AJSW Classical music concert in London:
July 2011

KiyoTakahashi gained a Bachelor of Music degree from the Tokyo College of Music, and was selected to perform at the Young Artist Concert series in Yokohama.

In 2001 she moved to London, where she completed a Mmus degree at the Royal Academy of Music, complementing her studies of harpsichord and fortepiano. Although her interpretations and performances of contemporary pieces have received much acclaim, she has been very interested in the works of J.S. Bach since a young age: her deep interest toward baroque music has allowed her to develop a remarkable repertoire, focused also, in accordance with her passion, on interpretations of pieces written for harpsichord and fortepiano.

At the present moment she is based in Italy, where she leads an eclectic artistic life, performing both solo recitals and chamber music as well as accompaniment for singers.

Recently she recorded pieces of Satie and Ravel for the short film "Desire" of the Japanese director Rica Shinobu.

Leading the quartet used for the concerto instead of the orchestral score is violinist Ayako Yamazaki who started musical life at the age of three with the piano and singing lessons and started playing the violin a year later. Having studied with Masumi Ueda, Masayuki Miyakawa and Kazuki Sawa in Japan, she moved to London, where she studied with Jean Harvey and Richard Deakin at the Royal Academy of Music. She is currently working with a legendary master Bela Katona.  

As a soloist and chamber musician, she performs through the U.K., as well as in Italy and Japan. Venues include St. James’s Church Piccadilly (London) and Ongaku-no-tomo Hall (Tokyo). Her orchestral experiences include leader of the Royal Academy’s Modern Instrument Baroque Orchestra, co-leader of the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and London Chamber Players, and performances in Philharmonia Orchestra, New London Sinfonia and Arion Orchestra. The experiences of playing with conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and Vladimir Ashkenazi have given her so much inspiration. In 2005, she toured to Algeria to work as a co-leader at the National Orchestra of Algeria. Having much interest also in Baroque music, she leads a consort for the choral works and operas of that period.  

Ayako leads a quartet organised to support Kiyo's rendition of Chopin's famous piano concerto

2) Hiroko Yamamoto(piano) with Helen Wills (Flute)

13 July 2011, 1:15 to 2:00pm at St. Dunstan-In-The-West

Hiroko Yamamoto: After studying with late Geraldine Mason Harriosn,Hiroko graduated from Trinity College of Music and studied piano with 2 Russian pianists,Alexander Ardakov and Nina Sereda, as well as studying classical singing with Elizabeth Haws, John Wakefield and Penny Clark She won her pianoforte prize at Beethoven Piano Competition in Shiga prefecture in Japan awarded by NHK. She also was awarded The Anthony Lindsay Piano Prize by Trinity College of Music. She has been performing at various churches in London & Japan and later this year she will be taking part in AJSW 15th Anniversary year concert at St George's International Concert venue in Bristol performing 8 hands with 3 other pianists.

Helen Wills read Music at King’s College, London and then continued her studies with Lynda Coffin at Trinity College of Music. During 2003 she held the position of Sub-Principal Flute doubling on Piccolo with the National Orchestra of Malta. In 2006 Helen returned to Malta to give a solo recital and masterclasses as part of the Malta Flute Festival. In 2009 Helen played Vivaldi’s Il Gardellino Concerto and Bach’s Orchestral Suite No 2 at St John’s, Smith Square. In 2010 Helen gave performances of Chaminade’s Concertino and Mozart’s Concerto in D Major. Helen has worked with orchestras such as Opera East, Southern Pro Musica and is the Principal Flute with St Paul’s Sinfonia.

3) Hiroko Yamamoto (piano) with Samuel Kopelman (violin)

20 July 2011, 1:15 to 2:00pm at St. Dunstan-In-The-West

Hiroko Yamamoto: After studying with late Geraldine Mason Harriosn,Hiroko graduated from Trinity College of Music and studied piano with 2 Russian pianists, Alexander Ardakov and Nina Sereda, as well as studying classical singing with Elizabeth Haws, John Wakefield and Penny Clark . She won her pianoforte prize at Beethoven Piano Competition in Shiga prefecture in Japan awarded by NHK. She also was awarded The Anthony Lindsay Piano Prize by Trinity College of Music. She has been performing at various churches in London & Japan and later this year she will be taking part in AJSW 15th Anniversary year concert at St George's International Concert venue in Bristol performing 8 hands with 3 other pianists.

Hiroko is grateful to perform with her piano teacher Mrs Nina Sereda's son Samuel today and also to have enormous help and inspiration from Mrs Sereda.

Samuel Kopelman was born in London of Russian parents. He began his study of the violin at four, encouraged by his father Mikhail Kopelman, leader of the Borodin Quartet for over twenty years. He attended the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music for three years before being awarded a music scholarship to Eton College. There he lead the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and String Quartet, the latter performing for Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as being invited by Lady Walton to perform on the Island of Ischia, Italy. In his final yearat Eton he performed Chausson'sPoeme with the Symphony Orchestra. Heis currently in his second year at UCL, studying Russian and Management.'

4) Chiho Tsunakawa (piano)

22 July 2011, 1:10 to 2:00pm at St. James.

A remarkable young pianist, Chiho Tsunakawa was born in Japan and began learning piano at the age of 3. When she was only 12, at the recommendation of pianist Max Yoshimura, Chiho migrated to London to study piano as a pupil of Noretta Conci-Leech - a greatest pupil of Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Later she became a student of Tessa Nicholson at the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music where she also took violin lessons with Carol Slater. She attended the Arts Educational School, London, before she joined the Purcell School of Music. There she was chosen to represent the Piano department and gave many performances. After that, Chiho received a scholarship to study at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music (Bachelor of Music and Post Graduate diploma degree) under Tessa Nicholson and Rustem Hayroudinoff, where she won numerous internal prizes. Last Summer, Chiho has gained her Master's degree at the Royal College of Music, under Gordon Fergus-Thompson.

Chiho has given solo performances on NHK Radio in Japan twice and her Schubert’s Trout Quintet performance at the Wigmore Hall was also broadcasted on radio in London. Chiho has been a prizewinner over 25 times in competitions, including the 1st prize for 2000 Christopher Duke Memorial award and Marlow International Concerto Competition. Chiho has performed frequently throughout London in venues including St. Martin in the Fields, St.Johns Smith Square, Regent Hall, Wigmore Hall, Linbury Theatre at the RoyalOpera House, RoyalFestival Hall, and many more as a soloist as well as a chambermusician. The future engagements include a series of recitals in the UK (St James Piccadilly London, St. Mary's Aylesbury, The Bath Recital Artists’ Trust at Pump rooms in Bath and Tenby Music Festival in Wales)..