We are delighted to welcome these outstanding musicians for our next concert:

John Paul Ekins is an exceptional pianist who has performed at prestigious venues across Europe including the Royal Albert Hall where he played two concertos. He has won numerous scholarships and prizes in international competitions. His programme will include pieces by Chopin and Liszt.

The Gildas Quartet are an exciting and innovative string quartet who have performed to critical acclaim at major venues including the Wigmore Hall and the Bridgewater Hall and on Radio 3. They will be performing with guest violinist Hatty Haynes and their programme will include works by Dvorak, Jessie Montgomery, Haydn and Shostakovich.

John Paul Ekins

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 he 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 with First Class Honours, and in the same year he was awarded the James Anthony Horne Scholarship by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study with Charles Owen, where he graduated with Master of Performance (Distinction) in 2011. He was the recipient of a Music Education Award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and receives generous support from Making Music, The Concordia Foundation, The Razumovsky Trust 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, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Fairfield Hall and Steinway Hall, Birmingham's Symphony Hall, and Belfast's Ulster Hall.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Hatty has performed extensively throughout the UK in venues such as Wigmore Hall, the Barbican, LSO St Luke’s, Colston Hall and Regent Hall. In 2019 she performed Brahms Clarinet Quintet with Andrew Marriner and Levon Chilingirian and played Schumann Piano Quintet with Alexander Melnikov. She has performed at various festivals including Southwell Music Festival, Kyoto International Students Festival, Vilalte Chamber Music Festival and has performed live on BBC Radio Somerset as well as having various concerts broadcasted on BBC Radio 3.

Hatty Haynes, Guest Violin
Gemma Sharples, Violin
Francesca Gilbert, VIola
Anna Menzies, Cello

"Stunning piece, exquisite playing, beautiful video. We're running out of superlatives!" - The Strad

The Gildas Quartet have performed to critical acclaim at major venues including the Bridgewater Hall, Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, and on BBC Radio 3. Praised for their 'energy, verve and refreshing approach', their bold and explorative approach to performance has been recognised by the International Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition, Graz, where they were first prize winners of the Audience Engagement Award in 2018.

Equally passionate about new music and works from the quartet canon, the Gildas have a concert series called 'First Nights, Last Rites' where they commission pieces to be partnered with late well-loved quartets. The first instalment, a new piece by Philip Cashian, was conceived to be performed alongside Schubert's 'Death and the Maiden', receiving its premiere at the St Magnus Festival in Orkney. The quartet has also been privileged to work with composers including Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Colin Matthews on performing their works for quartet. They recently completed a recording of two works by Cheryl Frances-Hoad to be included in a disc for the Champs Hill label. The quartet has given recitals at international festivals such as Two Moors, Oxford Lieder, Kings Lynn, and Cheltenham, and have collaborated with musicians such as the Brodsky Quartet, Nicholas Daniels, Robin Tritschler, Alexander Baillie, and Matthew Barley.

The quartet are City Music Foundation Artists and Associate Ensemble at the Birmingham Conservatoire. They have studied with Oliver Wille, Robin Ireland, and Catherine Manson, and have also benefited from intensive coaching and masterclasses from Alfred Brendel, Paul Cassidy, Gabor Takacs Nagy, and András Keller among others. They have frequently been featured by the Park Lane Group and are grateful for awards and support from the Richard Carne Trust, Tunnell Trust, and the RNCM. The Gildas Quartet were semi-finalists at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition 2018.