RNCM Strings Festival / Sat 10 – Sun 11 Jan

Canadian conductor Naomi Woo is gaining worldwide attention for her spirited dynamism and infectious musicality both on and off the podium. A widely sought-after symphonic and operatic conductor, Woo is currently in her second season as Assistant Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In the 2025/26 season, Woo makes debuts with the New York Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia and the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden. She also returns to Montreal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, where she was artistic partner from 2023 to 2025, as well as to the Vancouver Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic and City of London Sinfonia. A renowned advocate for contemporary music she conducts the world premiere of Oliver Leith’s Garland at Bold Tendencies in London and leads a workshop for Huang Ruo’s upcoming opera The Wedding Banquet at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

In previous seasons, Woo has appeared with Toronto Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and National Arts Centre Orchestra in North America and elsewhere with London’s Philharmonia, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Orchestre de Chambre de Luxembourg, and at LSO St. Luke’s in London with the ensemble Tangram Sound, an ensemble devoted to celebrating the vitality of Chinese cultures, and creating new music by transnational Chinese creators.

On the opera stage, she has conducted the Canadian premiere of Du Yun’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Angel’s Bone in Vancouver, Puccini Edgar at Opera Holland Park, Rossini La Cenerentola with English Touring Opera, and the world premiere of Ellis Ludwig-Leone The Night Falls in New York City. Recognised for her collaborative approach and natural command for storytelling and language, Woo has conducted more than a dozen operas with students and young professionals in US and the UK, and collaboratively created new, genre-bending operatic works with Sasha Amaya and Catherine Kontz (A Certain Sense of Order), Sophie Seita (Beethoven Was a Lesbian), and Alex Ho/Julia Cheng.

A passionate educator, Woo was the music director of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for their 2024 and 2025 seasons and is the former music director of El Sistema Winnipeg. As a pianist, she has led performances from the piano with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony, and others.

Woo holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She has also studied mathematics, philosophy, and music at Yale College, the Yale School of Music, and Université de Montréal. The 2022 winner of the Canada Council’s prestigious Virginia Parker Prize, Woo is a member of Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership programme, and was chosen by her mentor Yannick Nézet-Séguin as a member of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s inaugural orchestral conducting academy. She acknowledges generous support over the years from the Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, Help Musicians UK, and the BC Arts Council.

Ning Feng is recognised internationally as an artist of great lyricism, innate musicality and stunning virtuosity. He performs across the globe with major orchestras and conductors, and in recital and chamber concerts in some of the most important international series and festivals. The Washington Post has described him as “a wonderful player with a creamy, easy tone and an emotional honesty” and Gramophone magazine said of his recent Brahms Sonatas recording that his “tone is simply ravishing, even when it soars into the stratosphere…”

Highlights of the 25/26 season include performances with The Hallé on tour in China, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Polish National Radio Symphony and Shanghai Symphony orchestras. In recent seasons Ning Feng has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras in the US.  In Europe he performs regularly with orchestras including Bavarian Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Vienna Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic. He has also performed many times with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, with whom he has toured Asia, Europe and Australia with van Zweden.

In China, Ning is held in the highest regard, appearing with all the major Chinese orchestras, in recital and regularly with visiting international orchestras such as the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, with whom he has performed several times in Budapest, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.  In 20/21 he was Artist-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and in 23/24 he was the Artist-in-Residence at the NCPA Beijing when he performed Mozart’s 5 Violin Concerti as well as the complete solo Sonatas and Partitas of Bach.  This season he will perform extensively throughout China as concerto soloist and in solo and chamber recital.

Ning performs regularly at London’s Wigmore Hall, returning in November 25 for a trio recital with Nelson Goerner and Edgar Moreau, in December 25 for the Beares Chamber Festival, in February 26 for a duo recital with Serena Wang and in June 27 for a duo recital with Xuefei Yang. Other highlights this season include trio recitals in France and Switzerland,  solo recitals in Boston and Italy and duo tour in China with Xuefei Yang . He has performed many times at Kissinger Sommer Festival and at other festivals including Schubertiade, Schleswig-Holstein, Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg and has collaborated with artists such as Daniel Müller-Schott, Nicholas Angelich and Igor Levit.

Ning records for Channel Classics.  His recording of Bach’s complete solo works for violin was hailed by Gramophone as “unlike anyone else’s… it’s the illusion of a freewheeling conversation projected from within”  His discography also includes concerti by Elgar and Tchaikovsky,  works for violin and orchestra by Bruch, Sarasate, Lalo, Ravel and others, the 24 Paganini Caprices and the complete Brahms Sonatas with Zee Zee. His next release in October 25 will be of Brahms and Goldmark Violin Concertos, with Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Antony Hermus.

Born in Chengdu, China, Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music with Weimin Hu, the Hanns Eisler School of Music (Berlin) with Antje Weithaas and the Royal Academy of Music (London) with Hu Kun.  He was First Prize winner of both the 2005 Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand) and 2006 International Paganini Competition.

Ning Feng plays the 1710 Stradivari violin known as the ‘Vieuxtemps Hauser’, by kind arrangement with Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, and plays on strings by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.  He lives in Berlin and is a Violin Professor at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule and also holds the position of International Chair of Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In China, he is the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Academy at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and Vice-Dean of the Violin Institute at Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

As one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, Chinese Australian Li-Wei Qin has appeared all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. After being awarded the Silver Medal at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition, Li-Wei won First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York.  “A superbly stylish, raptly intuitive performer ” (Gramophone Magazine, January 2015) was the description of the cellist’s Elgar and Walton concerti recording with the London Philharmonic.

Two times soloist at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with many of the world’s great orchestras including all the BBC symphony orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, La Verdi Orchestra Milan, Finnish Radio Orchestra Helsinki, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Prague Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony among many others. Leading conductors with whom he has worked include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Harding, Jacob Hrusa, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Jaap Van Zweden, Simone Young, Yu Long, Lv Jia, Tan Dun, the late Marchello Viotti, Sir Andrew Davis, Jiri Belohlavek and Lord Menuhin. Li-Wei has also appeared with chamber orchestras such as the Kremerata Baltika, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Munich, the Manchester, the Zurich, the Australian Chamber Orchestras.

Recent and upcoming concerts includes debuts with the Gothenburg Symphony Sweden (Choe) , New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ( Northey), New Japan Philharmonic (Hisaishi), BBC Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Petrenko). Return visits include to the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

In recital and chamber music, Li-Wei is a regular guest at the City of London, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festivals, Wigmore hall London and the Lincoln Centre Chamber Music Society New York, with musicians including Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Cho-liang Lin, Peter Frankel, the Danish and Jerusalem Quartets.

He has recordings on Universal Music/Decca with Singapore Symphony, on Sony Classical with Shanghai Symphony, and on ABC Classics with London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Li-Wei was invited to join the BBC ‘New Generations’ scheme in 2001, and in 2002 received the Young Australian of the Year Award. Other major invitations included appearances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (New Zealand Symphony), 2012 London Olympics, Davos World Economics Forum (Basel Symphony) and the Fortune Global Forum 2017 Opening Ceremony.

Prior to teaching at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, National University of Singapore, Li-Wei taught at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester. Currently he is also a guest professor at Shanghai and Central Conservatory of Music in China, as well as guest professor in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music. Li-Wei is in much demand world-wide for masterclasses and as a member of jury in international competition such as Geneva, Isangyun, Paulo, Schoenfeld and Young Tchaikovsky. As artistic director, Li-Wei successful founded the annual Qingdao International Cello festival in 2018. Li-Wei plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr Wilson Goh and 2016 Y. Chen Cello with Opal strings and JLM cases.

Chris Hoyle has enjoyed a long career on the concert platform and in the teaching studio. He has embraced the variety of orchestral playing, chamber music performance, solo playing and teaching. These activities have taken him around the world. 

He has worked with many of the UK’s finest orchestras and was a member of the BBC Philharmonic for 23 years, frequently broadcasting for radio and TV  and performing in over 100 BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall. He particularly enjoyed the touring life, giving concerts around Europe, the Americas and the Far East. Amongst many striking venues, he recalls performing in the Sahara desert for the King of Morocco!

As Head of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music, he enjoys working with students, enabling them to reach their maximum potential and finding their niche in today’s professional world. 

He believes that the RNCM School of Strings should be an ambitious and supportive community in which staff and students flourish. When time allows, he enjoys performing alongside students and colleagues. 

He fondly remembers his own studies there, highlights of which were winning the RNCM’s Concerto Prize leading to his performance of Britten’s Cello Symphony and his BBC Masterclass appearance with Paul Tortelier. He performed Schnittke’s Cello Sonata to the composer as part of the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

He was brought up in the great traditions of the French cello playing school, learning with Alexander Baillie and Peter Worrall, themselves students of André Navarra; with Raphael Sommer, himself a student of Paul Tortelier; with Maud Tortelier, herself a student of Pierre Fournier, and with Paul Tortelier, himself a student of Louis Feuillard and collaborator with Pablo Casals.

He is keen to pass on this learning to the next generation of cellists. 

Catherine Yates is Deputy Head of the School of Strings at the RNCM. She began her musical studies with Marion Hillier, before going on to study at Chetham’s School of Music and the RNCM. Here, her teachers included Malcolm Layfield and Lydia Mordkovich. Further training included courses at Yale University and the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh. In 1989 she became a member of the Sorrel Quartet which was formed at the RNCM under the tutelage of Dr Christopher Rowland and worked regularly with members of the Vermeer, Borodin, Alban Berg and Allegri Quartets.

The Quartet went on to become one of Britain’s foremost ensembles, performing extensively both at home and abroad and broadcasting regularly on BBC Radio, and a long association with Chandos Records saw the recording of twelve discs. These include the complete Quartets of Shostakovich, all the major quartet works of Britten and a critically acclaimed disc of the Elgar Quartet and Piano Quintet, with pianist Ian Brown.

Catherine’s career took a sharp change of direction in 2007, with her appointment as Principal Second Violin with the Hallé. She held this position for six years, combining symphony orchestra life with a busy programme of teaching and chamber music, both as violinist and viola player. After leaving the Halle, she took up her current position at the RNCM whilst continuing to perform regularly as Guest Principal with many leading orchestras, including BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Welsh National Opera. She continues to fuel her passion for chamber music and is involved with a number of charitable organisations that support young musicians.

Gina McCormack is a Professor of Violin at the RNCM and is well established as one of Britain’s leading violinists and chamber musicians, switching effortlessly between concertos, recitals, quartet-playing and orchestral leading.

Gina led the Sorrel Quartet for 13 years, making frequent BBC Radio 3 broadcasts with the group as well as recording 12 CDs for the Chandos label, including the complete cycle of Shostakovich quartets and works by Britten, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Elgar. She then spent two years leading the Brodsky Quartet, with tours to Mexico, Australia and NZ, and around Europe. Her love of dance led to a long collaboration with choreographer Matthew Bourne, leading the orchestra for his many iconic shows. She is now concentrating on her solo work, especially recitals with her regular duo partner, pianist Nigel Clayton.

Ning Feng is recognised internationally as an artist of great lyricism, innate musicality and stunning virtuosity. He performs across the globe with major orchestras and conductors, and in recital and chamber concerts in some of the most important international series and festivals. The Washington Post has described him as “a wonderful player with a creamy, easy tone and an emotional honesty” and Gramophone magazine said of his recent Brahms Sonatas recording that his “tone is simply ravishing, even when it soars into the stratosphere…”

Highlights of the 25/26 season include performances with The Hallé on tour in China, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, Polish National Radio Symphony and Shanghai Symphony orchestras. In recent seasons Ning Feng has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, National Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras in the US.  In Europe he performs regularly with orchestras including Bavarian Radio Symphony, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Vienna Radio, Helsinki Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic. He has also performed many times with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, with whom he has toured Asia, Europe and Australia with van Zweden.

In China, Ning is held in the highest regard, appearing with all the major Chinese orchestras, in recital and regularly with visiting international orchestras such as the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, with whom he has performed several times in Budapest, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.  In 20/21 he was Artist-in-Residence with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and in 23/24 he was the Artist-in-Residence at the NCPA Beijing when he performed Mozart’s 5 Violin Concerti as well as the complete solo Sonatas and Partitas of Bach.  This season he will perform extensively throughout China as concerto soloist and in solo and chamber recital.

Ning performs regularly at London’s Wigmore Hall, returning in November 25 for a trio recital with Nelson Goerner and Edgar Moreau, in December 25 for the Beares Chamber Festival, in February 26 for a duo recital with Serena Wang and in June 27 for a duo recital with Xuefei Yang. Other highlights this season include trio recitals in France and Switzerland,  solo recitals in Boston and Italy and duo tour in China with Xuefei Yang . He has performed many times at Kissinger Sommer Festival and at other festivals including Schubertiade, Schleswig-Holstein, Heidelberg, Ludwigsburg and has collaborated with artists such as Daniel Müller-Schott, Nicholas Angelich and Igor Levit.

Ning records for Channel Classics.  His recording of Bach’s complete solo works for violin was hailed by Gramophone as “unlike anyone else’s… it’s the illusion of a freewheeling conversation projected from within”  His discography also includes concerti by Elgar and Tchaikovsky,  works for violin and orchestra by Bruch, Sarasate, Lalo, Ravel and others, the 24 Paganini Caprices and the complete Brahms Sonatas with Zee Zee. His next release in October 25 will be of Brahms and Goldmark Violin Concertos, with Konzerthausorchester Berlin and Antony Hermus.

Born in Chengdu, China, Ning Feng studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music with Weimin Hu, the Hanns Eisler School of Music (Berlin) with Antje Weithaas and the Royal Academy of Music (London) with Hu Kun.  He was First Prize winner of both the 2005 Michael Hill International Violin Competition (New Zealand) and 2006 International Paganini Competition.

Ning Feng plays the 1710 Stradivari violin known as the ‘Vieuxtemps Hauser’, by kind arrangement with Premiere Performances of Hong Kong, and plays on strings by Thomastik-Infeld, Vienna.  He lives in Berlin and is a Violin Professor at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule and also holds the position of International Chair of Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In China, he is the Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Academy at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and Vice-Dean of the Violin Institute at Sichuan Conservatory of Music.

As one of the most sought-after cellists of his generation, Chinese Australian Li-Wei Qin has appeared all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. After being awarded the Silver Medal at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition, Li-Wei won First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York.  “A superbly stylish, raptly intuitive performer ” (Gramophone Magazine, January 2015) was the description of the cellist’s Elgar and Walton concerti recording with the London Philharmonic.

Two times soloist at the BBC Proms in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with many of the world’s great orchestras including all the BBC symphony orchestras, Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra Hamburg, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, La Verdi Orchestra Milan, Finnish Radio Orchestra Helsinki, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Prague Symphony, Osaka Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Melbourne Symphony among many others. Leading conductors with whom he has worked include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Harding, Jacob Hrusa, Eliahu Inbal, Marek Janowski, Gianandrea Noseda, Vasily Petrenko, Jaap Van Zweden, Simone Young, Yu Long, Lv Jia, Tan Dun, the late Marchello Viotti, Sir Andrew Davis, Jiri Belohlavek and Lord Menuhin. Li-Wei has also appeared with chamber orchestras such as the Kremerata Baltika, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Munich, the Manchester, the Zurich, the Australian Chamber Orchestras.

Recent and upcoming concerts includes debuts with the Gothenburg Symphony Sweden (Choe) , New Zealand Symphony Orchestra ( Northey), New Japan Philharmonic (Hisaishi), BBC Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Petrenko). Return visits include to the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras.

In recital and chamber music, Li-Wei is a regular guest at the City of London, Rheingau and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festivals, Wigmore hall London and the Lincoln Centre Chamber Music Society New York, with musicians including Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Cho-liang Lin, Peter Frankel, the Danish and Jerusalem Quartets.

He has recordings on Universal Music/Decca with Singapore Symphony, on Sony Classical with Shanghai Symphony, and on ABC Classics with London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Li-Wei was invited to join the BBC ‘New Generations’ scheme in 2001, and in 2002 received the Young Australian of the Year Award. Other major invitations included appearances at the 2008 Beijing Olympics (New Zealand Symphony), 2012 London Olympics, Davos World Economics Forum (Basel Symphony) and the Fortune Global Forum 2017 Opening Ceremony.

Prior to teaching at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, National University of Singapore, Li-Wei taught at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester. Currently he is also a guest professor at Shanghai and Central Conservatory of Music in China, as well as guest professor in Chamber Music at the Royal Northern College of Music. Li-Wei is in much demand world-wide for masterclasses and as a member of jury in international competition such as Geneva, Isangyun, Paulo, Schoenfeld and Young Tchaikovsky. As artistic director, Li-Wei successful founded the annual Qingdao International Cello festival in 2018. Li-Wei plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr Wilson Goh and 2016 Y. Chen Cello with Opal strings and JLM cases.

International viola performer Su is currently a professor at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing, where she is also supervisor of orchestral training and research.

In addition, she is a renowned instructor at the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and a much sought-after consultant for the Asian Youth Orchestra and the Syndicate of Beijing Musicians’ Association. She is highly honoured to be a representative of the Tenth Chinese National Women’s Congress.

Su was admitted to the orchestral music department of CCOM, where she studied with Professor Wang Zhenshan. After graduation, due to her outstanding achievements, she was appointed as Assistant Principal viola in the China National Symphony Orchestra when she was only twenty-three years old.

In 1996, Su won a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she pursued postgraduate studies with the distinguished professor John White. She won the majority of the viola awards at the Academy, and was a prizewinner at the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition.

From 2000—2004, Su held the post of assistant principal viola of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. As a solo violist and chamber musician she has given solo and ensemble concerts all over the world, including international festivals in Edinburgh and Geneva, the International Arts Festival in Tokyo and the International Viola Arts Festival in the UK.

In 2004, Su was invited to return to CCOM in Beijing to become the youngest full professor of viola. In 2006, Su was awarded the Huo Yingdong Outstanding Youth Teacher by the Ministry of Education of China. She has been invited to teach at many international masterclasses, including the Great Mountains International Music Festival in Korea, the Great Wall International Music Festival and at the Austria Academy of Music.

Su was a jury member at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in 2010 and at the 2011 Beijing International Music Competition.

For Théotime Voisin, the double bass is a boyhood passion which has continued to grow over the years. His musical qualities – excellent technique, precision, a limpid style, and an interest in the most diverse aspects of music – have allowed him to explore a considerable portion of the classical literature for the double bass.

Joining the European Union Youth Orchestra for 6 consecutive years at just fourteen, he quickly becomes an appreciated substitute player in the main French orchestras. After spending the 2013-2014 concert season as guest principal double bass of the Swiss Romande Orchestra in Geneva, he wins in 2015 the principal position of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and is currently assistant principal double bass in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.

A reputed chamber musician, Théotime Voisin has played with a number of chamber music ensembles in France and abroad. On several occasions, he has been invited to take part in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland working with Robert Mann of the Julliard Quartet, Nobuko Imai, Kazuki Yamada and Seiji Ozawa. He also performed at the Verbier festival in Switzerland with Martin Fröst, Julien Quentin, and Daniel Lozakovich, and at the Pablo Casals Festival.

He is also regularly invited to perform as a soloist with orchestra, or in recital.

His interest in contemporary music led him to premier a work for the Radio Suisse Romande in October 2010 and to integrate the Lemanic Modern Ensemble in Geneva. Furthermore, he joined in 2014 the Lucerne Festival Academy to work with members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Théotime Voisin was born in 1992. He first became interested in the double bass at 5 thanks to Jean Ané, principal double bassist at the Montpellier National Orchestra. At fifteen, he undertook studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon with Bernard Cazauran, principal double bassist at the Orchestre de Paris, and graduated with highest honors. He continued his studies with Alberto Bocini at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève where he obtained an instrumental soloist Master’s degree with highest honors and received the Henry Brolliet Prize. He went on to study at the Bern Hochschule der Künste with Rinat Ibragimov, principal double bassist at the London Symphony Orchestra. He concluded his studies in 2016 with a Soloist Diploma in the class of Božo Paradžik at the Freiburg Musikhochschule where he was awarded the Spehl Prize. He has taken part in numerous master classes in which he has had the opportunity to perfect his technique and musicianship with such acclaimed double bassists as Jean-Paul Céléa, Jurek Dybal, Giuseppe Ettore and Duncan McTier.

Théotime Voisin has won awards at a number of international competitions: the 2008 Valentino Bucchi International Competition in Rome, the 2010 Festival Musical d’Automne de Jeunes Interprètes International Competition, the 2010 Sperger International Competition (Interpretation Award), the 2011 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in San Francisco, and the Bass 2012 International Solo Competition in Copenhagen. He also received support from the Fondation d’Entreprise Banque Populaire.

In October 2011, his adventurous spirit and generosity inspired him to organize a fund-raising tour in Ecuador for the benefit of children with cancer. He took advantage of his stay in Ecuador to offer master classes in several conservatories and collaborate with the Ecuadorian popular singer Hernan Sotomayor.

He has recorded in 2013 a CD dedicated to French music on Italian label NBB records, ‘Contre-jour, Musica francese al Contrabbasso’.

Théotime Voisin plays a double bass crafted by French string instrument maker Jean Auray.

Jeremy is the Head of Chamber Music at the RNCM.

He coaches all disciplines in ensemble performance specialising in piano chamber music – and is also a Senior Piano Tutor in the School of Keyboard Studies.

A founder member of the Manchester Piano Trio, Jeremy has also partnered many of the worlds most distinguished musicians including Olivier Charlier, Mark Padmore, Julian Bliss, Liwei Qin, Peter Cropper, Roderick Williams, Thomas Riebl and Karine Georgian in venues such as the Lincoln Center (New York), Herbst Theater (San Fransisco), National Concert Hall (Dublin), Esplanade Hall (Singapore), Almaty Concert Hall (Kazakhstan) and Wigmore Hall. Festival appearances include Mecklenburg –Vorpommern, Graz, Lake District, Harrogate, Endellion, Brighton, City of London and Dartington.

He has also appeared as solo recitalist at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, The Arts House (Singapore), Hsingchu Concert Hall (Taiwan), Bridgewater Hall (Manchester) and the Southbank Centre and has performed concerti under the baton of Sir Richard Hickox and Marcus Stenz.

Jeremy has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, RTÉ Lyric FM, BBCTV, Channel 4 and radio in USA, China, Russia and much of Europe. His recordings are available on EMI Asia, Decca, Sony, Meridian, Signum, Champs Hill and Somm.

An internationally recognised teacher, Jeremy has given classes at Yong-Siew Toh Conservatory – Singapore, Shanghai Conservatory, Hsingchu University – Taiwan,  Sibelius Academy in Finland, Conservatorio di Verona, Yehudi Menuhin School, Royal Academy of Music, Tunnell Trust and the European Chamber Music Academy.

In 2006 Jeremy founded the Alfriston Summer Music Festival in Sussex (now South Downs Summer Music) which he directed for 10 years and of which he remains the Chairman. He curated ‘Haydn –The Innovator’ Festival in Manchester in 2007, ‘O Albion’ – Chamber Music of the British Isles Festival’ in 2010 and BudaFest – Music of Hungary Festival at RNCM in 2017.

Jeremy Young studied at the Purcell School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music.

South-African born Zoë Beyers has established a reputation as one of the finest and most versatile violinists based in the UK, and performs worldwide as soloist, chamber musician, director and orchestral leader. In 2020 she was appointed Leader of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Zoë appears regularly as guest leader of the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, the CBSO, the Philharmonia, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Orquesta Nacional de España at the invitation of Maestro Juanjo Mena. Since 2017, Zoë has been the concertmaster of the English Symphony Orchestra, collaborating closely with them as director and soloist.

As a chamber musician Zoë appears with the Hebrides Ensemble, Nash Ensemble, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the London Sinfonietta. She has recently joined the renowned Dante Quartet as their first violinist. Zoë has a passionate interest in education, teaching at the Birmingham Conservatoire and coaching violinists and ensembles at the start of their careers. She is proud to be involved in ARCO, a distance learning collaboration between Birmingham Conservatoire and students in deprived areas of South Africa.

For Théotime Voisin, the double bass is a boyhood passion which has continued to grow over the years. His musical qualities – excellent technique, precision, a limpid style, and an interest in the most diverse aspects of music – have allowed him to explore a considerable portion of the classical literature for the double bass.

Joining the European Union Youth Orchestra for 6 consecutive years at just fourteen, he quickly becomes an appreciated substitute player in the main French orchestras. After spending the 2013-2014 concert season as guest principal double bass of the Swiss Romande Orchestra in Geneva, he wins in 2015 the principal position of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and is currently assistant principal double bass in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam.

A reputed chamber musician, Théotime Voisin has played with a number of chamber music ensembles in France and abroad. On several occasions, he has been invited to take part in the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland working with Robert Mann of the Julliard Quartet, Nobuko Imai, Kazuki Yamada and Seiji Ozawa. He also performed at the Verbier festival in Switzerland with Martin Fröst, Julien Quentin, and Daniel Lozakovich, and at the Pablo Casals Festival.

He is also regularly invited to perform as a soloist with orchestra, or in recital.

His interest in contemporary music led him to premier a work for the Radio Suisse Romande in October 2010 and to integrate the Lemanic Modern Ensemble in Geneva. Furthermore, he joined in 2014 the Lucerne Festival Academy to work with members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain.

Théotime Voisin was born in 1992. He first became interested in the double bass at 5 thanks to Jean Ané, principal double bassist at the Montpellier National Orchestra. At fifteen, he undertook studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Lyon with Bernard Cazauran, principal double bassist at the Orchestre de Paris, and graduated with highest honors. He continued his studies with Alberto Bocini at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève where he obtained an instrumental soloist Master’s degree with highest honors and received the Henry Brolliet Prize. He went on to study at the Bern Hochschule der Künste with Rinat Ibragimov, principal double bassist at the London Symphony Orchestra. He concluded his studies in 2016 with a Soloist Diploma in the class of Božo Paradžik at the Freiburg Musikhochschule where he was awarded the Spehl Prize. He has taken part in numerous master classes in which he has had the opportunity to perfect his technique and musicianship with such acclaimed double bassists as Jean-Paul Céléa, Jurek Dybal, Giuseppe Ettore and Duncan McTier.

Théotime Voisin has won awards at a number of international competitions: the 2008 Valentino Bucchi International Competition in Rome, the 2010 Festival Musical d’Automne de Jeunes Interprètes International Competition, the 2010 Sperger International Competition (Interpretation Award), the 2011 International Society of Bassists Solo Competition in San Francisco, and the Bass 2012 International Solo Competition in Copenhagen. He also received support from the Fondation d’Entreprise Banque Populaire.

In October 2011, his adventurous spirit and generosity inspired him to organize a fund-raising tour in Ecuador for the benefit of children with cancer. He took advantage of his stay in Ecuador to offer master classes in several conservatories and collaborate with the Ecuadorian popular singer Hernan Sotomayor.

He has recorded in 2013 a CD dedicated to French music on Italian label NBB records, ‘Contre-jour, Musica francese al Contrabbasso’.

Théotime Voisin plays a double bass crafted by French string instrument maker Jean Auray.