Lunchtime Concert: Harp Ensembles

THU 23 MAR, 13.05

Take a moment in the middle of the day to enjoy a programme of music by Trinity Laban students performing chamber music for harp at the stunningly beautiful St Alfege Church.

Ensemble Players

CLARA GATTI COMINI HARP
MARIA MCNAMEE HARP
LAURA JANE ARMSTRONG CELLO
ADRIÁN MORENA TIERRASECA VIOLIN
MARY BULL FLUTE
FAITH WHITELEY PICCOLO
CELIA MARGALEF BOQUERA CELESTA
PAOLA TARDITI VOICE

Programme

Simone Spagnolo
Gimnopedia Rapsodica
CLARA GATTI COMINI, HARP
MARIA MCNAMEE, HARP
MARY BULL, FLUTE
FAITH WHITELEY, PICCOLO
CELIA MARGALEF BOQUERA, CELESTA
PAOLA TARDITI, VOICE

John Marson
Waltzes & Promenades for two harps
CLARA GATTI COMINI, HARP
MARIA MCNAMEE, HARP

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

Camille Saint-Saëns
Fantaisie for Violin and Harp, Op.124
CLARA GATTI COMINI, HARP
ADRIÁN MORENA TIERRASECA, VIOLIN

Biographies

Clara Gatti Comini is an Italian harpist studying as a Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance scholar under the guidance of Gabriella Dall’Olio and Frances Kelly for the triple harp. She completed her Bachelor’s degree with a First Class Honours. In 2016 she obtained a Harp Diploma at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional in Paris, studying with Elisabetta Giorgi. Prior to this, she studied at the Conservatori Municipal de Música de Barcelona with Maria Lluïsa Ibáñez and Maria Lluïsa Sánchez. She has attended masterclasses with internationally renowned harpists including Fabrice Pierre, Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Catherine Michel, Isabelle Moretti, Sylvain Blassel, Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, Heidi Krutzen, Isabelle Perrin and Park Stickney. Clara is a winner of the John Marson Harp Prize for Outstanding Musicianship 2020, the Cherubim Music Trust Harp Prize 2020, and holds third prize at the London Camac Harp Competition 2020. She has won various competitions from a young age, including Arpa Plus and L’Arjau in Barcelona. In 2020 she performed Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto at Wigmore Hall as part of Trinity Laban’s Strings’ program. She has given solo performances at St. James’s Church Piccadilly, the Lingotto in Turin, Nice Classic Live, Harps on Wight Festival, Agimus Grosseto, and Borough New Music where she performed the UK premiere of Ada Gentile’s piece Scaglie di Mare for solo harp. In London, she regularly performs at the Queen’s House, the Old Royal Naval College Chapel and St. Alfege Chapel. Clara is a member harpist at the European Union Youth Orchestra and since 2019, she is a member of Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, performing at St. John’s Smith Square and Cadogan Hall. As a harp teacher, Clara’s students have won multiple prizes at harp competitions, including first prize at the London Camac Harp Competition, London Young Musician, Glowing Harp Competition in Ukraine, International Fringe Association in Hong Kong, and have been accepted to the National Children’s Orchestra in the UK. Besides her harp studies, in 2017 she obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Development from King’s College London.
Clara performs on a Lyon and Healy Style 100, generously donated by Lady Lucille Curzon to the Cherubim Music Trust.

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.

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.

Faith Whiteley is a fourth year student at Trinity Laban studying flute and piccolo. She enjoys performing a wide range of musical styles. Recently she performed in the orchestra for Verdi’s opera Macbeth at Hoxton Hall. Faith has also played a variety of contemporary music and has worked with composers in both chamber and orchestral settings to perform and record their music. As well as orchestral playing with the Trinity Laban Symphony Orchestra, Faith also enjoys performing solo repertoire on the flute and piccolo.

Celia Margalef Boquera is a Catalan pianist. Margalef started playing the piano at the age of 6 with Professor Christiane Leruth. At 16, Margalef continued her studies at El Conservatori de Música de Vila-seca with Professor Jordi López. In 2016, Margalef finished the Intermediate Level with honours and succeeded on getting the second and third positions on the entrance exams at El Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu and L’Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, respectively. Margalef decided to study her Bachelor in Piano Interpretation at El Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu with professor Tensy Krismant. Margalef got the Ferrer-Salat Scholarship for two years during her studies in the city of Barcelona. In September 2020, Margalef started the Masters of Music at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance with Professor Mikhail Kazakevich. Margalef was awarded with the Trinity College London Scholarship and the Trinity Laban Scholarship for the academic year 2020/21, and the Arthur Haynes Scholarship and the Trinity Laban Scholarship for the academic year 2021/22. In December 2021, Margalef was awarded the Cardnell Piano Prize.

Paola Tarditi is an Italian pianist and artist. She studied in Milan, Piacenza and Genova with Lucia Romanini (student of Michelangeli and Cortot), Bruno Bettinelli, Lily Allorto and Dario de Rosa. Since 1998, she collaborates with the Brazilian pianist Sylvia Maltese. Together they have recorded multiple CDs and they extensively research the piano duo repertoire by female composers, Italian and Brazilian composers. In Brazil, the duo was hosted by multiple radiophonic programs, including “Boulevard Cultura” and “Pianissimo” both for Radio Cultura FM in San Paolo and the radio BVTV. In San Paolo she performed at the Teatro Municipal, MUBE (Sculpture Museum), Libraria Cultura and for the Brazilian Music Society. For the series URCA, in Minas Gerais, the duo performed the world premiere of “Dualismo” for two pianos by the Brazilian composer Maria Helena Rosa Fernandez and recorded for Rete Globo-MG. Their CD with the first ever performance of “Voix du Printemps” by Marie Jaell, can be found in the National Library and University in Strasbourg. The composer Vasconcellos-Correa wrote the review for their CD “Nationalism and Post-Nationalism,” and the CD was included in the programs of the Brazilian Music Institute. In 2017, she was the only non-Brazilian pianist to take part in the recording of the integral works of the piano compositions by Osvaldo Lacerda, presented in the Auditorium of the Livraria Cultura in San Paolo. As a member of the Brazilian Society of Musicologists, she is dedicated to the study of the classical Brazilian repertoire in different chamber music formations with piano.

Laura Jane Armstrong is an aspiring cellist currently studying at the Royal College of Music with Raphael Wallfisch. Previous to this she completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours degree at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Felix Schmidt and Benjamin Hughes. Laura has had the privilege of attending masterclasses with Ralph Kirshbaum, Steven Doane, Mario Brunello, Hannah Roberts Alexander Baillie, Gidon Kremer and Thomas Riebl, amongst others. 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. Laura has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Swedish radio, WBGO (New York radio station) and Medici TV. Laura has played at the Baltic Sea festival, the Royal Albert Hall and participated in the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, in Thomas Ades’ class. A keen chamber musician, Laura – as a member of the Tee Trio – were semi-finalists in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music competition, finalists for the Jacob Barnes Scholarship and toured Singapore. She has also toured Scandinavia as a member of the Estonian Festival Orchestra under the baton of Paavo Jarvi. Laura is grateful to be supported by the Mamie and Ruth Waddell Memorial Prize, the Emma Newton Grant and the Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund, and very happy to have been recently awarded the RPS Julius Isserlis Scholarship.

Originally from Tarragona, Spain. Adrián Morena Tierraseca started his musical education on violin and viola at the “Conservatori de Música Professional de Vila-seca” under the guidance of Josep Maria Ferrando. In 2016, he graduated getting the highest full marks and the Violin & Chamber Prizes of the conservatoire. Adrián moved to London, United Kingdom on that same year to study with Krzysztof Smietana at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (GSMD) where he graduated on 2020 from Classical Violin BMus (Hons). He is currently studying MMus in Violin Performance with the renowned teacher and performer Rivka Golani. Both BMus (Hons) and MMus were rewarded by their respective colleges and also by The Leverhulme Trust Scholarship and The Cutlers’ Scholarship. He also has imparted masterclasses with teachers like Evelio Tieles, Corrado Bolsi, Kai Gleusteen, Jacqueline Ross, Evan Rothstein and chamber groups like Endellion Quartet, Heath Quartet, Piatti Quartet and Gerhard Quartet. Adrián has an extensive experience as a solo, chamber and orchestral performer. Apart from being a founder member of the “Vilart Ensemble”, Adrián’s orchestra experience includes collaborations with the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia (JONC), and the UNESCO Barcelona Orchestra. He has had the opportunity to perform in very important concert halls such as “Josep Carreres” Hall, Milton Court Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Festival Hall and Abbey Road Studios.

Simone Spagnolo’s music has been performed in internationally known venues and festivals such as London's Royal Festival Hall, St.Martin-in-the-Fields, Blackheath Halls, ENO's foyer, Riverside Studios, Tete-a-Tete Festival, Opera in the City Festival, Mumford Theatre, Italian Cultural Institute London, Birmingham Conservatoire, Stanford University, Los Angeles’ Aratani Theatre, Brno’s Janacek Academy, Budapest’s Liszt Academy, Zaragoza’s Conservatorio Superiore, Chongqing University, Hong Kong’s Yuen Long Theatre, Italy’s CEF Festival and Pennsylvania’s Great Lakes Film Festival, among others. Having composed music for concerts, theatre, opera, ballet, film and multimedia, Simone has received commissioned from institutions and companies such as Trinity Laban Conservatoire, ChinaWest Productions, Opera Viscera, Gray Lady Productions, WOH Productions, Fabergé LTD, Lost Picture Production and Dance Ahead. Other artists he has collaborated with include conductors Diego Garcia Rodriguez and Michael Young, musicians Rivka Golani and Gabriele Baldocci, playwrights Peter Cant and Roberto Cavosi, directors Luc Mollinger and Ben Samuels, actors Sasha Waddell and Marco Gambino, choreographers Zoe Gadd and Adam Russell, photographers Valery Katsuba and Mirko de Nicolo', and creative technologist Michele Panegrossi. Simone has received numerous awards, including the Asia America Symphony Orchestra Composition Prize and Philip Bates Prize, and in 2011 he has been appointed as artist-in-residence at Bergen's USF Verftet, Norway. Having gained a Ph.D. in composition at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Simone currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer at the London College of Music, where he is Course Leader for Composition and Musical Theatre. Previously he lectured at Anglia Ruskin University and University of Cumbria, and has guest-lectured at institutions such as the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Trinity Laban Conservatoire, University of York and The Purcell School. Also, he is artistic director of The Music Theatre Hub.


St Alfege Church, Greenwich
Admission Free, no booking required