Benedict Holland, Violin

Benedict Holland studied violin and piano at the Royal Academy of Music, later moving to the Royal Northern College of Music to study in Yossi Zivoni’s violin class. As a chamber musician, he was a founder member of the Matisse Piano Quartet and the Music Group of Manchester. He is currently a member of virtuoso chamber ensemble I Musicanti, and together with friends David Greed, Kimi Makino and Adrian Bradbury, of the Victoria Quartet, as well as pursuing a busy recital programme on violin and viola with both piano and organ.

As an experienced orchestral leader, he has guest-led many of the UK’s major orchestras, including the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Orchestra of Opera North and BBC Philharmonic and until 2023, he was the violinist and occasional violist with the contemporary ensemble Psappha.

Ben has always put teaching at the heart of his work, at the RNCM where he was awarded a professorship in 2016. He also teaches a class of talented young violinists at the Junior RNCM and gives consultative classes in orchestral and contemporary techniques at Trinity Laban Conservatoire where he is a visiting artist.

Ben’s violin is a rare Rogeri, c. 1710.

David Greed, Violin

David Greed was the leader of the Orchestra of Opera North from 1978 – 2023 and was the youngest leader in the country at that time of his appointment. His solo and concerto repertoire is extensive and he has appeared with most of the region’s orchestras as concerto soloist. He has recorded Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ on the Naxos label with the Orchestra of Opera North and Elgar’s Violin Concerto with Hertfordshire Youth Orchestra.

As guest leader, David has appeared with many of the UK’s most prestigious ensembles, including the Philharmonia, Royal Opera, Hallé, Royal Liverpool, CBSO, BBC Scottish and BBC Philharmonic orchestras, and is currently Music Director of the Sinfonia of Leeds and Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has been violin tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Chetham’s School of Music and European Union Youth Orchestra as well as string advisor for Yorkshire Young Musicians.

Kimi Makino, Viola

Kimi studied at Soai University of Music in Osaka with Machie Oguri, at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva with Nobuko Imai, and at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Garth Knox.

During the course of her career she has won numerous prizes, including the 2nd Tokyo International Viola Competition and the Kyoto Aoyama Music Award.

In addition to solo performances with the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, she has appeared at various festivals including Viola Spaces, Verbier Festival Academy, Luzerne Festival, Takefu International Music Festival, Groba Music Festival and Les Estivals de Megève.

The former Assistant Principal of the BBC Philharmonic orchestra, Kimi now divides her time between principal guest work for ensembles in the UK and Europe alongside a busy chamber music career.

Adrian Bradbury, ‘Cello

Adrian was a scholar of Churchill College, Cambridge (in Veterinary Science and Music) and then the Royal Academy of Music. After further study in Berlin he developed an international career in chamber music as the cellist in Composers Ensemble (winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Award, 2002), Jane’s Minstrels, Trio Gemelli, Touchwood Piano Quartet and Chamber Domaine, giving countless world premieres of solos and chamber works by composers including Thomas Adès, Guy Barker, Judith Bingham, Tansy Davies, Dai Fujikura, James MacMillan, Naresh Sohal, Hugh Wood and John Woolrich. A regular guest principal player with most of the major British orchestras, he is also Cello Tutor to the National Youth Orchestra. His research into ensemble synchronisation, with Professor Alan Wing, is published by the Royal Society, and his discography includes the complete operatic fantasies of 19th-century cello virtuoso Alfredo Piatti (with Oliver Davies on Meridian) and ‘The Pre-Raphaelite Cello’ (with Andrew West on Somm).