VIOLIN / VIOLA

Scottish violist and violinist Kay Stephen is passionate about ensemble playing in all of its forms, and loves the spontaneity and communication of making music with others.

As a chamber musician she has been a recipient of numerous awards including the Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Prize and the Audience Engagement Prize at the Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition, Graz. She has been supported by the City Music Foundation, the Tunnell Trust and twice by the Park Lane Group, performing regularly at major UK venues including Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, the Wigmore Hall, the Cadogan Hall and frequently on BBC Radio 3.

Kay is a member of the Jacquin Trio alongside clarinettist Jessie Grimes and pianist Charis Hanning. The trio have performed all over the world, most recently touring New Zealand and making their debut at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall. She was violist with the award winning Gildas Quartet for nearly ten years, performing with them worldwide and recording for Champs Hill. Kay has also performed with ensembles such as the Consone, Elias, Navarra, and Edinburgh quartets, and the Manchester Collective, the Vonnegut Collective, Red Note Ensemble and the United Strings of Europe. Formerly co-principal viola with the Manchester Camerata, she appeared many times as principal and as soloist with the orchestra.

She has been invited as guest principal viola with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, Camerata Alma Viva, as co-principal with the BBC Philharmonic and the Britten Sinfonia, and as a freelance player with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Aurora Orchestra. She also performs as violinist with orchestras such as the London Contemporary Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Hallé and the Gabrieli Consort.

In 2020 she recorded works for piano quintet and sextet by Thomas Adès and Tullis Rennie with the Vonnegut Collective. The disc was described as: "Savagely elegant, approachable — and wholly satisfying," in BBC Music Magazine.

Through a long time musical collaboration with clarinettist and composer Jack McNeill, Kay joined twelve piece cross-genre ensemble, Propellor for their residency at Snape Maltings. The band has gone on to perform at some of the country's most prestigious music festivals, released their debut album, Loom, and contributed to the podcast, Flight, which also tours as a live show.

www.kaystephen.com

VIOLIN / VIOLA

Anna is a versatile violinist and violist known for her performances across various musical genres and settings, exploring classical,
contemporary, folk, and historically informed performance. She has played with the Philharmonia, the Halle and BBCSSO across Europe and Asia, and has led the Multi Story Orchestra, Riot Ensemble, and English Touring Opera.

Alongside the Florian Ensemble, Anna is a member of the Lantivet Duo, where she explores, writes and performs music that fuses classical and folk styles. She has
collaborated with other chamber groups such as the Dante Quartet, Gildas Quartet, 12 Ensemble, and the Ruisi Quartet. As well as traditional venues like the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Egg in Beijing, the Elbphilharmonie and Ronnie Scotts, Anna enjoys performing in unconventional spaces including car parks with the Multi Story Orchestra. Anna is committed to creating unique musical experiences, organizing living room concert tours and garden performances with the Lantivet Duo to connect intimately with audiences.

In her spare time Anna likes swimming, board games and nerding out about history.

Lantivet Duo website

CELLO

Chris Terepin is a versatile string player and musicologist. An unusual combination of modern cellist and viol player, his musicianship resists divisions between ‘early music’ and ‘mainstream performance’, in favour of imagination, experimentation, and collaboration.

He has worked with various period instrument ensembles including acclaimed viol consorts Phantasm and Fretwork, Figure Ensemble, Three Parts Vied, K’antu Ensemble, The Hanover Band, Liverpool Bach Collective, and Manchester Baroque. As a bass viol player he collaborates with harpsichordist Nathaniel Mander. Chris has appeared at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Cadogan Hall, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, and many UK music societies, and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, both live and on record. As a modern cellist - though on gut strings - he plays with the Fortescue Duo and Tresillian Trio, while freelancing with some orchestras including Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra (as principal), Manchester Camerata, Outcry Ensemble, London Music Collective, and the London Musical Arts Orchestra. Recent solo appearances include concertos by William Walton and Gerald Finzi. He has also collaborated with the Gildas Quartet, the Lantivet Duo, jazz musicians Callum Au and Nigel Price, and singer-songwriter Sam Jefferson.

Chris grew up in rural West Berkshire and read music at Magdalen College, Oxford before pursuing studies in cello at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. He is now based in South London. His teachers included Raphael Wallfisch, Philip Higham, Laurence Dreyfus, and Jonathan Manson. He is a passionate coach of chamber music, and has taught at Benslow Music, as well as on regular courses run by the Florian Ensemble. He also teaches at King’s College London.

His PhD was closely related to this interest in ensemble playing. Supervised by Prof. Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, it developed a radical perspective on the idea of musical ‘togetherness’ on the basis of early recorded string quartet playing.

www.christerepin.com

PIANO

With family roots in Vancouver and Hong Kong, pianist Charis Hanning made London her home after arriving there as a student in 2009. Her sense of adventure is ever-present, making her a versatile, creative and spirited artist. 

Experienced in solo, accompaniment and chamber music, Charis loves most of all to collaborate with others. She is a founding member of the Tresillian Trio and the Jacquin Trio, an audacious classical chamber ensemble dedicated to exploring, expanding and celebrating music for the inimitable combination of clarinet, viola/violin and piano. The only group to have won both the Royal Overseas League and St Martin-in-the-Fields Competitions, the Jacquins have been making music together for the best part of a decade.

Charis has worked with instrumentalists and singers from around the world in places such as Fundación Juan March and the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and in the UK at Cadogan Hall and Purcell Room, as well as on BBC Radio 3. Other performance highlights include Rye Festival, North Norfolk Music Festival, Cheltenham Contemporary Concerts, Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Fringe. She has also combined with singers at the Aldeburgh English Song Project and Vancouver International Song Institute.

Beyond her concert schedule, Charis takes great delight in inspiring music-lovers and music-novices alike, having worked with Aldeburgh Young Musicians and Young Artist Experience (Canada). She coaches chamber groups and gives masterclasses for young musicians, is staff pianist and teacher at Trinity Laban’s Junior Department, mentors artists for Live Music Now, leads creative workshops and gives teacher-trainings.