Lunchtime Concert: Harp Department

WED 29 MAR 13.00

Come and enjoy a programme of music by Trinity Laban student harpists in the magnificent setting of the Queen's House.

SARA FLORES MONTES SOLO HARP
Nino Rota
Sarabande et Toccata

MARIA MCNAMEE & LAURA ARMSTRONG HARP & CELLO DUO
Louise Farrenc
Cello Sonata in B-flat major, Op.46
II. Andante Sostenuto

ABIGAIL MILLAR TODD & MARY BULL HARP & FLUTE DUO
Franz Doppler & Antonio Zamara
Casilda Fantasy

LUCIA FOTI & SOFIA BAGULHO HARP & VOICE DUO
Luiz de Freitas Branco
Loureiro, verde loureiro

Francisco de Lacerda
Tenho tantas saudades

Vincenzo Bellini
Ah! non credea mirarti from La Sonnambula

KATYA & LIZA RAJHANS HARP DUO
J.B Krumpholz
Premiere Duo pour Deux Harpes Op.5

After a first training in music, harp and composition in Geneva, Sara Flores Montes was awarded several scholarships which allowed her to move to London where she is currently studying harp at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the tutelage of Gabriella Dall'Olio. She has performed in venues such as Blackheath hall, Barbican hall, Cully classique, Festival Archipel, Milton Court concert hall, MAMCO, Studio Ernest Ansermet, Victoria Hall and performed for a few radio sessions including the RTS. She also won the second prize in the Swiss youth music competition. She is the scholar of several awards and is grateful for the support of the Fritu Gerber Stiftung, the Irène Dénéreaz Foundation, the Guildhall School Trust and the Hardt Foundation award.

Maria McNamee is an Irish harpist from Newry who began playing the harp at the age of 9, embracing both traditional Irish and classical music. She recently graduated with a first-class honour's degree and TCL silver medal from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where she continues to study for her master's degree with Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly. In 2011, Maria joined Chetham’s School of Music where she spent 6 years studying with Marie Leenhardt, Gabriella Dall’Olio and En Hudson. Winner of the John Marson prize 2020, Maria was awarded 2nd prize in the London Camac competition 2021. In 2017 Maria became a runner up Irish heritage award winner. Solo engagements have included performances at St James Piccadilly, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, playing for London’s Irish ambassador at the Irish Embassy, for the Duke of Wellington at Aspley house, as well as regular performances at the Queen’s house and the ORNC Chapel in London. Maria is also a very active chamber and orchestral musician, part of several chamber groups and co-principal harp of the Young Musician's Symphony Orchestra. Maria recently performed as a soloist at Blackheath halls for Sally Beamish’s Seavaigers, written for solo fiddle and lever harp with string ensemble. This concerto was part improvised and inspired by Scottish folk music which tied in well with Maria’s love and interest in folk music. Maria is delighted to be generously supported by the Ann Driver Scholarship and the Helen Roll Charity/The Joyce Tudge Bursary Scholarship, Help Musicians UK and the Boise Scholarship.

Laura Armstrong is an aspiring cellist studying with Raphael Wallfisch for a Masters at the Royal College of Music. Previous to this she completed a BMus (Hons) degree at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Felix Schmidt and Benjamin Hughes, and jazz second study with Kit Downes. Laura has had the privilege of attending masterclasses with Ralph Kirshbaum, Mario Brunello, Hannah Roberts and Alexander Baillie, amongst others. She is grateful for additional input and lessons from Steven Isserlis, Steven Doane, Ludwig Quandt and Alban Gerhardt, and mentorship from Sophia Rahman. Her contemporary classical work includes projects under the direction of Oliver Knussen, with mentoring from Harrison Birtwistle. Highlights include a newly commissioned work for BBC Radio 3 at Marsden Jazz Festival and Brahms double concerto with Nimrod Orchestra. Laura was also very grateful to be awarded the RPS Isserlis Scholarship to study in Berlin with Ludwig Quandt, first principal of the Berliner Philharmoniker.

Abigail Millar Todd is a 23 year old musician from Shetland. After moving to the Scottish Highlands she began playing the clarsàch through the Fèisean nan Gàidheal. In 2012 she began attending Aberdeen City Music School, whereupon she transitioned to the classical harp, and studied under Alina Bzhezhinska Lazorkina. Abigail became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland when she was 13. She also studied at the Music School of Douglas Academy (Glasgow) and Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester) before beginning her studies at Norges Musikkhøgskole (Oslo) under Isabelle Perrin in 2017. She has participated in masterclasses with Urszula Mazurek, Henning Kraggerud, Virginie Gout-Zschäbitz, Maho Yamamoto, and more. Abigail has worked with various orchestras including the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Highland Chamber Orchestra and Oslo Kammerorkester amongst others. She works in a variety of jazz and popular music settings, which includes composition and lyric writing. She spent the summer playing at festivals across Scandinavia, including Øya festivalen with the band Fieh and at the headline concert of the Oslo Jazz Festival as part of a reimagining of the works of Radka Toneff. She received funding in 2019 to provide subsidised harp teaching to children from less privileged backgrounds, a project she organised up until the pandemic. Abigail has been studying with Gabriella Dall’Olio since September 2020.

Mary Bull is a flautist from London. After studying Music and Maths at Royal Holloway, she is now in her first year of her MMus at Trinity Laban. Mary has a keen interest in contemporary music and enjoys exploring new works.

Lucia Foti studied with Maria Ester Gattoni at Conservatorio di Como, Italy, where she graduated in harp performance with first class honours. Supported by a Trinity Laban Scholarship, she is currently attending a Master of Music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, under the tutelage of Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly. She won several competitions - notably, she was awarded a first prize scholarship at the 2015 Soroptimist Italia Competition for Young Talents. She has attended masterclasses with Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, Anna Loro, Judith Liber, Luisa Prandina, Park Stickney, Heidi Krutzen, Gwyneth Wentink and Fabrice Pierre. She is a current reserve of the Young Musicians’ Symphony Orchestra, with whom she has performed at Cadogan Hall. As part of the Duo Images, Lucia regularly plays with flautist Anna Ratti. In 2018, they were both protagonists of Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto, which was performed with MaMu Ensemble and Orchestra Sinfonica del Lario. With guitarist Stefano Fiacco, she has formed Nazca Duo, who were selected as recipients of the 2022 Colin Blythe Fund. In 2021 and 2022, they performed at Wigmore Hall, as part of a Trinity Laban programme.

Sofia Bagulho, born in Loures, Portugal, began studying music at the age of 9 at the Conservatório de Música D. Dinis with flute, under the guidance of Ricardo Alves. At the age of 17, she began studying singing at the Conservatório de Música de Lisboa with teacher Ângela Silva. With only a year of singing she secured a place at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and a choral scholarship with the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir conducted by Ralph Allwood. She is also part of the Trinity Laban’s Chamber Choir. She finished her 2nd year singing exam with a Distinction mark and in 2019 in her 8th grade ABRSM exam she had a mark of 147 (Distinction) the highest score in Portugal in that year. She was a finalist in the 2022 English Song Competition at Trinity Laban. Recently she secured a place with the BBC Symphony Chorus where she will be participating in the Proms. In December 2015 she was part of the choir of the Winter Concert of the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, as a chorister in the section of sopranos, in the presentation of Beethoven's work, Symphony No.9 in D minor, auditorium Senhora da Boa Nova. She was part of the Gulbenkian Participative Concerts project in September 2018 to sing Mozart’s Requiem and in December 2016, with the Messiah, by George Frideric Handel, as a chorister in the soprano section.

Katya and Liza Rajhans were born in 2003 in Kyiv, Ukraine, and started playing music (harp) at the age of 5. From 5 to 10 years old, they studied at the Kyiv Music School in the name of Shamo from the teacher Yelizaveta Gerasina. At the age of 11, they entered the specialized music school named after Chopin in Moscow, where they studied for 5 years with the teacher Helen Watson. During the training, they took part in many international competitions, where they became laureates. After that, they returned to Kyiv and entered Junior Trinity (online). This year they became students of the 1st year BMus programme at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance under the guidance of Gabriella Dall'Olio.

Queen's House
Admission free, no ticket required