Richard Birchall, Matthijs Broersma, Pau Codina,
Reinoud Ford, Bart Lafollette, Tim Lowe,
John Myerscough, Ella Rundle – cellos

Cellophony is the vibrant, sonorous and exhilarating sound of an octet of young professional cellists. The group was established in 2007 in London, and is beginning to carve a reputation as accomplished exponents of not only the standard cello ensemble repertory, but also a diverse array of specially commissioned arrangements and adaptations. They were finalists in the 2010 Royal Over-Seas League chamber music competition, and this year they feature in festivals in London, York, Newcastle, Cambridge, and Lille; they will also continue to collaborate with sopranos Susana Gaspar and Catarina Sereno and tenor Ben Johnson. In May 2010 they will be recording their first full CD, on the Music Chamber label.

The members of Cellophony also work as soloists, chamber musicians and freelance orchestral players, in the UK and abroad. All eight players were students at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and three have continued an affiliation with the School as holders of GSMD Artist Fellowships. Individually they have won a host of prizes, including the Royal Over-Seas League Gold Medal, the Guilhermina Suggia Gift, the Muriel Taylor Scholarship, and representation by the Young Concert Artists’ Trust.

RICHARD BIRCHALL

Richard Birchall read Music at Cambridge University before studying as a postgraduate cellist at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under Louise Hopkins. He has performed several of the major concerti at venues such as West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge and St John’s, Smith Square, and as a chamber musician has appeared at Wigmore Hall and Barbican Hall. Richard’s professional orchestral work has included concerts with the LSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, and the Philharmonia. He continues to study at GSMD, where he holds the position of Artist Fellow. Richard was the 2005 winner of the prestigious Muriel Taylor Scholarship, and has received major awards from the MBF, Countess of Munster Trust, Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and Craxton Trust. Richard has made a number of musical transcriptions for the group.

MATTHIJS BROERSMA

Matthijs Broersma was born in Holland in 1987 and studied at The Yehudi Menuhin School and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under Leonid Gorokhov and Louise Hopkins. He has participated in masterclasses with Colin Carr, Frans Helmerson, Steven Isserlis, Arto Noras and Eleonore Schoenfeld.

Matthijs has performed extensively throughout Europe, in venues such as the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, Festival Hall and the Purcell Room. In March 2006 he performed the Brahms B major piano trio with Zakhar Bron and later that year he worked with Sir Peter Maxwell-Davies, preparing his piano trio “A voyage to Fair Isle.” He has received awards from The Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund.

PAU CODINA

Pau Codina was born in Spain and began studying the cello at the age of five with Eulalia Subira. He has performed throughout Europe in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, the Barcelona Opera House and the Barcelona Auditorium. He has performed as a soloist with the Barcelona Sinfonietta, the Catalunya Filharmonic Orchestra, the Andorra Chamber Orchestra, the Sudwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest. He has won several competitions and awards, such as the MBF’s Guilhermina Suggia Gift, the Martin Musical Scholarship and the Kronberg Cello Festival “Schlosskonzert” prize.

REINOUD FORD

Born in 1984, Reinoud started to play the cello at the age of eight. In 1998 he joined the Yehudi Menuhin School as a student of Louise Hopkins, with whom he continues to study at the GSMD. In 2003 Reinoud won the Guilhermina Suggia Gift for a Gifted Young Cellist (runner-up in 2004) and the Gwyneth George prize from the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe in April 2004. In 2006 Reinoud was a string finalist in the Royal Overseas League Music Competition and winner of the “Flame” Competition in Paris. He subsequently gave a recital in Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg. In February 2007 Reinoud was awarded the scholarship of the LSO string scheme and he was recently awarded a concert in the Bridgewater Hall by Manchester Midday Music.

Reinoud has given performances as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician at venues across the UK including Wigmore Hall, Fairfield and Dorking Halls, and abroad in Austria, France, Holland, Germany, Serbia and Qatar.

BARTHOLOMEW LAFOLLETTE

Born in Philadelphia in 1984, from 1997 Bartholomew LaFollette was a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School. In 2003 he won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he studied with Louise Hopkins, graduating in 2008.

Bartholomew has won numerous prizes and awards including the Guilhermina Suggia Gift and a Jellinek Award which led to performances of Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with orchestras throughout Europe and the USA. In 2007 he was the first recipient of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s prestigious Ardán Award which offers a young emerging international soloist a platform at the ICO’s music festival and appearances as soloist, including a performance of Haydn’s Concerto in C under Gabor Takacs-Nagy.

Engagements during 2008/9 included an IMS Prussia Cove ensemble tour, recitals at Wigmore Hall, St. George;S Bristol, King’s Place, Jacqueline du Pre Music Building, Bridgewater Hall, the Gower and Brighton festivals and several performances of the Schubert Quintet with the Doric String Quartet. As a soloist he performed the Dvorak Concerto with the Royal Phiharmonic Orchestra and Brahms Double Concerto with the Poznan Phiharmonic Orchestra in Poland. Future plans include recitals throughout the UK and in France.

TIM LOWE

Tim was taught to pay the ’cello by his mother Sue Lowe and Anna Shuttleworth. He was a chorister at York Minster and a music scholar at Eton College. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra for five years and principal cello in his final year. Tim plays concertos and recitals all over the country including playing Bach Suites at the Windsor Festival on several occasions and has recently played the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations in York and an Elgar concerto in Southwell Minster, and given two performances of the Dvorak Concerto. He works regularly with the English Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He has won awards from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, PO/Martin Scholarship Fund and the Craxton Memorial Trust and was recently given the Jacqueline du Pré Scholarship to continue his studies with Louise Hopkins at the GSMD. Tim’s cello was made by Carolous Tononi of Bologna in 1716.

JOHN MYERSCOUGH

John Myerscough won the Gold Medal at the 2006 Royal Overseas League Music Competition, the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Cello Prize and the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund “Prince of Wales” Award. He has performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist across the UK including at Wigmore Hall, the Purcell Room and Cadogan Hall, and abroad in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. John is also the cellist of the Doric String Quartet which is now firmly established as one of the outstanding quartets of their generation, appearing at most of the UK’s leading chamber music venues as well as abroad in Europe and Asia. John graduated from Selwyn College, Cambridge in 2003 and is now a Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

ELLA RUNDLE

Ella Rundle was born in 1988 and began to play the cello aged 8. In January 2002 she was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School where she studied with Leonid Gorokhov and Louise Hopkins. She has also studied in masterclasses with Johannes Goritzki, Anner Bylsma, Alexander Baillie, Colin Carr, Steven Isserlis and Frans Helmerson.

Ella has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the U.K and abroad including in Istanbul to take part in the Mozart Festival, a recital tour in Normandy and at venues including Fairfield Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Chichester festival theatre. In July 2006 she gave two performances of Tchaikovsky’s Rococo variations in the Chichester Cathedral for the Chichester festivities.
Ella is now continuing her studies at the GSMD with Louise Hopkins.