificate
from the Manhattan School of Music where she was a scholarship student
of David Soyer and Peter Wiley, both cellists of the Guaneri String
Quartet. She has participated in many music festivals including Tanglewood,
Sarasota, Yellow Barn and Ravinia. A dedicated teacher herself she earned
a teaching diploma from the Royal Academy of Music (LRAM) and now teaches
at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department as well as acting as
a visiting professor at PointCounterPoint Chamber Music Academy in Vermont,
Princeton Chamber Music Playweek and Summertrios music festival in Pennsylvania.
Alexandra also recently qualified as an examiner for the Associated
Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Alexandra Mackenzie plays on a Matthew Hardy cello, made in 1818, purchased
with help from the Foundation for Sports and the Arts.
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