Elgar Ensemble in Consultation with ChamberStudio’s Artistic Director Richard Ireland
Closed to Observers
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Charles Brookes (violin)
Anna Ryland-Jones (cello)
Brian Rhung Wei Low (piano)
Formed in 2021, the Elgar Ensemble is a group of young and versatile musicians who celebrate British music and champion the unsung heroes of the 19th and 20th century British repertoire. Their namesake is taken from Worcestershire’s native musical titan, Sir Edward Elgar, and it is their mission to bring his music, and that of his contemporaries, into the performance hall. Partly due to Britain’s lack of an individualistic style, much of the pre-Elgarian repertoire has been lost, forgotten or left undervalued and it is the ethos of the Elgar Ensemble to revive these works and bring them into mainstream concert programmes.
Elgar Ensemble were 2021-22 Junior Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where they were mentored by Professors Carole Presland, Jacqueline Ross and members of the Endellion String Quartet, who were of particular inspiration. In 2022, Elgar Ensemble was invited to participate in the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival where they enjoyed working closely with Krysia Osostowicz, John Thwaites, Robin Michael, Robin Green and Robin Ireland, with whom they performed Charles Stanford’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in F major.
The Ensemble gives regular recitals across Worcestershire and London.
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London-born into a musical family, Richard is one of the UK’s leading chamber musicians and has been a regular performer at London’s Wigmore Hall and at all of the major chamber music venues across Europe.
Richard has 25 years experience teaching violin at conservatoire level and many of his ex-students now hold principal positions in top orchestras and chamber ensembles across Europe. He is sought after as a performance coach by musicians at all stages of their careers.
Richard is a visiting professor for the Chamber Music in Residence series at Snape Maltings and is a guest professor at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy. Alongside his chamber music career Richard has been Guest Leader of orchestras such as the City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Richard studied the violin with Sheila Nelson throughout his childhood, then with Yossi Zivoni, and finally with Eli Goren and Shmuel Ashkenasi, both eminent string quartet leaders. He was Teaching Assistant to Shmuel Ashkenasi in the USA for three years, Professor of Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music for thirteen years and also Professor of Chamber Music at the Royal College of Music.
In 2010 Richard founded and is now Artistic Director of ChamberStudio which provides high-level coaching and support to professional chamber groups in the early stages of their careers. In 2017 he launched a new organisation Offstage which provides ongoing mentorship for post-study performers.
In his free time, Richard is a keen mountain walker and wild camper together with his cellist wife and their 850 gram two-person tent! He was a passionate rock climber until he broke a knuckle on his left hand and was told in no uncertain terms by Yossi Zivoni, his violin teacher at the time, that he had to decide whether he wanted to be a climber or a violinist! He holds a first-class Pure Mathematics degree from the Open University which he studied part time in his 30’s. He has two children aged 27 and 25 who studied Physics and History and now both live and work in London.
In recognition of his teaching and his work creating ChamberStudio, Richard was awarded the 2014 Cobbett Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians. In 2017 he was made an Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon ARAM) for special contribution to the institution.