Victoria Sayles (violin)
Martin Cousin (piano)

Saturday 4th February, 2012
7:30pm

www.victoriasayles.co.uk

Victoria Sayles was born in 1984 and began playing the violin when she was seven years old. She was awarded a full scholarship to Bryanston School in 1999 and performed there regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. 

Whilst still in her teens she led orchestras at the Royal Albert Hall, St. John’s Smith Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral. 

She was a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music from 2003-2007 under Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky.

Since then she has performed with London Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields Orchestra. She was a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for two years and is currently a member of the London Chamber Orchestra.

Victoria has appeared as Guest Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Norway), Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Australia), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and as Associate Leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has worked with many major conductors including Ashkenazy, Haitink, Mackerras, Nelsons, Norrington, Ticciati and Pretenko. 

Victoria, as a keen chamber musician, has lead the Fibonacci Sequence and has collaborated with Louise Hopkins, Guy Johnston, Jack Liebeck, Christoph Richter, Mark Van der Weil, Jamie Walton, Alexander Zemtsov and many others. 

She was an Invited Artist and Director of Winterschool at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music (2010) and regularly attends Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music. Victoria has also recently returned from the Thai-Burmese Border where she played with the Iuventus String Quartet to Burmese refugees in the refugee camps.

Upcoming concerts in 2010/11 include appearances at Oxford May Music Festival, The Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville – Australia, solo recitals in Switzerland and France for Princess Caroline Murat and UK recital tours with award winning duo partner Martin Cousin and award winning violinist Jack Liebeck. Concerto performances include Glazunov, Mendelssohn and Saint-Saëns concertos.

Victoria plays a 1776 “Thir” violin.

www.martincousin.com

Martin Cousin is now regarded as one of the most exceptional pianists of his generation, having been awarded 1st Prize at the 2005 Ettore Pozzoli International Piano Competition (Seregno, Italy) and Gold Medal at the 2003 Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition (London).

Martin has appeared regularly in the major British musical venues since graduating from the Royal College of Music, making his London solo debut at the Purcell Room in 1998 to great critical acclaim. Numerous solo recitals followed, notably at the Wigmore Hall in 2001 and 2005. He has performed as concerto soloist with the London Philharmonic, Halle, Royal Philharmonic and BBC Concert Orchestras. Performances further afield have included tours of New Zealand, the US, Indonesia and Thailand, concerts in Stockholm, Brussels, Toronto, Tokyo, Berne and The Hague together with numerous recitals throughout Italy.

2006 saw the release of his debut CD of Rachmaninov's Sonata No 1 and Morceaux de Salon with SOMM Recordings, which was selected as Classical CD of the week by the Daily Telegraph, with Geoffrey Norris stating that, "Martin Cousin's debut disc establishes a striking new benchmark for the interpretation of Rachmaninov's 1st Piano Sonata ..... has discretion, judgment, perception and formidable technique." The US magazine Fanfare added, "This is the performance of the 1st Sonata that I have always heard in my head but never thought I'd actually get to hear with my ears. This guy's the Real Deal!"

Highlights of the last two seasons have included Tchaikovsky's 1st Concerto at Bridgewater Hall and Symphony Hall, Gershwin's Concerto in F at the Adrian Boult Hall and the European premiere of Terry Mann's "No Ordinary Piano Suite" at the Purcell Room. Alongside his solo schedule, chamber music has taken him to Prague, Zimbabwe and Barbados and he is a founder member of the Aquinas Piano Trio. In 2009, Trinity Guildhall Exams invited him to record the Grade 6-8 violin and piano syllabus (2010-2015) with Andrew Haveron.

This season will see the release of his much-anticipated second CD for SOMM Recordings, which will feature Glazunov's Piano Sonatas, along with a return to the Wigmore Hall and Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto with the Philharmonia at Barbican Hall.

Martin's hands are also featured on the big screen in the Oscar-winning film "Shine", for the scenes involving Rachmaninov's 3rd Concerto.

Back to Programme 2011/12