Programme for Season 2026
Kammerphilharmonie Europa
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Maxim Calver
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Jacky Zhang
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Sunday 12 April 2026 at 3pm
Kammerphilharmonie EuropaIrina Knauer ViolinCyrill Gussaroff Trumpet
Programme
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Artist BiographyThe Kammerphilharmonie Europa (Chamber Philharmonic Europe) was founded 2006 in Cologne Germany. The orchestra engages talented young musicians from 18 European nations. Its musicians have performed in many prestigious concert halls and opera houses and its outstanding high artistic level is confirmed by appearances at many concerts and festivals, as well as by press and critics. The 2024/2025 season saw Chamber Philharmonic Europe perform 47 concerts Europe-wide. The musicians have performed in many reputed concert halls and opera houses, including: Civic Theatre, Dublin, Musikhuset Aarhus, Neumünster, Zürich, Conway Hall, London, Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, Kulturkvarteret Kristianstad, The Hawth, Crawley, the Palladium, Malmö, Town Hall Theatre Galway. Irina Knauer was born into a German-Belarusian family of musicians. She started playing the violin at the age of 4. At the age of 8, she made her international competition debut by performing Berio's Concerto for Violin with orchestra. She studied in Minsk and the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She has participated in numerous masterclasses and festivals around the world and is the winner of many international competitions. Irina is a permanent guest musician at the Würth Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, the Ruhr Orchestra, and the French Chamber Philharmonic. she has played under the conducting of Yuri Temirkanov, Valeri Gergiev, Misha Kats, Aleksandr Dmitriev, Nikolai Alekseev, Jeffrey Mayer and others. Irina has performed with Yuri Bashmet, Anna Netrebko, Mischa Mayski, Oksana Volkova, Michael Gantvarg, Joshua Bell and many others. Irina has been leader of the Chamber Philarmonie Europe since 2024. Soloist Cyrill Gussaroff (trumpet) was born in Saint-Petersburg, Russia where he received his first trumpet lesson from the famous trumpet player Professor V.Margolin, in whose class he graduated from the Saint-Petersburg Conservatoire with distinction in 2002. He continued his education at the Conservatoires of Hanover and Essen, where he was taught by such influential people as Professor S.Goehtel and Prof. U.Koeller. In his career Mr. Gussaroff has gained awards at international competitions including the International Competition Citta di Porcia, the Dokshitzer Competition Vilnius, the Competition of Calvia Mallorca and the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire International Competition, Moscow. He started his career as a trumpet soloist at the Staatskapella Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg. At present he is a soloist with the Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra and is an artist of the Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival. In addition, Cyrill Gussaroff has worked with several different orchestras such as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bochum Symphonie, the Camerata Budapest, the Chamber Philharmonic Europe and the Philharmonika Venezia.
Programme Notesare available here.
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Sunday 26 April 2026 at 4pm
Maxim CalverCello
Kumi Matsuo Piano
Programme
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Artist BiographyPraised for the “elegance of his technique, overall sound and natural poeticism” (Charlotte Gardner, Strad Magazine), Maxim Calver first gained public recognition as a Grand Finalist and Strings Category winner of BBC Young Musician 2018, where he made his concerto debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Since then he has been in high demand across the UK and Europe and in October 2021, he made his European Concerto debut at the Grosse Saal of the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie. Establishing himself as a young artist known for his passion for performance, Maxim has appeared in many of Europe’s other leading venues including the Wigmore Hall, Tonhalle Zurich and Cadogan Hall amongst others. He has appeared as a concerto soloist with various orchestras including the Bath, Stockport, Ipswich, Maidstone and Young Musician Symphony Orchestras, the Orpheus Sinfonia and the Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra. He also made debut recital appearances at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Cambridge Summer Music Festival and at the Oranjewoud Festival in the Netherlands as the winner of the ‘Oranjewoud Award’ at the 2024 Schiermonnikoog Festival. In the 24/25 season, Maxim’s highlights include performances of Elgar, Shostakovich and Dvorak’s cello concertos, recitals alongside pianist Kumi Matsuo and a variety of exciting chamber music collaborations. Furthermore, from the start of the 24/25 season Maxim has been invited to be an ‘Associated Artist’ on the UK Artists Directory after his successful tenure on the Countess of Munster Trust’s Recital Scheme. A passionate chamber musician, Maxim has appeared at the Gstaad-Menuhin, Lewes, Stamford and International Pau Casals Chamber Music Festivals and performed live radio broadcasts from the Konzerthaus Berlin and Amsterdam Concertgebouw. In May 2024, he was invited to the Kronberg Academy’s ‘Chamber Music Connects the World’ Festival where he worked and performed alongside Gidon Kremer, Antje Weithaas and Lawrence Power. Maxim has also appeared at the Edinburgh International Festival for the past two years as a part of their ‘rising stars’ series at the invitation of current artistic director Nicola Benedetti. In 2023, Maxim was invited by composer Matthew Coleridge to appear on his new album ‘Requiem’ alongside the Southern Sinfonia and Choir of Royal Holloway directed by Rupert Gough. The album was recently released on Convivium Records to widespread critical acclaim. Originally from Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk, Maxim started the cello at the age of 4 with Maja Passchier before moving to the Yehudi Menuhin School to study with Thomas Carroll aged just 8 years old. He currently studies at the Royal College of Music with Professor Melissa Phelps, where he is proud to be an ABRSM Scholar for his postgraduate studies. He has received guidance and inspiration from many leading cellists including Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, Steven Doane, Colin Carr and the late Heinrich Schiff. Maxim has also partaken in master-classes at the Kronberg Academy, Tibor Varga Academy and IMS Prussia Cove amongst others. Maxim is very grateful to have received support from the Amaryllis Fleming Foundation, Geoff and Val Richards, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Drake Calleja Trust and the Hattori Foundation. He is also very grateful to the Young Classical Artists Trust and the Countess of Munster Trust for their invitation. Maxim plays an Alberto Aloysius Blanchi cello, dated 1906.
Kumi Matsuo was born in Tokyo, Japan. Winner of the 5th Louisiana International Piano Competition in 2013, she has also won Second Prize at the 75th Music Competition of Japan in 2006, Third Prize at the 22nd Ferrol International Piano Competition in 2008 and First Prize at the 6th Isidor Bajic International Piano Competition in 2012. Kumi graduated from the Toho Gakuen High School of Music and the Toho Gakuen University of Music in Tokyo. In 2007 she moved to London for her further study at the Royal College of Music where she gained an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music in Performance. Kumi studied piano with Jyoko Gondo, Mikhail Voskresensky, John Blakely and Ashley Wass and chamber music with Jan Repko. In 2008 Kumi won RCM concerto competition and gave her London debut playing Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand in Cadogan Hall with RCM Sinfonietta conducted by Peter Stark. In 2009 she played Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No.1 with RCM Chamber Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski the Queen Elisabeth Hall and in 2012 she also performed Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto with RCM Symphony Orchestra under Martin André at the Royal College of Music.
Programme Noteswill be available at the concert.
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Sunday 10 May 2026 at 4pm
Jacky ZhangPiano
Programme
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Artist BiographyJacky Zhang is a young composer, pianist, songwriter, and producer. He is a fourth year undergraduate student currently studying piano and composition at the Royal College of Music. He has won the first prize of the UK Piano Open International Competition in 2020, Premio Alkan International Piano Competition in 2022, and both Classical and Romantic sections at the Cantù International Piano and Orchestra Competition in 2023. His broad musical interests include conducting, historical performance and music for screen as well. Jacky was a finalist in the 2024 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition, where he performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Ben Gernon.
On the same weekend concert goers will be able to enjoy an exhibition of fine and affordable art, which will be on display in the Church - at no extra charge.
Programme Noteswill be available at the concert.
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