Robin Michael & Huw Watkins CELLO & PIANO

Robin Michael enjoys a diverse and varied career as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral principal and teacher. He is solo cellist with Orchestre Les Siècles, principal cellist in John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revoluonnaire et Romantique, and solo cellist with Les Musiciens du Prince (Monaco). In addition to these positions he is regular guest principal cellist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra, English National Opera and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Recent concert highlights include complete Bach and Britten suite cycles in France and London, the South Korean premier of Jonathan Harvey’s Advaya for cello and electronics, the UK premier of Steve Reich Cello Counterpoint and the world premiere of Alasdair Nicolson’s cello concerto. Robin is artistic director of the Kinnordy Chamber Music festival in Scotland, now in its tenth year and was recently elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). He was recently appointed artistic director of the concert series at the Museé Marmotten Monet in Paris.

Huw Watkins is in great demand with orchestras and festivals including the London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia, the BBC orchestras and Aldeburgh and Cheltenham Festivals. He has performed globally at concert halls including at the Barbican, the Wigmore Hall, the Library of Congress in Washington and the Smithsonian Institute. Strongly committed to the performance of new music, Huw has given premieres of works by Alexander Goehr, Tansy Davies, Michael Zev Gordon and Mark-Anthony Turnage. He recently presented a programme of Hans Werner Henze’s piano works at the BBC’s Total Immersion day at the Barbican. UK recent appearances include Newbury and Peasmarsh Festivals, Wigmore Hall, Eaton Square, Kettle’s Yard Cambridge, Saffron Walden, Glasgow, Bath. Further afield, Ferrara, Columbus (USA) with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Domaine Forget and Toronto Summer Music Festival.

A favourite partner for chamber collaborations, Huw Watkins performs regularly with his brother Paul Watkins, as well as Alina Ibragimova, James Gilchrist, Daniel Hope, Nicholas Daniel, Sebastian Manz, Mark Padmore, Carolyn Sampson, and Alexandra Wood. Recently Huw has featured as both Composer in Residence and pianist at festivals including Presteigne and Lars Vogt’s ‘Spannungen’ Festival in Heimbach, Germany, as well as with the Orchestra of the Swan (2012–14).