Manchester’s own Victoria String Quartet return to the Stoller hall and will be joined by clarinettist, John Bradbury, Principal Clarinet of The BBC Philharmonic. They will perform quintets by Brahms and Weber and treat the audience to a performance of Imogen Holst’s Phantasy Quartet.
‘…brought their individual consummate skills and artistry together to perform four very different works with the maximum impact to be expected of such a wealth of expertise and experience.’ – Oldham Evening Chronicle on the Victoria String Quartet
‘balancing driving energy with a light touch’ – Classical Music Daily
Ticket Offer
Enjoy a longer evening of music on Wednesday 1 May – get £5 off your tickets when you book for both The Protecting Veil at 6.30pm and Victoria String Quartet in the same booking. This offer will apply automatically at checkout.
About The Victoria String Quartet
In demand since its formation in 2017, the Victoria String Quartet has gone on to perform for chamber music societies and festivals throughout the UK and has been hailed as an ensemble ‘brim full with pedigree and wide experience’ (Buxton International Festival), performing at venues including Kendal (Lake District Summer Music), Pinner and Buxton Festivals, London, Manchester (Bridgewater, RNCM and Stoller halls), north Norfolk, north and west Wales and the Scottish Borders.
In addition to gathering return invitations to chamber music societies and festivals, the Victorias are curating an ongoing programme of creative projects: a collection of short chamber works about (and by) Sir John Manduell (Divine Arts), a recording of the Weber, Cooke and Brahms clarinet quintets, and a CD of string chamber music by Richard Pantcheff (to be released 2024 Prima Facie), with BBC Radio 3 presenter Tom McKinney. A recent autumn residency at Marchmont House in the Scottish Borders saw the Quartet performing and recording a collection of string chamber works by Scottish composer Helen Leach. Enthusiasts for lost and undiscovered works, in 2022 the Quartet gave the first public performances of Elgar’s Six Fragments for String Quartet and are looking forward to recording them in 2024. Since its inception, the Quartet has also enjoyed sharing the concert platform with eminent colleagues such as the quartet, Quatuor Danel, Peter Hewitt and Irina Andrievsky (piano), Leo Popplewell (cello), Richard Simpson (oboe) and John Bradbury, (Clarinet).
ABOUT JOHN BRADBURY
John studied Natural Sciences at St John’s College, Cambridge. He was awarded a Travel Scholarship to study with Larry Combs of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, then went on to the Royal Academy of Music where he won the Hawkes Clarinet Prize and the Principal’s Prize.
John held the sub-principal chairs in the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the London Symphony Orchestra, before his invitation to become Principal Clarinet with the BBC Philharmonic. He has played Guest Principal with all the major UK orchestras as well as with John Wilson’s hand-picked orchestra at the Proms.
John has given many solo performances with the BBC Philharmonic, with highlights including the Mozart, Nielsen, Stanford and MacMillan Concertos. His recordings for Chandos include the Busoni Concertino, Malcolm Arnold “Scherzetto” (Editor’s Choice in “The Gramophone”) and Ben-Haim Pastorale variée. His celebrated Naxos disc “The English Clarinet” remains a best-seller, followed in 2023 by “From the Airwaves” on the MPR label.
John was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music in 2018.
Benedict Holland
Benedict Holland studied violin and piano at the Royal Academy of Music, later moving to the Royal Northern College of Music to study in Yossi Zivoni’s violin class. As a chamber musician, he was a founder member of the Matisse Piano Quartet and the Music Group of Manchester. He is currently a member of virtuoso chamber ensemble I Musicanti, and together with friends David Greed, Heather Wallington and Jen Langridge, of the Victoria Quartet, as well as pursuing a busy recital programme with both piano and organ. As an experienced orchestral leader, he has guest-led many of the UK’s major orchestras, including the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Orchestra of Opera North and BBC Philharmonic and until 2023, he was the violinist and occasional violist with the contemporary ensemble Psappha. Ben has always put teaching at the heart of his work, he teaches at the RNCM, where he was awarded a professorship in 2016. He also gives consultative classes in orchestral and contemporary techniques at Trinity Laban Conservatoire where he is a visiting artist. Ben’s violin is a rare Rogeri, c. 1710.
David Greed
David Greed was appointed leader of the Orchestra of Opera North in 1978 – at that time the youngest leader in the country. He held that position for a remarkable 44 years.
His solo and concerto repertoire are extensive and he has appeared with most of the regions orchestras as concerto soloist. He has also been engaged as guest leader with orchestras throughout the country – including the Philharmonia, Royal Opera, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, CBSO, BBC Scottish and BBC Philharmonic orchestras. He has been violin tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of GB, Chetham’s School and European Union Youth Orchestra. He has recorded VW’s ‘The Lark Ascending’ on the Naxos label with the Orchestra of Opera North and also the Elgar Concerto with Hertfordshire Youth Orchestra. He is Music Director of the Sinfonia of Leeds and the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra. He is a string advisor for Yorkshire Young Musicians.
Catherine Yates
Catherine Yates is a violinist and viola player who is a keen chamber musician, orchestral player and educationalist. She spent her formative years studying in Manchester, at Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, her teachers including Malcolm Layfield, Roger Raphael and Lydia Mordkovich. Further training at Yale University and the Britten-Pears Foundation fuelled her love of chamber music and she subsequently spent twenty years as 2nd Violin of the Sorrel Quartet, which was formed during her time at the RNCM, under the guidance of the late Dr Christopher Rowland. The Quartet performed and broadcasted throughout the UK and abroad and held Artists-in-Residence positions at six of the UK’s major universities. The Sorrel Quartet recorded extensively for Chandos, including acclaimed discs of Elgar, Britten and the complete Quartets of Shostakovich. From 2008 she enjoyed six years as Principal 2nd Violin of the Halle Orchestra before leaving to devote more of her time to education. She is currently Deputy Head of Strings at the Royal Northern College of Music where she has had a violin class for many years, whilst continuing to perform on stage as much as she can. Recent orchestral performances have included concerts with the Hallé, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and Northern Chamber Orchestra and she has been performing string trio and piano and string chamber works with colleagues from her previous musical lives and RNCM staff such as the Victoria String Quartet, Gina McCormack, Nicholas Trygstad and Paul Barritt.
Petr Prause
Petr Prause is based in Manchester, England, where he has been appointed Director of International Chamber Music Studio and a Senior Cello Tutor in 2010, further strengthening the provision of chamber music at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Since 1997, Petr Prause has been a member of the Talich Quartet. They have been invited to the most important chamber music venues including London, New York, Washington, Toronto, Montreal, Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Prades, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka and of course Rudolfinum in Prague, where they were Ensemble in Residence for the season 2009/10. Petr also joins other outstanding musicians in all kinds of chamber music formations and gives masterclasses at a wide range of international institutions. Recently, he was invited to the Jury of the String Quartet Competitions in Lyon and Munich.
Petr was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic and started to play the cello at the age of six with Miroslav Dolezil and Ivan Merka. He progressed to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he was taught by Miroslav Petras and members of the Smetana Quartet, graduating with a Masters Degree. He also studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, and with Raphael Wallfisch at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he was awarded the Concert Recital Diploma (Premier Prix). Petr taught the cello at the Prague Conservatory of Music and was Principal Cellist of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, while performing as a soloist throughout the world.
