Introducing the performers…

Timothy Ridout (viola)

Born in London in 1995, Timothy Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Martin Outram, graduating in 2016 with the Queen’s Award for Excellence. He has also studied at the Kronberg Academy in Germany with Nobuko Imai.

In 2016 Timothy was the first ever British winner of the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT). Previous awards include 1st Prize at the 2014 Cecil Aronowitz and 2nd Prize at the 2015 Windsor Festival International String Competitions. He has also been awarded the European String Teachers Association Prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria, and a Special Prize at the Max Rostal International Competition in Berlin in 2015. He has participated in masterclasses with Lawrence Power, Maxim Rysanov, Hartmut Rohde and Thomas Riebl, and between 2013-2016 worked intensively at the International Musikakademie in Fürstentem, Liechtenstein as a scholarship holder.

Timothy has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Munich Gasteig, Verbier Academy & Festival, and Schloss Elmau. He has taken part in the Eggenfelden Klassisch, Koblenz, Beethoven Bonn Festivals, IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music and gives performances with the Nash Ensemble. He also appears as soloist with the Baden-Baden Philharmonie and he European Union Chamber Orchestra.

A keen chamber musician, Timothy has taken part in the Bad Kissinger Sommer Festival (Germany), Schubertiade Festival (Austria), Musique à Marsac (France), Accademia dei Cameristi (Italy), and the Next Generation Festival in Bad Ragaz (Switzerland). He was a member of the Celan Quartet between 2011-14, undertaking residencies at the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival and Musikdorf Ernen (Switzerland). Timothy’s first CD is of music by Vieuxtemps for Champs Hill Records.

Timothy is very grateful for support from the Bowerman Charitable Trust.

“…praised for the warmth and eloquence of his tone.”

The Strad, March 2015

“…Timothy Ridout interpreted the piece [Schubert Arpeggione] with masterly supple virtuosity.”

Liechtensteiner Vaterland, January 2016

Anthony Hewitt (piano)

Anthony Hewitt has won prizes at international piano competitions, and his communicative performances have earned him critical acclaim worldwide as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. Career highlights include engagements with the National Symphony and Princeton Symphony Orchestras in the USA, and the English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and Northern Sinfonia in the UK.

Anthony’s discography includes Protégé (Divine Art Records) – the first coupling on a CD of the Liszt and Reubke Sonatas – which was praised in International Record Review as “magisterial” and received a Gramophone recommendation. He has also recorded for Naxos with violist Sarah-Jane Bradley. The Gramophone described the duo’s performance on a disc of music by British composer Peter Fribbins as “superb”.

An avid chamber musician, Anthony is a member of Dimension Trio – winner of the prestigious Parkhouse award. The trio have received invitations to festivals and orchestras in the UK and abroad, including the Brighton Philharmonic and Lodz Philharmonic. He also performs regularly with distinguished artists such as clarinet player Emma Johnson and cellist Thomas Carroll, and plays as one half of a two-piano duo with Martin Roscoe, with whom he recently shared a cycle of complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas. Anthony is also an official accompanist at the Lionel Tertis Viola Festival, held in Port Erin on the Isle of Man.

Performance highlights were four appearances at major venues in London including near sell-outs at the Royal Festival Hall and a solo Coffee Concert at Wigmore Hall, as well as the Armenian première of the Britten Piano Concerto. Anthony’s most unusual musical feat was in the guise of the “Olympianist” in 2012, which saw him cycling 1200 miles from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Each day’s ride was followed by a concert. He performed over thirty engagements and raised £13,000 for charity. His special-edition CD Piano Odyssey has been broadcast several times on Classic FM, and he also appeared twice on BBC Radio 3’s In-Tune programme.

Anthony is the founding Artistic Director of the Ulverston International Music Festival. He is based in South-West London from where he enjoys cycling into the Surrey Hills.