Sophie Rosa Leader and Artistic Director Expand Sophie Rosa enjoys a varied career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. She has performed across the UK as a recitalist in venues including the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and Bridgewater Hall and has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Manchester Camerata. Sophie has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and has released CDs on Rubicon Classics, Champs Hill and EM Records labels to critical acclaim. Sophie is currently leader and artistic director of Sinfonia Viva and has appeared as guest leader with orchestras throughout the UK. As a keen chamber musician, Sophie is a member of Pixels Ensemble and also performs with contemporary music group, Psappha. She is a member of the teaching faculty at the University of Manchester. Sophie plays on a Joseph Gagliano violin dated 1795 and a Claude Fonclause bow made available through the generous support of the Stradivari Trust. Sophie’s most recent recording includes sonatas by Montgeroult, Viotti, Weber and Mendelssohn with the pianist Ian Buckle released on Rubicon Classics in February 2021. ‘finely judged detail, expansiveness and lots of heart’ The Guardian, 2021
Philip Gallaway Principal Second Violin Expand I was appointed principal second violinist of Sinfonia Viva in 2002. Since 1974 I have also been the second violinist of the Coull Quartet, a group that held the post of Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Warwick for over 40 years. I’ve always found the role of playing a ‘middle’ part most satisfying and rewarding, as it is so important in providing the richness of sound of any ensemble. I was educated in Norfolk and my fascination with the violin began when I was about 10 years old, after attending a professional orchestral concert. I soon began having violin lessons, and went on to join several local orchestras and chamber groups. I can still remember the excitement, whilst a teenager, of experiencing so much great music for the very first time. This inspired me to go on to study violin at the Royal Academy of Music, where I took every opportunity to study the string quartet repertoire. Such was my love of chamber music that for a while I was a member of three student quartets simultaneously, all of whom received regular coaching from renowned quartet leader, Sidney Griller. My love of playing chamber and orchestral music remains undiminished, and I have been fortunate to enjoy performing and recording a rich variety of repertoire both at home and abroad, as well as teaching and coaching enthusiastic and talented musicians of all ages.
Hazel Parkes Violin Expand My music making started at the age of 6 when I began learning the piano. I was very scared of my first piano teacher who used to have a 6 inch ruler to hand to give my fingers a slap if I played a wrong note. Luckily my parents moved house when I was 7 so I changed teacher. When I was 11, and about to start secondary school, we visited some friends whose daughter was learning the violin. She let me have a try and I liked it so I started having violin lessons at my secondary school and enjoyed the fun of playing in the School Orchestra and Youth Orchestra. After obtaining A levels in Music, French and German, I studied Violin at Birmingham School of Music (now Birmingham Conservatoire) with John Bradbury and Felix Kok and gained ABSM teaching diplomas in violin and piano followed by ABSM performing diploma (violin) and GBSM. On leaving college, I was offered positions with CBSO and BBC Midland Radio Orchestra. I became a member of the MRO and enjoyed 7 years working for the BBC at their Pebble Mill studios playing popular classical music and light music. I was a member of the orchestra when the BBC decided to re-record the theme tune for The Archers. “We were paid a fee for the performance but unfortunately don’t get any more money every time it’s played on air!” When the MRO was disbanded, I became a founder member of the English String/Symphony Orchestra based in Malvern. One of the most interesting times with the ESO was a 2 week tour of East Germany in 1986. In 1988, my husband relocated from Birmingham to Sheffield for work so we moved to South Yorkshire and still live there. At this point I left ESO and joined Sinfonia Viva. In 1993, three other members of Viva and I founded Bow Belles String Quartet. The group has been together ever since and play music for weddings, parties and corporate functions. My experience in MRO has been very useful for this as Bow Belles play light music as well as classical. We often add to our repertoire with new arrangements and I have enjoyed arranging some of my favourites for us to include. Outside of work, my hobbies are playing tennis and tap dancing (not at the same time!). When I worked at Pebble Mill, The Archers was recorded in the studio next door to the orchestra and since then, I have been a keen listener to the programme. I have 2 daughters. The family lives very close to the Peak District and regularly puts on walking boots to explore the lovely area.
Richard Muncey Principal Viola Expand I studied at the Royal College of Music and was awarded the major viola prize in his final year there. I formed the Guadagnini String Quartet at college, they became associated with several universities, including Southampton and Hertfordshire and were the resident quartet at Lancaster University. We toured the world and won several international prizes. We were also resident quartet for two years at the Banff Summer School in Canada. As well as being Viva's principal viola, I am the principal with the NCO and the London Festival Orchestra and I have appeared as guest principal with many of the UK's orchestras. I am the violist with the Tesdesca String quartet who have a busy concert and teaching schedule.
Deirdre Bencsik Principal Cello Expand I started the cello at Primary School in Northampton through the brilliant Music Service there. My teacher, William Boughton, later became a conductor and we crossed paths again in his own Orchestra many years later! I then studied with Christopher Bunting, at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn and Raphael Wallfisch and with Robert Gardener in Aspen, Colorado - where my cello temporarily ended up in the wrong State! I then joined the Perry String Quartet, who performed regular concerts and radio broadcasts across the Midlands and as a freelance cellist, played with some of the UK’s leading orchestras - driving around the entire length of the country in my faithful Mini Traveller. I also played in the Cello Quartet “Quatrocelli” and Cello Octet “Red Barn Cellos” – (who needs violins or violas?!) and for 16 years enjoyed making music with good friends in the Usher Piano Trio, exploring the full range of repertoire for this genre. During this time, I qualified as a Music Therapist and consequently worked part-time in the Mental Health sector and with autistic and disabled children in my local Special Needs School. I joined “Sinfonia Viva” in 1983 and have enjoyed the variety of orchestral and chamber music concerts, collaborations with living composers, animateurs, dancers and creative artists, as well as the education and outreach work in the community, working with adults and children. This work is incredibly rewarding, and I feel privileged to be able to use my Music Therapy experience in the various special needs projects with Sinfonia Viva. I have also appeared as a soloist, performing the Concertos of: C.P.E Bach, Saint-Saens, Haydn, Elgar, Martinu and Kabalevsky, Tchaikowsky’s “Rococo” Variations, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, the Brahms Double Concerto and Krut Nystedt’s “Stabat Mater” for solo Cello and Choir. I enjoy innovative collaborations, including the “Past Lives” Project: performing new compositions alongside archive film footage and I am a member of the band ‘Be’ which created a unique soundscape for Wolfgang Buttress’s UK Pavilion “The Hive” at the World Expo in Milan. Combining science, art and music, ‘Be’ perform with a live stream of 40,000 bees – something of a World first for both species! ‘Be’ have since performed at numerous UK festivals (including Glastonbury), in “The Hive” – (now residing at Kew Gardens) and live performances on BBC Radio 6. Any spare time I have is spent teaching, looking after my teenage son, eccentric husband and thousands of bees in the numerous hives at the bottom of our garden.
Rachel Holt Principal Flute Expand I studied at the RNCM with Trevor Wye, and during this time was a prizewinner in the Young Artists’ Competition of the International Flute Association, held in the USA. I was the Principal Flute in the Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra for fifteen years, and am currently Principal Flute with Sinfonia Viva. As a freelance performer I have played with many of Britain’s leading orchestras, including the Halle, Manchester Camerata and the Philharmonia. I also perform with the light music group Fourtune, and am a member of the chamber ensemble Zephyr. I am also one half of Appassionata, a flute and harp duo which, in addition to performing at weddings and functions and giving workshops, has released a CD entitled ‘Music To Iron By’. I teach at Chethams School of Music, the Junior RNCM, and Lancaster University. I have also given masterclasses in association with Miyazawa Flutes.
Nichola Hunter Flute Expand I was born in Southport, Lancashire and started my musical studies at Chethams School of Music, Manchester. I later studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, with Trevor Wye, Kate Hill, and Colin Chambers, and on piccolo with Patricia Morris. I have taken part in many flute master classes with well-known flautists, including James Galway, William Bennett, Geoffrey Gilbert, and Aureole Nicolet. I currently work as an accomplished freelance musician, playing flute, piccolo, and alto flute, with a highly acclaimed reputation. I have a busy, successful career working with many of the major British orchestras, including the BBC Philharmonic, Halle, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic,Opera North, Welsh National Opera, and BBC Welsh Orchestras. I have performed many solo concerti, and have given receital concerts all over Great Britain. I also enjoy working in chamber music groups, and have appeared on television, (regularly on BBC Songs of Praise), and on radio. I am co-principal flute with the Northern Chamber Orchestra, with whom I have performed as soloist and made several highly acclaimed CD recordings. I am a core player with Sinfonia Viva and greatly enjoy the wide spectrum of varied music we perform, along with the educational workshops and projects we deliver, especially to young children and children with special needs and learning difficulties. I have toured a great deal with major, successful, famous singer soloists, including Luciano Pavarotti, Katherine Jenkins, Lesley Garrett, Russell Watson, and with The Moody Blues on their World Tour. I also combine my freelance performing with an extensive teaching career too. I hold teaching positions in three Grammar Schools, Huddersfield University, and I teach privately also. I live in Cheshire, South Manchester.
Maddy Aldis-Evans Principal Oboe Expand I was born in Leicester and started learning the oboe at aged 7 in the then superb Leicestershire Schools of Music. I continued at Oakham school before moving to the Birmingham Conservatoire where I studied Oboe and composition, obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in professional studies, BA(Hons) degree and ABSM in Composition (merit). I also was awarded the BA Course prize and also the college prize for Orchestral Composition. I continued studying at the Royal Northern College of Music where I gained a post-graduate diploma in advanced Performance and Composition and was awarded the Rawsthorn Prize for composition. From 2005-2013 I worked in Germany as Sub-Principal oboe and Cor Anglais with the Anhaltische Philharmonie in Dessau and from 2000-2005 as solo oboist with Kammerensemble Cologne. After originally joining Sinfonia Viva as Sub-Principal oboe in 2015, I was promoted to Principal oboe in 2018. Always active as a composer, I was commissioned by the IMPULS festival for new music in Saxon-Anhalt in 2012 and the Anhaltische Philharmonie premiered “War-Torn and the angel” for string orchestra, solo flute and trumpet and actor. “River” was commissioned by TrevesPunkt Reed quintet based in Trier, Germany and premiered at the OPENING 2015 festival. “Ascendant in Taurus” was premiered in November 2015 as part of the IMPULS Festival for new music. "The Enchanted Forest" will be premiered in 2019. Web: maddy-aldis.co.uk <http://maddy-aldis.co.uk>
Chris Swann Principal Clarinet Expand I studied at the Royal Academy of Music where I won the Geoffrey Hawkes Prize for clarinet playing and was awarded the Alexander Roller Prize for Piano Playing, subsequently spending twelve years as a clarinettist and saxophonist in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. I resigned my position with the RLPO in order to pursue a varied freelance career, playing Principal Clarinet with the BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Hallé, Ulster, Scottish Chamber, Manchester Concert, National Symphony and Sinfonia Viva Orchestras. I have made a number of concerto appearances including performances of Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto, Debussy's Rhapsodie for Saxophone and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the RLPO, and have toured as soloist with the Mozart Festival Orchestra (in Manchester, Dublin, Leicester and The Barbican in London) as well as performing the Finzi, Copland and Weber Clarinet Concertos and other solo works with Sinfonia Viva and various other professional orchestras. In December 1992 I was appointed Acting Orchestra Manager with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, taking up the full-time position in April 1993, relinquishing it in August 1995 to become Head of Woodwind at Shrewsbury School, a part-time post which I successfully combined with a busy schedule of regular playing engagements. In July 1998 I joined the Royal Northern College of Music as Tutor in Clarinet and Eb Clarinet. As well as directing my nationally recognised ensemble ZEPHYR I have also performed chamber music with the Maggini, Allegri and Alberni String Quartets and a wide variety of repertoire with members of Northern Chamber Orchestra the RLPO’s Ensemble 10:10 and Camerata Ensemble of Manchester. This work, combined with examining for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (graded and diploma), external examining for universities, coaching, conducting and presenting master-classes allows me little time for leisure interests which include activities such as cycling, motorcycling, tree-felling and studying the contents of wine bottles.
Helen Bishop Clarinet Expand I was born in Wales. I have been a clarinettist with Sinfonia Viva since 2001. I studied at the Welsh College of Music and Drama with Michael Saxton as a Junior student, and then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Georgina Dobree. I returned to the Welsh College for postgraduate study with Martin Ronchetti before attending the National Centre for Orchestral Studies, Goldsmiths College, London. I began my career playing principal and bass clarinet in West End musicals before being drawn towards opera and symphony orchestras. I currently play clarinet and bass clarinet with Welsh National Opera, English Touring Opera, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra and Bristol Ensemble. I also specialise in playing the basset horn (the clarinet’s big brother), an instrument I feel is rather underrated. I'm currently researching its solo and chamber music repertoire, and hope to promote a greater awareness of the instrument’s unique qualities and true potential. My interest in Welsh clarinet music inspired the composer David Nevens to write a piece for me, “GWYN ap NUDD” for solo E flat clarinet. More recently, a visit to Australia sparked not only an interest in clarinet music by Australian composers but also a taste for red wine by West Australian wine producers. I’m also very passionate about young people being able to have access to music from an early age. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in English Touring Opera’s education performances, nationwide and in Luxembourg, for young people and for people with special needs. I find it very rewarding to observe the pleasure that the participants derive at the time and also what they take away with them. In my spare time I enjoy hill walking with my husband and an occasional glass of the afore-mentioned wine.
Jose Lluna French Horn Expand Born in Valencia (Spain), I started my horn playing at a very early age. After finishing my studies at the Valencia Conservatoire I gained a place at the Royal College of Music in London studying with Julian Baker and Timothy Brown. Since leaving college I have pursued a freelance career here in the UK and Spain collaborating with some of the major orchestras, ballets companies and opera orchestras. Since 1998 I have been a member of Sinfonia Viva and the Cadaques Orchestra (Spain). As well as orchestral work, I enjoy playing chamber music and am a member of the Quintessence Wind Ensemble and Moon Winds (Spain).