Chamber Music
The RNCM offers a thriving and energetic chamber music programme, providing valuable opportunities to develop your skills through expert tuition, masterclasses and performance.
We also benefit from close links with chamber music organisations worldwide, and as the UK’s only member of the European Chamber Music Academy our advanced chamber ensembles can participate in classes at institutions such as the Paris Conservatoire and University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.
How You Will Learn
Ensemble activity is independent to your Principal Study tuition and is compulsory during the first two years of undergraduate study, after which you have the option to continue it further if desired. We’ll support you in forming an ensemble when you arrive, after which you’ll receive regular lessons and classes with resident and visiting tutors. These include former and current members of the Elias, Chilingirian, Talich and Skampa String Quartets, the Gould and Sitkovetsky Piano Trios, Ensemble 360, Zephyr Winds and Apollo Saxophone Quartet.
Students have the opportunity to learn in a variety of settings. Regular performance classes take place alongside individual ensemble coaching, collaboration between composers and ensembles is encouraged and tutored, and there is a busy schedule of visiting world-class artists. Recent masterclasses have been given by Frans Helmerson, Hatto Beyerle, Ralph Kirshbaum, Kathryn Stott, Hansjörg Schellenberger and the Guarneri Piano Trio.
Chamber Music Staff
Head of Piano Chamber Music
Jeremy Young LRAM ARAM
Head of Strings Chamber Music
Jennifer Langridge
Ensemble in Associate
NOVO Quartet
Waverley Junior Fellows in Chamber Music
The Paddington Trio
Professors of Chamber Music
Tim Barber BMus(Hons) RNCM, PPRNCM, PGDip (Perf)
Zara Benyounes
Levon Chilingirian ARCM, FRCM, HonPhD
Pavel Fischer
Donald Grant
Laura Jellicoe GMusRNCM(Hons), PPRNCM
Katy Jones
Sally Ann Macleod
Susie Mészáros
Professor John Miller MA, FGSM, FRNCM
Craig Ogden BA(Mus), PGDipRNCM, PPRNCM, FRNCM
Petr Prause
Wu Qian
Simone Rebello GMusRNCM, PPRNCM
Dr Tim Reynish
Thomas Schulze
Andy Scott
Lindsey Stoker
Visiting Professor
Leonard Elschenbroich
Tutors in Historical Performance
Roger Hamilton MA, MA, ARCM
Harvey Davies GRNCM
Tutors in Jazz
Steve Berry FHEA
Geth Griffith FHEA PGcertPAE PGDipRNCM BMus(Hons)
Ensemble in Association: NOVO Quartet
Kaya Kato Møller violin
Nikolai Vasili Nedergaard violin
Daniel Śledziński viola
Signe Ebstrup Bitsch cello
The NOVO Quartet began in 2018 with three childhood friends and a Polish violist, originally named simply because they were ‘new’. Seven years on, they still embrace that spirit of discovery, performing more than 75 concerts a year in venues from Wigmore Hall to a boys’ school in Kenya. Their curiosity has taken them on outreach tours to Kenya, Greenland, Svalbard, and Colombia, while major achievements – including top prizes at Geneva, Heidelberg, Carl Nielsen, and Trondheim – have solidified their international reputation. They were recently selected as BBC New Generation Artists for 2025–27 and also serve as Ensemble in Association at the Royal Northern College of Music, supporting young chamber musicians through performances, coaching, and collaboration.
Their 2025 debut album, TRACK 1, featuring works by Nielsen, Shostakovich, and Vestergård, has earned exceptional praise, including 5 stars in Politiken and Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice. Beyond the concert stage, collaborations with brands like UNIQLO and Shaping New Tomorrow reflect their modern approach to outreach. At the heart of everything is their close-knit bond, which inspired their festival ACROSS – a gathering of established ensembles celebrating the shared spirit of chamber music.
Credit: Maya Matsuura
Junior Fellow in Chamber Music: Paddington Piano Trio
Tuulia Hero violins
Patrick Moriatry cello
Stephanie Tang piano
Having started their first adventure together at Paddington Station during the pandemic in 2020, the Paddington Trio has quickly emerged as a unique and versatile ensemble of a lasting entity.
Comprising violinist Tuulia Hero (Finland), cellist Patrick Moriarty (Ireland) and pianist Stephanie Tang (US), the Trio has won multiple awards to date, including first prize at the 70th Royal Over-Seas League Competition for Strings and Piano Ensemble, the prestigious 2023 Parkhouse Award held at Wigmore Hall earlier this year, and the 2022 NEW FORMATS Project Prize in Graz, Austria.
String Quartet Studio
Funded by The Albert and Eugenie Frost Music Trust, the RNCM String Quartet Studio was created to provide space for and investment in the conservatoire’s thriving community of chamber musicians. In 2025/26, the Studio will help to support current students Juna Quartet and Dovestone Quartet, as well as recent graduates Talland Quartet.
Talland Quartet
The Talland Quartet formed at the RNCM and are dedicated to sharing their passion for chamber music. Named after Talland Bay in Cornwall, they have won multiple RNCM prizes and continue their studies on the Quartet Studio programme. They were the Young String Quartet in Residence at the South Downs Summer Music Festival in 2025 and will appear as Young Artists at the West Cork Music Festival in 2026.
Their projects range from supporting Anna Meredith at Manchester International Festival to delivering primary‑school workshops across the North of England. Committed to new music, they are working on a commission with composer and drummer Eden Longson, supported by the Nicholas Boas Trust. They have performed widely across the UK and internationally, including at Manchester Middays, Lake District Music, the Danish String Quartet Academy and the Delft Chamber Music Atelier, and have studied with musicians such as Donald Grant, Pavel Fischer, Richard Ireland, Cecily Ward, Tim Frederiksen and John Myerscough.
Dovestone Quartet
Formed in September 2024 at the RNCM, the Dovestone Quartet has quickly gained recognition for their passionate performances and vibrant musical connection.
With a unique blend of innovation and respect for classical tradition, they have given recitals for the Midweek Music concert series in Southport, Harlech Music in Portmeirion, and the Huddersfield Music Society, and have been finalists in multiple RNCM prizes. Throughout their journey, the quartet has been mentored by esteemed chamber musicians, including Robin Ireland, Catherine Yates, and Susie Mészáros, gaining invaluable insight and refining their artistic voices. They made their Wigmore Hall debut in May 2025 as part of RNCM’s In Focus: Roxanna Panufnik event, and had the privilege of receiving coaching from Panufnik herself. The quartet has been chosen as one of the resident quartets for the 2025 Lake District Music Summer Festival.
Juna Quartet
The Manchester-based Juna Quartet formed in 2022 and in 2023 won the RNCM Hirsch Prize with their performance of Beethoven’s Op 18 No 1. They receive regular coaching from the Elias Quartet and performed Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op 12 in E flat major alongside the ensemble in April 2024. More recent performances include a Christmas concert at House of Books and Friends, and a lunchtime recital at the Whitworth Art Gallery featuring works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Shortly before the Wye Valley Summer Residency in 2024, Rachel Stonham joined the ensemble as first violin, succeeding Yunyi Lin.
The group chose the name Juna for its varied meaning – such as courage, gentleness, and woodland – across different languages, and for its resonance as a woman’s name.
