David Watkin coaches Trio Kagura
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Trio Kagura is a young piano trio based in Manchester, UK. The name, Kagura, is taken from the Japanese word for ritual music and dance that is performed to bring joy and peace to the community.
Japanese-born pianist KANAKO MIZUNO has achieved some remarkable feats in her young career.
Successful as both soloist and accompanist, UK-based Mizuno has received a Global Talent Visa, and has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships in recognition of her skilful piano playing. Winning placements include Japan Player’s Competition, the Young Artist Piano Competition, Le Brilant French Music Competition, Tokyo Piano Competition and Japan Classical Music Competition.
Kanako obtained her BMus from the Toho Gakuen School of Music before moving to the UK, where she studied at the Royal Northern College of Music on a scholarship. She graduated with a Professional Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music in 2020. Kanako has a strong passion in chamber music and she is a member of Trio Kagura and the Hara Duo. She is also interested in Cross-Artform collaboration and currently works in collaboration with dancers.
YUUKI BOUTEREY-ISHIDO is a New Zealand cellist currently performing around the UK and Europe.
Yuuki has been invited to perform at major festivals around the world, including the Schnittke Festival in London and the Semaine Internationale de Piano et musique de chambre in Switzerland. Other significant performances include solo recitals in Japan, Italy, and New Zealand. He has also toured Europe extensively over three years as a member of the Menuhin Academy Soloists under the direction of Maxim Vengerov.
Yuuki is also a passionate chamber musician and has been awarded numerous chamber music prizes, as well as being regularly invited to perform in various chamber festivals in Europe, collaborating with artists such as David Waterman, Ilya Grubert, and Christophe Roy. He currently performs as a member of Trio Kagura.
Major prizes and awards include the prestigious Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music, First Prize in the Barbirolli Cello Prize 2018, the String Player Award at the Gisborne International Music Competition 2017, and 2nd Prize in the National Concerto Competition in New Zealand.
PIJUS JONUŠAS is a Lithuanian violinist from Vilnius. A keen chamber musician and teacher, Pijus studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague with Peter Brunt and at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester UK with Pavel Fischer.
Pijus has collaborated with such artists as Magnus Johnston, Guy Johnston, John Ryan, Timothy Ridout, Petr Prause, Susie Meszaros and Abel Salaocoe. In 2019 Pijus joined the Elmore Quartet and in 2021 was appointed as a Junior Fellow in chamber music with the Elmore Quartet at The Royal Northern College of Music. He currently performs as a member of Trio Kagura. -
As Principal Cello in some of the world’s leading ensembles English Baroque Soloists, Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra David Watkin has played a key role at the heart of some ground-breaking performances.
He has made a wide range of solo recordings: of Vivaldi (Hyperion) Beethoven (Chandos) and Francis Pott (Guild), Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante with OAE (Virgin), Schubert Quintet with the Tokyo Quartet (hmusa). He has been a soloist at Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York and performed the Schumann Concerto with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and ORR at Lincoln Center, New York. As a guest artist, he has collaborated with, among others, Robert Levin and Fredericka von Stade.
He has played solo Bach at Bach’s birthplace in Eisenach, at Frederick the Great’s Palace, at the Prague Spring Festival and featured in Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s TV programme “Bach, A Passionate Life”. He has twice been a juror for the Leipzig Bach Competition. David’s recording of Bach’s Cello Suites won both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award. It was one of three recordings included alongside Casals in Gramophone’s list of “The 50 Greatest Bach Recordings”.
As a member of the Eroica Quartet, he has performed all over Europe and the US and their recordings of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Debussy and Ravel have received great acclaim.
He read Music at Cambridge whilst studying the cello with William Pleeth and singing with Kenneth Bowen. He was a Shell/LSO Finalist, received the Bulgin Medal and was Principal cello in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Conducting is now a major part of his music-making.
He has conducted groups including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Malta Philharmonic, the Swedish Baroque Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music, and the Manchester Consort and has been Assistant Conductor at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He conducted Mahler’s First Symphony with the European Union Youth Orchestra at European Forum Alpbach and completed a cycle of Brahms Symphonies with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra.