Alasdair Beatson, Piano

Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson works prolifically as soloist and chamber musician, adept on both modern and historical instruments, and renowned as both performer and pedagogue enjoying a particular affinity with the music of Schumann and Faure. Musical collaborators include Steven Isserlis, Pieter Wispelwey, the Nash Ensemble, and Viktoria Mullova with whom he has recently recorded works for violin and fortepiano by Beethoven and Schubert on Signum as well as recording a solo piano recital Aus Wien on Pentatone. Notable performances in 2025 include multiple appearances at the Wigmore Hall, London and performing as concerto soloist with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Iris Juda, Viola

lris Juda was born in Holland and studied violin with her father Jo Juda (leader of the Concertgebouw Orchestra), Hermann Krebbers in Amsterdam and then with Sandor Végh in Salzburg.

A founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, with whom she still plays regularly, she has also played with the Nash Ensemble, the Hanson String Quartet, the Endymion Ensemble and the Hagen String Quartet.

In 1995, Iris moved to Salzburg where she plays in an Austrian folk group and is Principal Viola with the Camerata Salzburg.

Lesley Hatfield, Violin

Lesley leads a varied musical life, combining her position as Leader of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with chamber music, solo playing and teaching. She studied at Clare College, Cambridge and then the Royal Academy of Music. During her early career, as a chamber musician and member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, she worked with Sandor Végh and Nikolaus Harnoncourt, both of whom had a lasting influence on her musical approach. She was co-Leader of the Northern Sinfonia and Leader of the Ulster Orchestra before taking up her current position.

Lesley is regularly invited to play as a guest in a wide range of ensembles, and participation in the International Musicians’ Seminar Open Chamber Music at Prussia Gove is a regular fixture in her diary.

In 2008, Lesley was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and has had a number of pieces written for her. Lesley teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and is Patron of the Cardiff-based charity “Making Music Changing Lives” (MMCL), which seeks to transform the lives of children and the communities irom which they come through music and the opportunity to learn instruments.

Richard Hosford, Clarinet

Richard was born and brought up on a farm near Melcombe Bingham in Dorset. After studying with Patrick Shelley, of Dorset Opera fame, he went to the Royal College of Music in London. He was a founder member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and met many of the Gaudier Ensemble there in the early 1980s. He has since been Principal Clarinet of the London Philharmonic and now the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In chamber music, he divides his time between the Gaudier and the Nash Ensembles. His recordings of the Copland Concerto, the Brahms Quintet and the Brahms Trio have all been First Choices on the BBC’s Record Review programme in recent years. He has a large class of clarinet students at the Royal College of Music, who now visit Dorset annually for a clarinet course and concerts at Ashton Farm and Cerne Abbas. Richard is a Fellow of the RCM.

Sally Pendelbury

Sally Pendlebury grew up in Manchester and attended Chetham’s School of Music. At the age of fourteen she became the youngest founding member of the European Community Youth Orchestra and was its principal cellist for three years. Sally studied at the Guildhall School of Music, and during that time she won the Capital Radio Prize and was a Shell/LSO competition prizewinner. She also won scholarships to study in Dusseldorf and Boston.

A member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Sally has performed and recorded with many of the great soloists and conductors of today. She was also a founder member of the Vellinger String Quartet which won the 1994 London International String Quartet Competition, and toured regularly throughout Europe, Japan and the USA. The quartet performed at many festivals including those in Edinburgh, Mondsee and the Klangboden in Vienna, as well as the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Lincoln Centre.

Sally is regularly invited to perform in festivals internationally and this year will participate in chamber music series in New York, San Francisco, Nurnberg and Graz. Sally often appears as guest principal cello with many British orchestras such as English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia, and she is currently principal cellist with Opera North.