The founding director of the English Mozart Ensemble, GARTH HALL first came to music as a chorister at St Mary's Cath
edral in Edinburgh, where he sang for five years and was given his first lessons on the piano by the pianist Colin Kingsley of Edinburgh University. A scholar at Wells Cathedral Music School, he went on to study with the Malaysian pianist Yu, Chun Yee, at the Royal College of Music, London. Garth made his London debut at the Purcell Room in 1992, to much critical acclaim. A regular recitalist in Music Societies and Festivals around this country, he has to date performed in Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Canada and the USA. In addition to his recital work, Garth has worked extensively in the theatre, both as pianist and conductor, and is currently Musical Director and Conductor of the smash-hit Chicago in London’s West End. His solo CD of Rachmaninov, Barber and others, was given four stars by the BBC Music Magazine.
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MORGAN CROWLEY
has travelled five continents as a performer in many genres,
from chamber opera to modern dance. His vocal training in Dublin, London and Switzerland has won him many awards and secured his operatic debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden aged only twenty-one. Since then he has performed as a soloist at opera houses, theatres and concert halls throughout the world in repertoire which includes Gluck Orfeo (New York), Rossini Petite Messe (Zurich), Purcell Dido & Aeneas (Madrid), Strauss Die Fledermaus (Vienna), Mozart Die Zauberflote (Dublin), Handel Messiah (Aldeburgh), Mozart Requiem (London), Bach Magnificat (Dublin). He has also created numerous roles and premiered various works in London (Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra), Amsterdam (Royal Concertgebouw), Chicago, Paris, Cape Town, Sydney, Hong-Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore, including the Opera Trilogy by Stephen Oliver, directed by Simon Callow for Covent Garden which won the Critics Award in 1996. Beyond his love of classical music, Morgan has enjoyed principal roles in West End and Broadway shows like Riverdance, West Side Story, Chicago and the European premiere of Rogers and Hammerstein's A Grand Night For Singing, as well as extensive radio and TV broadcasts, highlights of which include the final BBC Big Band Series with Barry Forgie and Friday Night Is Music Night with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
His unique abilities have earned praise from audiences that have included Princess Diana, Madonna, Dame Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo, The Queen and various Presidents and Heads of State.
Apart from his appearances on recordings such as Riverdance, Quest For Camelot (Warner Bros), Cantichorus (International Church Music Festival) and Yule Be Wiggling (Disney/ABC Network USA), Morgan has recorded two solo albums - Celtic Carol and Out of the Blue (International Bestseller List USA for twelve weeks)and has recently recorded music by Bach, Handel and Schubert on the new English Mozart Ensemble “Classics” Album.
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DAVID LE PAGE was born in Guernsey and began playing the violin at the age of seven. He gained a place at the Yehudi Menuhin school aged eleven studying there with Margaret Norris, Mauricio Fuks and Sidney Griller. In 1985 he won 5th prize in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin competition and in 1986 came 2nd in the BBC Young Musician of the Year. On completion of his studies with Igor Ozim in Switzerland he returned to England and began a career as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher.
An experienced chamber musician he was a member of the Kreutzer quartet for four years with whom he recorded and broadcast extensively. He has also played viola with the Tippett quartet and is currently a member of the Caractacus quartet and the Orsino piano trio.
He performed for two years with the highly acclaimed music theatre group the Gogmagogs taking part in shows at the Edinburgh Festival and in New York. Since 1995 he has been the violinist with the Composers Ensemble who he has appeared with at the Hoxton, Huddersfield, Brighton and Aldeburgh festivals as well as at the BBC Proms. Over the past ten years he has been the duo partner of pianists Charles Owen, Andrew Zolinsky, Catherine Edwards and Tom Ades.
Music under Michael Davis, Jaroslav Vanacek and Trevor williams. In 1988 he joined the Halle Orchestra and four years later moved to the BBC Symphony Orchestra where he was appointed co-leader in 1998. He has appeared as guest leader with the BBC Concert Orchestra and was leader of the Brunel Ensemble. He performs regularly as a soloist and recently gave the premiere performance with the BBC Symphony Orchestra of a new concerto by Tarik O'Regan. Robert was a teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music junior department and is also a tutor for the National Youth Orchestra. In 2003 he became Head of Strings at Dean Close School in Cheltenham
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MARIE
LLOYD
is one of this country’s most exciting young clarinettists. Barely into her thirties, she has played with t
he vast majority of the great orchestras of Britain, including the London Symphony Orchestra; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; The Philharmonia; Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; English National Opera; London Sinfonietta; Academy of St Martins in the Field; BBC Concert Orchestra; The Halle; and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. She has played as guest principal with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; English Symphony Orchestra; Northern Ballet Theatre; Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra; BBC National Orchestra of Wales;
is a pianist, conductor and musicologist. He read Music at Christ Church Oxford and wrote his doctoral dissertation on technical aspects of Mozart's Piano Concertos. From 1992-94 he was Lecturer in Music at St Peter's College Oxford, and from 1994-2005 Lecturer in Music at the University of Exeter, latterly becoming Director of Music Programmes. Since 2005 he has been part of the Programme Management Team at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he lectures on Music Theory and History. Timothy Jones is the author of 'Beethoven: The Moonlight and Other Sonatas', 'Mozart's Viennese Piano Concertos: A Poetics of Musical Entertainment', a new completion of Mozart's Requiem, and academic articles on Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. He also writes on Schenkerian theory and French music in the late nineteenth century.
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TOM HEWINS
Tom has been involved in education projects with orchestras, schools and ensembles since graduating fro
m the guildhall school of music and Drama in 1994.His playing career has included working with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Cyprus State Orchestra, Chicago the Musical, the John Bennett Big Band, and the Bollywood Brass Band.
This has run alongside his career as an Educationalist, where he has worked on numerous projects with organisations such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Ballet, the Guildhall school of Music, Handel House Museum, Bath MozartFest, and he is currently Music Director for ‘Young Music Makers’, a North London based Music School.
"Having been aware of the English Mozart Ensemble for some time and their fresh and holistic approach, I am thrilled to have been asked to develop their education programme, and look forward to the upcoming series of projects."
RICHARD HOSFORTH
Richard Hosford (clarinet) has a busy career both as a soloist and as chamber musician, as well as being Principal Clarinet of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
As a member of th
e Chamber Orchestra of Europe for more than twenty years Richard toured the world, performing as a soloist with them in the USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the USA with conductors Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Oscar Schumsky, Sir Roger Norrington, Gerard Korsten and Paavo Berglund. He has recorded the Mozart and Copland concertos with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Alexander Schneider on ASV. He also performed the Nielsen concerto with Paavo Berglund in Italy and Germany. He was for several years Principal Clarinet with the London Philharmonic before taking up the post of Principal Clarinet with the BBC Symphony in 1994. In 1999 he gave the first broadcast of Robin Holloways' Clarinet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and recently performed Harrison Birtwistle's "Melancolia", as soloist, in their Barbican series. In 2005 he gave performances and broadcasts of Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Manchester Camerata. He regularly performs the Mozart Concerto throughout the country with the Mozart Festival Orchestra.
Richard Hosford is a committed chamber musician and has recorded all the major repertoire for wind ensemble with the Wind Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has toured with them throughout the world. He has recorded with the chamber ensemble, Domus, and the Florestan Piano Trio. He is a leading member of the Gaudier Ensemble and has recorded many works for strings and wind with them. In 1998 he became a member of the Nash Ensemble with whom he tours and broadcasts regularly. He has recently recorded all the major chamber works of Poulenc and Saints Saens with them as well as a disc of chamber works by Mark Anthony Turnage, Birtwistle and James Macmillan. In recent years his recordings of the Copland Concerto and the Brahms Trio have both been rated “First choice” by BBC Radio 3 Record review. Richard teaches at the Royal College of Music.
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As a chamber musician, Malin has given recitals in Washington DC, Ostrava, Copenhagen and has performed at
the Edinburgh International Festival with the Leopold String Trio and in London's Queen Elizabeth Hall with the Belcea Quartet. She has also performed as a violist on BBC R3 and at Wigmore Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
In 2004, she became a member of the Nash Ensemble and made her debut at the BBC Proms. The ensemble's 2005/6 season includes a concert tour of Germany, CD recording for Hyperion and regular appearances at Wigmore Hall and on BBC R3.
In 1999, Malin became a member of the teaching staff at Gothenburg Conservatory of Music, where she places particular emphasis on the ergonomics of string playing.
In 2002, Malin was presented with the Halland Academy's award for outstanding cultural achievement.
Malin plays a 1748 G. Gagliano violin, generously loaned by the Järnåker Foundation.
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JAMES CLEVERTON, BARITONE
James was born in Kent, England, and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. His awards include the Texaco Award for Advanced Opera and the Veitch-Ibler Oratorio Prize.
James made his international opera debut in 2001 as Escamillo for the Spier Opera Festival in South Africa. Later that year he 
appeared as the Pirate King with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company at the Savoy Theatre.
Between 2003 and 2005 as a member of Zurich Opera’s International Opera Studio, he appeared in Maria Stuarda, Rigoletto, Der Rosenkavalier, Don Carlos, Manon Lescaut, Les Dialogues des Carmelites, Fedora, La Pietra del Paragone and Der Konsul.
In 2005, James made his debut in France singing the role of Count Asdrubale for the Opera de Rennes production of Rossini’s La Pietra del Paragone, the role of the Pirate King with Zurich Pocket Opera, Don Giovanni with Opera by Definition in the UK, and Silvio in i Pagliacci for the Concordia Foundation in Hanoi Vietnam.
Equally comfortable on the concert platform, James has performed oratorios with some of Europe’s most prominent orchestras. Most recently he sang a Mozart concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in the Tonhalle Zurich, Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen with the Ensemble Classique and is currently touring the UK with Theatre Productions Viennese Strauss Gala.
Future plans include the role of Eugene Onegin with Opera by Definition, Silvio with English Touring Opera and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor for Iford Festival.
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RUTH CONTRACTOR, OBOE
Ruth Contractor studied jointly at Manchester University, and at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she won several awards and prizes. She then went on to postgraduate studies in Germany supported by a DAAD scholarship. Whilst still a student Ruth was selected to play principal oboe for Leonard Bernstein in the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival orchestra and Charles Dutoit in the World Youth Orchestra. More recently she was invited by Claudio Abbado to play for the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in festivals and concerts all over Europe and with his latest project Orchestra Mozart in Bologna. Ruth is a busy freelance oboist based in London, working with all the major orchestras there and also throughout the rest of the UK. She also plays regularly with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and in all these capacities appears regularly all over the world, on television and the radio and on recordings. Over the years Ruth has also worked with many chamber music ensembles and smaller group and appears as concerto soloist with the Brandenburg Sinfonia and the Goldberg Ensemble. She also teaches in music festivals in India and northern Italy.
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KARIN LEISHMAN, VIOLIN
Karin studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, in the Netherlands and Australia. She has appeared as soloist in Europe, Russia, many times in the United Kingdom and has guest-lead many of the great British orchestras, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Karin Leishman now devotes herself to leading one of Britain’s foremost chamber ensembles, the Alberni String Quartet, described in the New York Times as “one of the finest half-dozen quartets in the world.” She plays on a beautiful Antonio Stradivarius violin of 1727.
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SUZANNE MANUELL, SOPRANO
Born in Cornwall, Suzanne has performed with some of Britain’s most renowned singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Alan Opie, Benjamin Luxon, Janice Cairns & Jonathan Lemalu .
She has perfor
med the title roles Tosca, and Madame Butterfly, and the roles of Amelia A Masked Ball, Rosina The Barber of Seville, Giulietta Tales of Hoffman and Papagena The Magic Flute to great critical acclaim.
Previously singing as a mezzo soprano, she performed the roles of Prince Orlovsky Die Fledermaus, Olga Eugene Onegin and the title roles La Cenerentola and Carmen as well as Charlotte, a role which was created for her, in Russell Pascoe’s The Murder of Charlotte Dymond.
Suzanne has appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, London’s Savoy Hotel, and the Crush Room at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She has sung with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic and the Northern Sinfonia. She has also had the honour of singing for HRH The Princess Royal.
Suzanne was recently selected by Jose Cura as one of just fifteen international singers, to work with him in London.
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IAN SCOTT CLARINET
roque to the 20th century and has
played and recorded most of the chamber music for his instrument.