Concerts in the West: Northern Chords Ensemble

NORTHERN CHORDS ENSEMBLE
Benjamin Baker, violin
Jonathan Bloxham, cello
Daniel Lebhardt, pianoMATTHEW KANER  Highland Scenes
MENDELSSOHN  Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Op 49Welcome to NORTHERN CHORDS ENSEMBLE, who will celebrate the Coronation of King Charles with us this weekend.

Since winning 1st Prize at the 2016 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and 3rd Prize at the Michael Hill Competition in New Zealand in 2017 BENJAMIN BAKER has established a strong international presence.

Described by the New York Times as bringing ‘virtuosity, refinement and youthful exuberance’ to his debut at Merkin Concert Hall he is much sought after as a soloist and chamber musician.

Recent highlights include regular appearances at Wigmore Hall and on BBC Radio 3, his debut with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the East Neuk Festival and with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in NZ, alongside solo recordings with the BBC Concert and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras.

Before taking up conducting, JONATHAN BLOXHAM was a founder member and the cellist of the Busch Trio, performing regularly at the Wigmore Hall, across Europe and on BBC Radio 3, and still plays chamber music on occasion. Whilst studying at the Royal College of Music he won several prestigious awards including the RCM Cello Prize; he made his concerto debut at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2012.

Jonathan was recently appointed Resident Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the London Mozart Players, effective from October 2022. He has swiftly made his mark as a conductor of “accomplished technique, innate musicianship, with a natural rapport with orchestras and a deep knowledge and understanding of the symphonic repertoire” (- Paavo Järvi).

Born in Hungary, DANIEL LEBHARDT studied at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest and then at the Royal Academy of Music and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He was a prize winner at the Young Classical Artists Trust auditions in 2015 and currently lives in Birmingham.

In 2014 Daniel won 1st Prize at the Young Concert Artists International auditions in Paris and New York. A year later he was invited to record music by Bartók for Decca and in 2016 won the “Geoffrey Tozer Most Promising Pianist” prize at the Sydney International Competition.

March 2020 saw Daniel make his debut with The Hallé, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5 – a work he has also performed at the Barbican, London and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

(‘He brought narrative sweep and youthful abandon to [Liszt’s B minor Sonata], along with power, poetry and formidable technique’ – The New York Times).

www.jonathanbloxham.com/
www.benjamin-baker.com/
www.daniel-lebhardt.com/

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