As concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musician competition in 2002, Sarah Williamson gave a highly individual performance of the Copland Clarinet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. She has since made the Copland Concerto her own culminating in the recent release of a highly acclaimed recording under the baton of David Curtis and the Orchestra of the Swan, a recording which includes a winning performance of the Finzi Clarinet Concerto. According to Classical Music Magazine her Copland is "a convincing fusion of jazzy vitality and mellifluous tone" and "a perfect counterfoil is the anxiety-tinged lyricism of the Finzi." This recording was CD of the Week on Classic FM Radio and chosen for CD Review on BBC Radio 3.
Sarah was the featured "Rising Star" in BBC Music Magazine, "Hot Property" in Classic FM Magazine, cover artist in Classical Music Magazine, "G Spot" artist in Muso Magazine and the "One to Watch" in Gramophone and most recently front cover and feature article, again in Muso Magazine.
Winner of numerous awards and scholarships, Sarah studied at Le Conservatoire Supéwrier de Musique et de Danse de Paris, graduating with the Premier Prix and a 'Laureate', the highest honour. Sarah has toured the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia (British Council), USA, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Spain. She has performed at festivals across the UK and made her débuts at Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Royal Albert Hall. Currently based in Britain, Sarah also plays throughout Europe and made her début in Japan in early 2010.
Concerto performances have included the Philharmonia (in the Royal Albert Hall), the Orchestra of St John's and the BBC Concert Orchestra (broadcast live), the Brighton Philharmonic (Nielsen Concerto), the Orchestra of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the City of London Sinfonia and a tour of Cyprus with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlo Ponti Jr Chamber concerts have included performances with the Sacconi, Doric and Carducci Quartets. Sarah is active in the field of contemporary music, working with a number of composers including Joseph Phibbs who has written for Sarah both a Clarinet Sonata, premiered at Wigmore Hall, and a Clarinet Concerto which Sarah premiered at Cadogan Hall.
"A superb player" (Michael Church, The Independent)
John Reid's career to date has shown him to be a pianist of notable versatility and range, with wide experience as an outstanding chamber musician, song accompanist, soloist and exponent of new music.
In recital, he has worked with artists including singers Joan Rodgers, Dame Felicity Lott, Lucy Crowe, Nicholas Mulroy, William Berger and Diana Moore; instrumentalists Thomas Gould, Adam Walker, Alexander Baillie, Alison Balsom, Gemma Rosefield, Jennifer Pike, Timothy Orpen, Sarah Williamson, Oliver Coates and William Bennett; as well as with groups including the Barbirolli Quartet, the Emanuel Ensemble, the Aurora Wind Ensemble and members of the Northern Sinfonia and the Britten Sinfonia. He has given recitals at Wigmore Hall and the other major London venues; in recent seasons he has also made debuts at Bridgewater Hall; The Sage Centre, Gateshead; Salisbury Cathedral (a solo recital as part of the 750th anniversary celebrations); the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and in Italy, Switzerland, Germany (Mecklenburg Festival), France, Slovenia (Maribor Festival), Denmark (the Langvad Chamber Music 'Jamboree') and the Middle East. He has given numerous concerts at festivals and music clubs across the UK, often under the auspices of YCAT and the Tillett and Countess of Munster trusts.
He was a founder member of the contemporary chamber music group Radius and has also worked with the Ossian Ensemble. At the centre of this work, he has given over fifteen first performances by composers including Ian Vine, Errollyn Wallen, Raymond Yiu and members of the Camberwell Composers Collective. He enjoys ongoing collaborations with Martin Suckling, whose set of Songs Without Words he commissioned and premiered at the 2010 Chelsea Schubert Festival; and Emily Hall, whose Love Songs he has played at the Aldeburgh Faster than Sound and Latitude Festivals, and whose Life Cycle he will perform (with cellist Oliver Coates and singer-songwriter Mara Carlyle) during 2011 at the South Bank and at Opera North. He is a principal player of the Aurora Orchestra, with whom he has appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival, at King’s Place, the BBC Proms and the Proms Plus series (as part of the Inspire competition for young composers).
He has recorded numerous times for Radio 3, most recently as part of the Genius of Mozart series. Releases on disc include premiere recordings of music by York Bowen (works for two pianos with Michael Dussek for Dutton Epoch), Clifford Benson (for Landor Records), Rhian Samuel (for Deux Elles), Charles Camilleri (for Divine Art) and Nico Muhly (with Aurora for Decca). A disc of trios and duos with the Emanuel Ensemble - including rarely- heard music by Louise Farrenc and Nikolai Kapustin - is scheduled for release by Champs Hill Records in 2011.
John Reid read music and musicology at Clare College, Cambridge, before taking up a scholarship to study with Michael Dussek at the Royal Academy of Music. He has also taken lessons in song interpretation with Malcolm Martineau, in Amsterdam with Rudolf Jansen and at the Britten-Pears School. While still a student, he won the coveted Gerald Moore Award, as well as the pianist prizes at the Kathleen Ferrier and Maggie Teyte competitions. He was awarded the Queen's Commendation for Excellence on graduating, and is now an Associate of the RAM.