WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF MUSICIANS - Key Persons
Amy Thompson is a Musicians' Company Lambert Scholar at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Roberto Giaccaglia, Martin Gatt, Joost Bosdijk, and Emily Hultmark. Amy is also a current participant of the ENO Evolve Scheme.
As a soloist, Amy performs regularly for the British Double Reed Society, as well as leading ensembles and lessons at their Park Place courses. Amy has also been active in promoting new music, including the world premiere of a work for unaccompanied bassoon at the National Portrait Gallery (composed by Andrew Mulhern). In 2016, Amy was an Artist in Residence at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, working with Anna Meredith to compose and perform music for the opening of Wonder Materials: Graphene and Beyond. In 2014, she performed Bach's G minor Harpsichord Concerto as soloist with members of the Berkeley Ensemble, and has appeared with Blackburn Symphony Orchestra. Amy has also given multiple recitals at the Lansdowne Club, London, and at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester, alongside bassist Leon Bosch. This year, she will be performing at the Investec International Music Festival in a series also featuring Jess Gillam and the Tallis Scholars (subject to coronavirus restrictions).
Amy's orchestral work includes performances with the Brandenburg Sinfonia, John Lewis Partnership Music Society, and St Paul's Sinfonia. Amy is a passionate chamber musician, and recently recorded bassoon quartets for Hyperion Records with Laurence Perkins. In addition to this, Amy is a member of the Tailleferre Ensemble, whose concerts aim to promote the work of female composers, including a performance celebrating International Women's Day at the Conway Hall and, in April 2021, a tour of Florida in collaboration with the South Florida Chamber Ensemble.
Over lockdown, Amy set up a series of Zoom sessions for bassoonists. These have included masterclasses with Ursula Leveaux (freelance with most major UK orchestras), Jos de Lange (Concertgebouw), Sophie Dervaux (Berlin Philharmonic), and Nikolaj Henriques (CBSO).
Amy is a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher. She has worked with students at Junior RCM, Uppingham School, the Triborough Music Hub, British Double Reed Society, and the Musicians' Company. She is comfortable teaching students of all ages, but is known for being especially good with children, having set up and run a youth orchestra for primary-age students. In her spare time, Amy enjoys making and selling scented bassoon reeds, playing a brightly coloured cello, and outdoor swimming.
Anna Kondrashina is a prizewinner of several prestigious competitions, such as the Kobe International Flute Competition in Japan and the Nicolet International Flute Competition in China. She has been awarded the Worshipful Company of Musicians Silver Medal in the UK.
Anna is frequently invited to perform as principal and section flautist with numerous orchestras and has worked with notable conductors, such as Sir Mark Elder, Trevor Pinnock, David Afkham and Daniel Oren. In 2018 Anna has been invited to join the London Philharmonic Orchestra Foyle Future Firsts Development Programme. Anna completed her Bachelor's degree at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Olga Ivusheikova, excelling on both modern and baroque flute. She received an Artist's Diploma from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, studying in the class of Yossi Arnheim. In 2017 Anna has received the honour of a full scholarship to study the Master of Arts programme at the Royal Academy of Music in London with William Bennett. Her studies are generously made possible by the Future of Russia Foundation and Khodorkovsky Foundation.
Anna plays on an Altus flute with a Mancke headjoint, thanks to the kind generosity of Jane Elizabeth Bass.
Gonçalo Maia Caetano was born in Coimbra, Portugal. He started playing the guitar at the age of 7 in Academia de Música de Pinhel. In 2012 Gonçalo moved to study in the Conservatório de Música S. José da Guarda with the professor Pedro Ospina. The guitarist is currently in his final year of Bachelor's Degree Course in Classical Guitar at the Royal Academy of Music, with professor Michael Lewin.
Gonçalo has performed in many concerts throughout Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and United Kingdom. During his studies in Portugal, he was fortunate to be invited to be a part of the orchestra "Guitarrafonia". They performed in famous venues and festivals such as Centro Cultural de Belém and in the festival "Allegromosso".
In 2016 Gonçalo won the 2nd prize Ex-Aequo in Valencia's International Guitar Competition and later in the year he was awarded the 3rd prize in Guimarães International Guitar Competition. In the following year, he was the winner in the competition "Grand Prize Virtuoso" and consequently was invited to give a concert in Wiener Saal, Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In 2021, Gonçalo was the Winner of the Blyth Watson Guitar Concerto Prize at the Royal Academy of Music.
Gonçalo has had Masterclasses with distinguished guitarists such as David Russell, Fabio Zanon, Lukasz Kuropaczewski, Roland Dyens, Laura Young, Graham Devine, Michel Sadanowsky, Carlo Marchione and many more acclaimed musicians.
Apart from his classical guitar studies, he is very interested in Jazz. In the end of his first year at the Royal Academy of Music, Gonçalo started his second study in Jazz Guitar. He also has his own Jazz project "Maia" with which he released the single "Yellow". In 2020, Gonçalo joined the "Phemo Quartet" as a Bass player and in 2022 the quartet performed in the Vortex Jazz Club.
Hannah Williams grew up in rural Devon and was surrounded by music from a young age, starting the piano when she was four and the French horn when she was ten. At fourteen years old Hannah won a scholarship to Wells Cathedral School, where she studied horn under Simon de Souza. Over the years Hannah has shown a keen interest in orchestral and ensemble playing and was part of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Hannah receives a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music, and learns with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins. In 2021, Hannah won the John Solomon brass prize.
Job Titles:
- Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley
Job Titles:
- Alderman Sir Andrew Parmley
Job Titles:
- Musicians' Company Young Artist
Sophia Elger is a British saxophonist whose performances have been described as "captivating, exciting, and engaging" (Richard Ingham). She is currently studying her Master's degree at the RCM where she is a Leverhulme Arts Scholar and recipient of the Biddy Baxter and John Hosier Trust Award 2o21. Sophia is a committed soloist and ensemble player. In addition, she has developed an interest in initiating and directing collaborative projects incorporating other creative disciplines. In 2021, Sophia won First Prize in the Jane Melber Saxophone Competition, Second Prize in the Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Great Britain Competition, and Third Prize in the RCM Contemporary Competition. In 2020, she was awarded Second Prize in the RCM Concerto Competition.
Sophia is a Musicians' Company Young Artist and a DEBUT Horizon Artist. She has performed extensively as a soloist at venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields, Charing Cross; the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington; the Regent Hall, Mayfair; and The Lighthouse Concert Hall, Poole (where she performed Alexander Glazunov's Saxophone Concerto). Recently she performed Jacques Ibert's Concertino da Camera with the RCM Orchestra.
As a chamber musician, Sophia has performed in several mixed ensembles and in 2020, her saxophone quartet was awarded First Prize in the RCM Woodwind Ensemble Competition. She has commissioned several chamber pieces that include the saxophone and has participated in the premieres of other new works in Denmark, France, and the UK. She performed in the Arts by the Sea Festival, in Bournemouth, and in both the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival.
As well as being a musician, Sophia has a deep interest in the visual arts. During the lockdown, she developed an interest in directing projects that combine music with the visual arts. She was asked to participate in the inaugural concert of Nuova Concerts, an online platform, at which she performed Five Figures. This was a collaborative project of her own conception, involving the commissioning of five composers to write a short solo saxophone piece based on five paintings that she had produced. Sophia has participated in masterclasses with Arno Bornkamp, Graeme Blevins, Vincent David, Claude Delangle, Simon Diriq, Mariano Garcia, Daniel Gauthier, Simon Haram, Joshua Hyde, Lars Lien, Joonatan Rautiola, and Christian Wirth. Past teachers include Amy Dickson and Huw Wiggin.