Tatiana Bysheva violin Rebecca Mathews violin

Dan Shilladay viola Gemma Wareham cello Anthony Williams double bass

John Slack clarinet Paul Cott horn Rosie Burton bassoon

Tatiana Bysheva violin

Tatiana Bysheva  was born in the Ukraine in 1982, and studied at the National Academy of Music in Kiev, then with Krzysztof Smietana at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was awarded a distinction for her Master's degree.  She has led Southbank Sinfonia, Collegium Musicum in Kiev, and orchestras at the GSMD for conductors including Paolo Olmi and Sir Colin Davis.  As a soloist, Tatiana has performed concertos with Southbank Sinfonia, the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra in Ukraine, and won the Gold Medal in the Marlow Music Festival Concerto Competition.  She has been grateful for funding from the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund, Musicians Benevolent Fund and the City of London Corporation.  Tatiana is currently a Junior Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Rebecca Mathews violin

Rebecca Mathews began studying the violin at the age of four with the Suzuki method, and continued her studies at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from the age of fourteen. In 2002, she went to the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied with Yossi Zivoni and Steven Wilkie, and was runner-up for the RNCM's prestigious Paganini Prize.  While in Manchester, Rebecca worked with Ensemble Cymru and Manchester Camerata, and performed at the Manchester Apollo and Academy alongside artists such as Kate Nash and Sophie Ellis Bextor.  Rebecca is currently a member of Southbank Sinfonia and recently performed Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2 with the orchestra.  Rebecca's other interests include Italian folklore and shoes.

Dan Shilladay viola

Dan Shilladay read music at the University of Birmingham before completing a Master's degree in contemporary music studies at the University of York.  During a further year of study at the Royal College of Music, he was selected for the Jerwood/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Scheme for Young Players, and was also invited by Martyn Brabbins to perform with the Cheltenham Festival Academy.  Dan is currently a member of Southbank Sinfonia, and was part of the orchestra for the Royal Opera House's recent production of Thomas Adès's Powder Her Face in the Linbury Studio Theatre.  As a freelance musician he performs with, among others, the OAE, the English Chamber Orchestra, the English Concert and the English Baroque Soloists.  Dan also conducts, and is currently assistant conductor of Stoneleigh Youth Orchestra.

Gemma Wareham cello

Gemma Wareham completed a Bachelor degree in Music at the University of Manchester, then went on to study for a Master's degree in performance at the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating with a distinction in 2007.  Her orchestral experience includes the role of principal cellist for orchestras such as the RNCM Opera Orchestra and for a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake with the Bolshoi Ballet.  As a soloist Gemma recently gave a memorial recital at the Jaqueline Du Pré Room in Oxford with the Russian pianist Olga Bobrovnikova. Gemma is a passionate chamber musician and has studied with members of the Endellion Quartet, Quatuor Danel, the Nash Ensemble and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Gemma now plays with Southbank Sinfonia in London.

Anthony Williams double bass

Anthony Williams was born in 1980, and while at school attended the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.  He then read Music and Maths at Royal Holloway University, before undertaking postgraduate study at the Royal College of Music.  While at the RCM, Anthony played in the BBC Symphony Orchestra as part of its side-by-side scheme, and began playing in orchestras in the Britten-Pears programme in Aldeburgh.   Anthony has worked with orchestras including the Orchestra of the Swan, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. He will give the world premiere of William Attwood's Double Bass Concerto with St Paul's Sinfonia in February 2009.

John Slack clarinet

John Slack attended Wells Cathedral School, and then went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in July 2007. While studying, John co-founded the Circle of Fifths Wind Quintet, and with this group he has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall and LSO St Luke's, and at festivals and music societies across the country.  In Autumn 2007, at the invitation of the clarinettist Michael Collins, John spent a month in Mumbai and Bangalore as co-principal Clarinet of The National Symphony Orchestra of India; he then joined Southbank Sinfonia in January 2008.  As a soloist, John has performed Finzi's Five Bagatelles with Winchmore String Orchestra, and Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for winds with Southbank Sinfonia.  John currently studies with Chen Halevi at the Universtiy of Music in Trossingen, South-West Germany, supported by the Countess of Munster Trust

Paul Cott horn

Paul Cott was born in 1984 and began playing the horn at the age of fourteen.  He attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was taught by Richard Bissill, Jonathan Lipton and Jeffrey Bryant, graduating last year with a Master's degree. While studying, Paul was a member of the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, the Britten-Pears Orchestra and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, and was principal horn of the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Since graduating, he has performed with a wide range of ensembles including New London Sinfonia, Manning Camerata and Ensemble Cymru, and on tour with the multinational crossover group Il Divo.  As a soloist, Paul was Havering Young Musician of the Year in 2004, and performed in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for winds with Southbank Sinfonia in March.

Rosemary Burton bassoon

Rosemary Burton was born in 1985, and began playing the bassoon at the age of eleven.  While at school in Hertfordshire, she attended the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for two years, the second as principal bassoon.  Rosie read Music at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and then studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama until being appointed to Southbank Sinfonia in January 2008.  As a soloist Rosie gave the world premiere of John Casken's Blue Medusa in 2003, and will give a recital with pianist Christopher White in Park Lane Group's Series at the Purcell Room in January 2009. Rosie is taught by Graham Sheen, Daniel Jemison and Meyrick Alexander, and has been grateful for funding from the Musicians Benevolent Fund and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.