Introducing the performers…

Bradley Creswick (violin)

Bradley Creswick has twice served as leader of the Northern Sinfonia, from 1984 to 1987 and from 1994 onwards. One of the highlights from his first period with the Sinfonia was a performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no 2 for BBC Radio 3. In 1987, Bradley moved to London to lead the Philharmonia, returning from time to time to make guest appearances with the Sinfonia, notably playing The Lark Ascending as soloist with them in the 1989 BBC Proms. He also served as leader of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House before taking the opportunity in 1994 to return to the Sinfonia for a second time, working at The Sage Gateshead. Bradley has been invited twice to the Marlboro Music Festival in the United States and is asked regularly to guest-lead a wide range of orchestras. He also appears throughout the UK in recitals with the pianist Margaret Fingerhut. His recordings include Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending and Concerto Accademico with Richard Hickox on EMI; all the Handel Concerti Grossi Op 6 with George Malcolm; Handel Concerti Grossi Op 3 for Naxos; and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.

Claire Sterling (violin)

Australian violinist Claire Sterling studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London and the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 2004 she was appointed Principal Second Violin with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Claire appears regularly in SCO chamber concerts and is a guest principal with several other UK orchestras including the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Northern Sinfonia and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She also plays with Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Claire has performed as soloist with the Scottish Sinfonia, Edinburgh and Southbank Sinfonia, London. Chamber appearances include Spitalfields, Arundel and City of London festivals and recitals in France, Italy and Australia. Other chamber appearances include CHROMA, Mr McFall’s Chamber, Endymion and Bennelong Ensembles and live broadcasts for Radio 3 with Charles Hazelwood’s Excellent Device.

Sophie Renshaw (viola)

Sophie Renshaw has been an active chamber musician for over 30 years. Sophie has performed as a violist in the Orford String Quartet in Canada and as principal viola in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and is a frequent guest Principal with Ensemble Modern of Germany, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English National Opera, BBC NOW Cardiff, the Royal Opera House and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She has participated in numerous recordings and worked in some of the principal recording studios in London and elsewhere in the UK. She has taught viola and chamber music at college level, at the University of Toronto and Birmingham Conservatory, and at school level.

Robin Michael (cello)

Born in 1976, Robin Michael studied at the the Royal Academy of Music with David Strange and Colin Carr and subsequently with Truls Mork, Steven Isserlis and Ferenc Rados. Following a critically acclaimed South Bank recital debut in 2003 he has been much in demand as soloist and chamber musician. Robin is principal cello of the Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique and regular guest principal of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, English National Opera, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Les Sciecles and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Robin devotes much of his time to contemporary music and has worked with composers such as Ligeti, Kurtag, Ferneyhough, Maxwell Davies and Birtwistle on their cello works. His premiers include new cello concertos by Joe Cutler, Philip Cashian, Edwin Roxburgh and Michael Finnissy, and the UK premier of Steve Reich’s Cello Counterpoint. Concert highlights include touring South Africa with both Haydn concertos, complete Bach and Britten suite cycles at Wilton’s Hall, London and the Korean premiere of Harvey’s Advaya for cello and electronics. Robin’s festival appearances include Regello, Italy; Ochrid, Macedonia; Musica Contemporania, Buenos Aires; Spier, South Africa; Library of Congress, United States; and the Cheltenham, Aldeburgh and Huddersfield Festivals in the UK.

Robin regularly appears with chamber groups such as the Dante Quartet, Eroica Quartet, Lonatano, Gemini and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. As a past member of Fidelio, he toured Europe, Asia and South Africa, and premiered trios by Sciarrino, Nyman, Rolf Hind, Takemitsu and Volans. His recordings include the Cutler Concerto with the BBC Concert Orchestra (NMC records); Ginastera complete cello works (Lorelt); Hallgrimsson chamber works (Delphian); “Bulb”, a disc of contemporary Irish piano trios (NMC); Dorothy Ker’s solo cello works (Lorelt); Scottish piano trios by Beamish, Weir and Osborne (Delphian); Nyman complete trios (MN records); “From Vienna” – trios by Schoenberg, Korngold and Zemlinsky (Naxos); and the first recording of the original version of the Mendelssohn Octet on period instruments.

Neyire Ashworth (Clarinet)

Neyire Ashworth’s London solo recital debut was as part of the prestigious Park Lane Group’s series at the Purcell Room, South Bank. Neyire has appeared on BBC radio 3, Classic FM and at concert halls and festivals worldwide. In October 2007 she gave the London premiere of the concerto for clarinet, film, computers and percussion by the acclaimed film composer Brian Lock. She has had many new solo and chamber works written for her and has developed techniques and repertoire for new instrumental music theatre.

As a chamber musician, Neyire was a founder member of the Britten-Pears Ensemble. They performed throughout the UK and in the USA, and recorded works by Jolivet and Frank Martin for ASV. The Ensemble performed at the Aldeburgh Festival, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and appeared at the Wigmore Hall. With the clarinet quartet “No Strings Attached”, she worked on various large-scale community projects, including several exciting initiatives at Wormwood Scrubs prison. Winners of the Royal Overseas League Chamber Music prize and prize winners in the Gaudeamus International Contemporary Music competition, they toured frequently and made several successful recordings.

Neyire has also performed with the New London Chamber Ensemble, with whom she has recorded the complete wind chamber music of John Woolrich and Carl Nielsen. Other chamber ensembles with whom she has appeared include the Chamber Music Company, Endymion Ensemble, Fibonacci Sequence, Locrian Ensemble, Continuum Ensemble, the New Music Players, Maurice Bourgue Wind Ensemble, and English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble.