THE PITCHSTONE COLLECTIVE

British violinist Jonathan Stone is an internationally acclaimed chamber musician, soloist, concertmaster and director. As soloist and chamber musician, highlights of this season include appearances at the Larzac, North Norfolk, Battle, Ironstone and Marryat Players chamber music festivals, as well as the Oxford Lieder Festival. In May 2019, he appeared as a guest artist with the Nash Ensemble to record Fanny Mendelssohn’s string quartet, and in January 2020 he performed at Wigmore Hall as violinist of the Phoenix Piano Trio. Jonathan was a member of the Doric String Quartet for 13 years. In this time, the quartet grew to become one of the world’s leading ensembles, recording 16 discs for Chandos Records and performing in most of the world’s finest concert halls such as New York’s Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and, closer to home, regular concerts at Wigmore Hall. He has collaborated with artists including John Adams, Nicolas Altstaedt, Jonathan Biss, Andreas Haefliger, Chen Halevi, Alina Ibragimova, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Richard Lester, Anthony Marwood, and Peter Wispelwey. Jonathan is a founder member of the Phoenix Piano Trio. Described as ‘exquisitely sensitive’ by BBC Music Magazine, the Trio commissioned and recorded Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s The Forgiveness Machine for the Champs Hill label and Philip Venables’ Klaviertrio im Geiste for NMC Records. Acclaimed for their honest and insightful interpretations which span the entire genre, in 2019 the Trio released the first in a series of recordings capturing the intense musical output from Leipzig in the 1840s that connected composers such as Mendelssohn, Brahms, the Schumanns and Niels Gade. He is leader of the French orchestra Le Cercle de l’Harmonie which specialises in classical and early romantic repertoire performed on period instruments. Jonathan is in demand as guest leader and director in the UK and Europe. This season includes concerts as guest leader of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and guest Principal 2nd of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Jonathan’s violin was crafted by Raffaele and Antonio Gagliano of Naples in 1830 and he plays with bows made by Luis Emilio Rodriguez Carrington and Eugène Sartori.

Rachel Roberts is the founder of Pitchstone Music and is passionate about bringing live music to the heart of her local community of Leytonstone in East London. She is a member of the award-winning Ensemble 360, nominated for the Royal Philharmonic Society award for Best Ensemble in 2023. Rachel performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such as Carnegie Hall New York and Musikverein Vienna, with artists including Christian Tetzlaff, Steven Isserlis and Joshua Bell.​ Rachel has received the Diapason d'Or three times for her chamber music recordings (2009, 2021, 2023) and has broadcast live for BBC Radio 3 and other networks many times. She was Principal Viola at the Philharmonia Orchestra for ten years, from 2000-2010. Rachel currently teaches at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. ​

Welsh cellist Steffan Morris enjoys a richly varied career as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. He studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School with Thomas Carroll and then with Heinrich Schiff at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Steffan is principal cello with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and has been a guest principal with orchestras such as the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras. Much in demand as a chamber musician, he has performed internationally alongside musicians like Alasdair Beatson, Alexander Lonquich, Timothy Ridout, Maria Wloszczowka, John Meyerscough and Antje Weithaas. Prizes include first prize at the Banff and Bordeaux string quartet competitions. He has played as a soloist with orchestras such as the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Sinfonia Cymru and Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra. Steffan has taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music. He plays on a cello made by Hieronymus Amati II made in 1695 generously on loan from private sponsors.

Widely recognised as one of Britain’s leading flute players, Juliette Bausor currently plays Principal Flute with London Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a member of the celebrated chamber group Ensemble 360, Ensemble in Residence for Music in the Round at the Crucible, Sheffield. Juliette is regularly invited to give recitals at major venues and festivals throughout the UK, including frequent Wigmore Hall and South Bank appearances, and performances at the Edinburgh, Cheltenham and Aldeburgh International Festivals and BBC Proms. In 2014 Juliette was selected by the European Concert Hall Organisation as an ECHO ‘Rising Star’. She has since been invited to perform as a solo recitalist in some of Europe’s most prestigious concert venues. Following early recognition in competitions, including reaching the televised Concerto Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and winning the Gold Medal in both the Shell LSO Competition and the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, Juliette has performed as a concerto soloist with, amongst others, the London Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Academy of St Martins in the Fields, European Union Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and London Mozart Players, with conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Thomas Zehetmair, Mario Venzago and Sir Neville Marriner. Success on an international scale is reflected in tours around Europe and beyond, to Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand.

As well as being a member of The Nash Ensemble, Lucy is currently principal harp with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and a member of the Britten Sinfonia. She was previously principal harp with the Philharmonia Orchestra from 2001 to 2011. After studying at the Royal College of Music with Marisa Robles, Lucy continued her studies in Paris with Gérard Devos and in London with Skaila Kanga. She has been a prize winner in several international competitions including second prize in the Israel harp competition and first prize in the Cité des Arts international competition held in Paris. Lucy was selected for representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust in 1998. As a soloist, Lucy has played the Ginastera concerto with the Israel Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras, Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profanewith the London Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s concerto for flute and harp with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia, among many others.

Peter has an exceptionally diverse career as a performer which he combines with a commitment to clarinet teaching and chamber music coaching at the Royal College of Music. He is Co-Principal Clarinet at English National Opera, and regularly performs as guest Principal Clarinet with most of the leading symphony, chamber, ballet and opera orchestras in the UK such as the Royal Opera House, Philharmonia, BBC orchestras with concerts, broadcasts and recordings at home and abroad. A busy chamber musician, Peter performs and records with a number of different chamber ensembles such as Wigmore Soloists (including Schubert Octet, Beethoven Septet and Brahms Serenade) and London Winds, with whom he frequently broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and performs in UK venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, BBC Proms as well as at International Festivals. Peter also performs around the country as a guest with a number of chamber groups including with Philharmonia Chamber Players, Ensemble 360 and Orsino Ensemble. He has recently recorded 2 discs of jazz-inspired arrangements with the Art Deco Trio with Iain Farrington and Kyle Horch. He is also in demand as a session musician for a variety of TV shows, films and adverts, as well as playing in the West End. Peter is an accomplished soloist and has performed numerous concertos such as those by Mozart, Debussy, Adams, Finzi, Copland, Weber and both Mendelssohn Konzertstücke including a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast with Michael Collins with whom he has collaborated extensively. He has premiered many new works and has an affinity for contemporary music. Some commissions include works by Nicola LeFanu and two pieces by Peter Wiegold including a bass clarinet concerto, ‘New York’, which were premiered in the Park Lane Group series in the Purcell Room. He collaborated with Mira Calix, working on inter-disciplinary improvised music with electronics to silent movies by Hitchcock in the Royal Festival Hall and ‘Dead Wedding’ puppet show in the Barbican. Most recently he premiered ‘The Light Blinds’ for clarinet/bass clarinet and strings by Angela Slater (RPS commission) and premiered/recorded a folk-inspired piece, ‘The Platinum Suite’, for clarinet/bass clarinet, strings and harp by Seonaid Aitken. As a visiting teacher, Peter has coached chamber music, given classes and masterclasses at RAM, GSMD and RWCMD. He also recorded the official demonstration tracks for the current ABRSM clarinet syllabus.