AumAree House Presents "The London Tokyo Piano Trio"

Program:

Handel/Halvorsen - Passacaglia

Haydn - Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major (‘’Gypsy’’)

Mendelssohn - Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor

Rhys Watkins - Violin

Welsh violinist Rhys Watkins has an established career as a soloist, recitalist and orchestral leader. Rhys graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2005 and became a member of the first violin section of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2009. He has since enjoyed performing in all of the world’s major concert halls and has represented the orchestra by giving recitals in embassies in Beijing, Tokyo, New York and throughout Europe.

At Abbey Road & Air Lyndhurst Studios, London, Rhys has recorded the music for many films including Harry Potter, Thor, Star Wars, The Twilight Saga : New Moon, The King’s Speech, Marvel’s The Avengers, Rise of the Guardians, Zero Dark Thirty, Brave, The Imitation Game, Cinderella, The Shape of Water, Coco before Chanel, Tamara Drewe, The Special Relationship, The Golden Compass, Superman and many more.

He has also enjoyed working with acclaimed film directors Guillermo del Toro, George Clooney and Sir Kenneth Branagh

Rhys has been a finalist and prize-winner in several major international competitions including the Jeunesses Musicales International Violin Competition (Belgrade) and the Paganini International Violin Competition (Moscow) and is currently a member of the award-winning Artea String Quartet with whom he has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and BBC Proms. The Artea Quartet have made numerous live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and have recorded several CDs of the Mendelssohn and Schubert quartets under the Champs Hill label to great critical acclaim.

Alongside his classical concerts, Rhys has also shared the stage in performances with Paul McCartney, Bryan Adams, Queen, Elton John, Shirley Bassey, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Ray Davies, Tom Jones, Annie Lennox, Rod Stewart and Tony Bennett.

Rowena Calvert - Cello

British cellist, Rowena Calvert, has firmly established herself as an ambassador for the younger generation of cellists through her wealth of performances across the world. Her solo appearances and collaborations with artists and dancers such as Carlos Acosta include performances at the Royal Albert Hall, BBC radio 3, Classic FM, the Wigmore Hall, The Queens Hall and performances across Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

A regular recording artist in Abbey Road, Rowena has recorded sound tracks for blockbuster films including Mission Impossible, Wonder Woman, the animation ‘Up’ and has worked with musicians such as Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey and most recently at the Brit Awards, Billie Eilish. She has toured as part of the band for Hans Zimmer and Nigel Kennedy. As a freelance orchestral musician Rowena performs regularly at the BBC Proms.

As the former cellist of the Cavaleri String Quartet, accomplishments include first prizes at the 2012 Hamburg International Chamber Music Competition (Germany) and Royal Overseas League Competition (London), second prize at the 2014 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition (Japan) and the ‘Special Prize’ at the Premio Paolo Borciani International String Quartet Competition (Italy).The quartet went on to tour extensively in South America, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Europe giving live radio broadcasts in each country. They also recorded several CDs, each met with great critical acclaim.

Rowena is the Artistic Director of Hertford International Concert Series and Head of Strings in Shrewsbury International School, Bangkok. She is currently leading an enormously enjoyable career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher.

Yusuke Osada Biography

Japanese pianist Yusuke Osada began his musical career at the Juilliard School of Music, New York before being accepted into the class of world renowned pianist Prof. Pascal Devoyon at the Universitaet der Kunste, Berlin. After finishing his degree, he continued his post graduate studies at the Hochschule fur Musik und Theather, Hannover, with Prof. Bernd Goetzke and Prof. Mi-Kyung Kim until moving to the U.K. in 2015.

Yusuke has been a finalist/laureate of several International Competitions, achieving 2nd Prize at both the International Beethoven Piano Competition (Vienna) and the Christopher Duke Memorial Competition (London).

Yusuke has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe and Asia and is currently enjoying working as an accompanist for both the Royal Academy of Music and the London Symphony Orchestra.