On 13 September 2011 we profiled four outstanding young artists at the Forge in Camden, offering them an excellent platform to showcase their musical talents in front of a select audience including industry ‘insiders’ as well as friends and family.

Daisy Chute is a multi-faceted artist with the innate ability to step between genres and give outstandingly convincing performances that captivate her audience.  A product of several top music schools, Daisy studied voice, piano, guitar and composition and sailed through her A levels with top marks, gaining a BMus (Hons) degree at King’s College London with vocal tuition at the Royal Academy of Music.

Oboist James Turnbull is an accomplished recitalist whose debut solo disc, “Fierce Tears” was released in 2011 by Quartz Music. This was recorded with pianist Huw Watkins and harpist Claire Jones and contains a number of world premiere recordings by contemporary British composers. As a featured artist of the Concert Promoters Network and the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, James has performed many recitals throughout the UK and appeared in festivals including Swaledale, King’s Lynn and Cambridge Summer Music.  In 2010 he gave his debut recital at the Wigmore Hall as a Maisie Lewis award winner from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. James performs regularly with pianists Elizabeth Burgess, Craig White and harpist Claire Jones. Concerto performances include Richard Strauss’s Oboe Concerto with Southbank Sinfonia, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante K. 297b with the Konstanz Philharmonie in Germany and Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin at St John’s Smith Square.

James is deeply committed to expanding the oboe repertoire. Composers including Patrick Hawes, Thomas Hewitt Jones and Norbert Froehlich have written for him. Most recently he recorded Thomas Hewitt Jones’ Sonata Cimarella for Vivum Records which was released in May 2011. He 

has also worked closely with composers Michael Berkeley, John Woolrich, Thea Musgrave and Tansy Davies on their compositions for oboe. James has a keen interest in researching lost repertoire and bringing to new audiences works which have been rarely performed. Future performances include a premier of a new edition by Christopher Hogwood of Thomas Attwood Walmisley’s Sonatina No. 1.

Aside from his performing interests, James is dedicated to broadening the appeal of the oboe and encouraging young people to start learning the instrument. To this end, he has begun an education and outreach project called ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Oboe’.  Launching later in 2011, this initiative will see James tour numerous schools in the UK to promote the oboe and its repertoire. This will be accompanied by the launch of a new website LearnToPlayTheOboe.com.

Born in 1988, the spanish violist Isabel Villanueva has emerged as one of the best spanish musicians of the new generation. She is a prizewinner in several competitions including First Prize and Best String Player in the Intercentres Competition in Madrid 2006, First Prize (score 100/100) of the Concorso Internazionale per Giovanni Solisti “Città di Barletta” 2007, Second Prize in the Jeunesses Musicales Competition of Spain 2008, and Special & Audience Prizes at the International Mravinsky Competition in St. Petersburg 2008.

Graduating with Honours in Spain in 2007 where she studied with Igor Sulyga (violist Kopelman Quartet), she attended the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy with Yuri Bashmet where she was awarded Diploma di Merito. She is currently studying for her Masters at the Royal College of Music in London with Lawrence Power, kindly supported by the RCM Joan Weller Award and the Fundación Caja Madrid of Spain. Also Isabel has a strong interest in promoting new music for the viola. Renowned spanish composers as Tomás Marco, David Johnstone and José Zárate have written for her and she has premièred works by Pedro Moreno, Tomás Marco, Emilio Mateu, and José Zárate.

Many of her performances have been broadcasted live for the RNE (National Spanish Radio), CatMusic (Catalunyan Classical Radio) and La 2 de TVE (Spanish Television Chanel 2). In 2007 she recorded a programme of romantic music for viola and piano for the RNE archive. During the season 2009-2010 was selected for the performing artist concert programme Clásicos en Ruta by the Performers, Artist and Musicians Spanish Asociation (A.I.E). Recently in 2011 she has been named artist of the Concordia Foundation in London.

Increasingly in demand as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician, John Paul Ekins has given performances throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, and overseas in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Switzerland, and his playing has been broadcast on the BBC, on Romanian national television and radio, and on Polish television. In 2009 he graduated from the Royal College of Music (where he had been since the age of eleven, and was a prize-winner) with First Class Honours, studying with John Barstow, MBE. In the same year he was awarded the James Anthony Horne Scholarship by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to begin postgraduate study with Charles Owen on the Artist in Performance course. He was the recipient of a Music Education Award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and receives generous support from The Worshipful Company of Innholders, The Concordia Foundation and The Keyboard Charitable Trust.

He has performed at a number of prestigious venues in the UK and abroad, including Bucharest’s Athenaeum, Zurich’s Tonhalle, Prague’s Martinu Hall, Bergen’s Troldhaugen, Krakow’s Florianka Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, Queen Elisabeth Hall, Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Fairfield Hall and Steinway Hall, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Oxford’s Holywell Music Room, Bath’s Pump Room, Bristol’s Colston Hall and Belfast’s Ulster Hall. He has participated in masterclasses and performed with many renowned musicians and ensembles, such as Salvatore Accardo, the Brodsky String Quartet, Levon Chilingirian and the Chilingirian String Quartet, Peter Donohoe, Bernard Greenhouse, Leslie Howard, Joan Enric Lluna and Martino Tirimo. As a concerto soloist he has performed works by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Gershwin with orchestras throughout the UK.

(Written on September 13, 2011 )

Vocalist Daisy Chute will be performing an exciting and varied programme at the Showcase, here she tells WildKat about her musical background, playing the Gamelan and meeting ‘Macca’ and Sting at the Classical BRITS.

When did you first start singing?

I recall first singing as a 4 year old girl, performing for my grandparents ‘My Baby Does the Hanky Panky’ pounding away at their Steinway piano. It was a momentous occasion because from that point onwards I couldn’t get away from performing.

In what way did your family encourage you growing up?

Before I had even emerged from my mother, she had unintentionally taught me half of the American Songbook! She took up jazz piano lessons when pregnant with me, and I came out able to sing along to all the songs without knowing how I knew them! My mum and I used to go to jazz concerts all the time especially in Edinburgh (where I grew up) during the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues festival. When I reached ten my parents used to drive me all the way across town so that I could attend St Mary’s Music School and sing as a chorister six times a week in the cathedral. So I think you could safely say that they were supportive!

Does anyone else in your family sing or play instruments?

My older brother Jamie plays piano very well and has started to compose too. I’ve just been helping him with his first composition and it’s nice to have something in common. My family is more musical and artistic than your average family – my grandmother was a music teacher and my aunt used to be an opera singer, and though my mother’s first love is art she also dabbles in playing the piano and lyric writing. We used to team up when I was younger, until I got to sing with professional pianists, which inevitably led to my poor mum being fired.

Who inspires you musically?

I draw inspiration from so many kinds of music. In particular Renee Fleming, Anne Sofie Von Otter, Brad Mehldau and Rufus Wainwright inspire me as performers who have dabbled in the possibilities of different musical realms colliding. I enjoy the richness of mezzo-sopranos like Joyce DiDonato and Sarah Connolly, the sumptuous writing of composers like Ravel and Saint-Saens, the soulful renderings of jazz singers like Lianne Carroll, the intimate songs of singer-songwriters from Nick Drake to Joni Mitchell and the fiery performances of Latin American music by Teresa Berganza and Omara Portuondo.

What kind of music do you listen to?

The music I listen to ranges from classical singers and composers to jazz artists, and from folk singers and songwriters to roots and world musicians. In particular I love Latin American music and French music from Poulenc to Jacques Brel to Camille.

What embarrassing songs might I find on your iPod?

Oh too many to put them all here! I always was a little bit of an odd one growing up though as I would listen to more Duke Ellington and Shirley Horn than Destiny’s Child and other chart music. I remember when I was 8 teaching my pals at school “In a Mountain Greenery” by Rodgers and Hart. Perhaps in an attempt to fit in I did go through some phases of liking boy and girl bands of the 90’s (but what 10 year-old didn’t?) and a little later of going through that Indie rock phase, liking anything my friends liked. Some of those songs still lurk in the depths of my music collection and come out at inopportune times when I put my iPod on ‘shuffle’.

Where would you most like to perform that you haven’t already?

Well it would be hard to say no to the Carnegie Hall (the famous American one rather than the one in Dunfermline) or to The Royal Opera House! It is hard to think of one place in particular, but I know I would love to travel the world performing in beautiful old buildings, whether they are grand or wonderfully intimate.

Who would you most like to open for in concert?

That’s a tough one! It depends on what I’d be singing. I suppose opening for Anne Sofie Von Otter and Brad Mehldau’s jazz/classical collaboration would be fantastic.

If you weren’t singing, what would you be doing?

I wouldn’t be able to stay away from the creative arts, whether that involves writing, art, drama or design. If I could stick with music but not performance, I would love to compose more and produce albums. I have a good storyline for an opera that one day I will find time to write.

Do you play any instruments?

I’ve played classical piano and guitar since I was young, and took up other instruments in recent years at SOAS such as Javanese and Balinese Gamelan and the African Kora.

If you could dabble in another genre of music, what would it be?

Well, I already dabble in many types of music as it is – jazz, classical, opera, world, folk, close harmony! But if I was to spread my horizons even further I might try my hand at something completely different like Drum n Bass or other electronic music.

What genre of music can’t you stand to listen to?

I’m not a huge fan of some country and western music, or of modern day RnB. There are always exceptions to the rules of course, but generally I wouldn’t choose to listen to either of those genres.

How does singing songs you have written yourself differ to singing pre-existing works?

There’s an element of fear about singing your own songs; you are being judged for more than one aspect of your performance. But it is in that exposure of something closer to the reality of yourself that you can find the most exhilarating and unforgettable experiences.

Who is the most inspirational singer you have met?

I haven’t met many famous singers that I could say have really influenced or inspired me greatly; though it is doubtless that all of those I have met are very good at what they do. If I were to try and pick out a couple of people whose music has inspired me, they would be Sting and Paul McCartney. I met them both at the Classical Brit Awards a few years back when my group All Angels were performing and had been nominated for the same award as Sting and McCartney. Sting mostly kept himself to himself, but McCartney was very complimentary of my singing. They have both written such beautiful songs and I loved hearing Sting’s songs in particular recorded with orchestra on his most recent album.

My first singing teacher, Joan Busby, who I studied with on and off from age 9 to 18, was very inspirational in that in addition to her dedication to the craft of vocal teaching, she instilled in me a positive outlook, with her statement that “in the music world, there is room for everyone who wants to be in it”.

(Written on September 5, 2011 )

Following the success of our previous Young Artist series events, WildKat are pleased to announce the line-up for the upcoming autumn concert on Tuesday 13th September 2011.

Featuring in the concert is vocalist Daisy Chute, whose name many will recognise from the young classical ensemble ‘All Angels’. Since graduating from Kings College, London, Daisy has been exploring the routes that have led her into jazz and contemporary territory. Joining Daisy is oboist James Turnbull, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music who has recently released a CD of contemporary oboe works, ‘Fierce Tears’. Two students from the Royal College of Music, violist Isabel Villanueva and pianist John Paul Ekins, will also be performing solo repertoire in the Showcase. The concert at the purpose-built Forge in Camden will be an excellent platform to show off the talents of the young musicians.

Tickets can be purchased here from the Forge’s website, and further details of the concert are available here.

(Written on August 16, 2011 )

Tonight is the second installment of Peter Gregson‘s alt_classical event series at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden. Singer Daisy Chute (one quarter of All Angels) is teaming up with Peter to present an evening of music from around the world, from Latin American bossas to Scottish folk music by way of the spine-tingling minimalism of Estonia’s Arvo Pärt.

For a last minute spot on the guest list send us an email

(Written on May 19, 2010 )

(Written on May 10, 2010 )