Aged just 19 and a passionate chamber musician, Timothy Ridout has played at many festivals around Europe including Open Chamber music at IMS Prussia Cove UK, Musique a Marsac in France, Accademia dei Cameristi in Italy and ‘Next Generation’ Classic Festival Bad Ragaz in Switzerland. He looks forward to playing at Schubertiade in Austria and The Brighton Festival.

Timothy was a member of the Celan Quartet between 2011 and 2014. During his time with the group they had residencies at the Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival and Musikdorf Ernen, and appeared at the Cheltenham, Peasmarsh, Lewes and Frinton Festivals, as well as collaborating with members of The London Haydn Quartet, and the Barbican and Kungsbacka Trios. They also recorded a disc of Berg’s op.3 Quartet which was released on the Music Works Label.

Timothy began playing the viola aged 8 and he now studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Martin Outram and previously studied at the Junior department of the Academy with Jonathan Barritt. He has attended the International Musicians Seminars at Prussia Cove, the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden Baden and the International Music Academy in the Principality of  Liechtenstein. He has participated in master classes with Lawrence Power, Maxim Rysanov, Hartmut Rohde and Thomas Riebl.

In October 2014 Timothy won the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition. There he was also awarded the Britten-Pears Prize for his performance of Britten’s Lachrymae and the Bishop Instruments Prize for his performance of Hindemith Sonata Op 11. No. 4. In 2013 he was awarded 1st Place in the Theodore Holland Viola Prize at RAM, and in 2014 at the 21st International Johannes Brahms Competition he was awarded the prize of the European String Teachers Association. Timothy is supported by Ian Stoutzker and the Albert and Eugine Frost Music Trust.

He plays a 1677 viola by Giovanni Grancino, kindly on loan from the Royal Academy of Music, with generous support from the Amarylis Fleming Foundation.

James Boyd is widely recognised as one of Britain’s finest chamber musicians. He has been a member of some of the country’s foremost ensembles and is in demand as a guest artist with many others.

After studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School he became a member of the Raphael Ensemble and was a founder member of the Vellinger String Quartet, winners of the 1994 London International string quartet competition.

In 2001 he formed the London Haydn Quartet which has been acclaimed for its highly individual stylistic approach, using gut strings and classical bows, making a particular speciality of the works of Haydn and Beethoven. Their recordings of Haydn’s op.9, op.17 and op.20 quartets have been released on Hyperion to much critical acclaim. The op.33 set will be released in June 2013. The quartet have played major venues in Europe and North America, including the Wigmore and Carnegie Halls and often collaborate with the classical clarinettist, Eric Hoeprich. James appears as a regular guest with many ensembles including the Nash Ensemble and Arcangelo and is invited to many international chamber music festivals including Lofoten, Kaposvar, Resonances, Korsholm and Kempten. He also plays in the Ludwig String Trio with Peter Cropper and Paul Watkins and will record the complete Beethoven trios in 2013. Gramophone Magazine described his CD of the viola music of York Bowen, with the pianist Bengt Forsberg, as “a gem of a disc!”

In 2001 he co-founded MusicWorks, a chamber music course for young string players and pianists, from which many young chamber ensembles have emerged. He also teaches chamber music at University of Cambridge (IAS), Chamber Studio (at King’s Place), The Banff centre, and Domaine Forget (Quebec). James also writes occasional articles for the Strad magazine, is a passionate amateur recording producer and engineer, and designs and constructs high-end audio equipment with horns and valves.

Tom Hankey studied the violin with David Takeno, Krzyzstof Smietana, Levon Chilingirian and Yossi Zivoni. As violinist and violist, he is a member of the Aronowitz Ensemble. The group took part in the Radio 3 New Generation Artist Scheme which involved frequent performances for radio throughout  the UK, including Wigmore Hall, the Sage, Gateshead, and Bridgewater Hall, as well as from the Bath, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Kings Place, Spoleto, City of London festivals and the proms. A Borletti-Buitoni Trust award enabled them to release two CDs on the Sonimage label. 

Tom also plays second violin in the Callino Quartet, with whom he has toured extensively and recorded works by Haydn, Schubert and Janáček. As soloist he has given many recitals and concerto performances including Beethoven’s triple concerto and Prokofiev’s first concerto, and has taken part in performances of Stravinsky’sSoldier’s Tale with the Kreisler Ensemble. His freelance orchestral work has included touring with the Aurora Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Camerata Bern, English Chamber Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.