VIOLIN+

Born in Dublin to a family of musicians, Aoife Ní Bhriain has established herself as a richly versatile musician, expert in both classical and folk music. Thanks to her musical heritage combined with her classical studies she has collaborated and performed with musicians such as pianist Eliso Virsaladze, fiddle player Martin Hayes, jazz guitarist Wolfgang Muthspiel and Oscar winning actor Tim Robbins. She is a member of the Goodman Trio with whom she has explored the manuscripts of the music collected around Ireland in the 1800’s by Canon James Goodman. In 2021 Aoife joined forces with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and the duo will release their debut album in October 2023.

Winner of the Bonn Óir Sean Uí Riada in 2010, Aoife has also won seven All Ireland titles as well as prizes in international violin and chamber music competitions. More recently Aoife qualified for the semi finals of the 2022 International Bach Competition in Leipzig and was awarded the Next Generation Award from the Arts Council of Ireland.

Aoife has a particular interest in solo violin works and curated a performance on the solo violin works of J.S. Bach and the improvisations of acclaimed Dublin fiddle player and soloist Tommie Potts. She graduated with first class honours from the Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Leipzig in 2018 and plays on a violin by J.B. Vuillaume on generous loan as well as a Jurgen Manthey violin purchased through the Music Network Music Capital Scheme.

As well as performance, Aoife has recently branched out into media, and presents the Irish-language show Cúltír (‘Culture’) on Irish TV channel TG4.

VIOLIN+

Icelandic violinist Hulda Jónsdóttir has been playing the violin since the age of 4. She holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Music from The Juilliard School in New York where her teachers were Robert Mann, David Chan and Laurie Smukler. Since 2018, Hulda has lived in Copenhagen, where she serves as Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Royal Danish Orchestra. Other good musical friends include Ensemble Resonanz in Hamburg. Since appearing as a soloist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra at age 15 she has guested in the US, Mexico, throughout Europe and Asia both as soloist and as chamber musician.

ARRANGEMENTS, VIOLA+
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As a composer and viola player, Ian Anderson is a member of many different ensembles, including Scottish Ballet (where he holds the position of Principal Viola), yllwshrk (alternative/electronic rock, ‘yellow shark’, where he plays a variety of instruments and writes music), and Berlin-based contemporary string quartet Sonar Quartett, and Wooden Elephant.

Ian arranged Anoushka Shankar’s album We Return to Light for Shankar’s BBC Prom on 12th August 2025, where she performed her ‘Chapters Trilogy’ of mini albums with Robert Ames and the London Contemporary Orchestra. Also for the BBC Proms, Ian has contributed arrangements for Jordan Rakei and Jade.

Ian’s music has been soundtracked by AppleTV+ and Netflix, and has been performed by orchestras including Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, BBC Concert Orchestra, Komische Oper Berlin, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, and Concertgebouw Orchestra.

For the 24-25 Season, Ian was Artist in Residence of the Norwegian Haugesund-based chamber ensemble, Munor, for whom he wrote the piano trio Marina’s Book of Munor, Vols. I & II – a set of 20 cross-genre miniatures inspired by The Marina Abramovic Method: Instruction Cards to Reboot Your Life.

He is also a regular performer with the London Contemporary Orchestra, with whom he has appeared on albums such as Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Thom Yorke’s Anima, and The Smile’s Wall of Eyes.

Ian is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (James Sleigh, undergraduate viola), and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow (David Fennessy, postgraduate composition).

CELLO+

A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Stefan Hadjiev has always looked beyond the main-stream and standard definitions of music-making, always aiming to remove the boundaries between musical genres. Recent classical engagements include a critically acclaimed performances as a soloist with the Stuttgart Philharmoniker, Staatorchester Kassel, Neue Philharmonie Munich and others.

As well as classical music, Stefan has always had a strong interest in other musical genres. He recently produced his first album of electronic music as part of the Klangbox series of Berlin-based label Feral Note. Stefan is also a co-founder of 180° — one of the most innovative festivals in Bulgaria for experimental music and interdisciplinary arts.

DOUBLE BASS+

Nikolai Matthews is an Oslo-based double bass player and festival director, active in all kinds of groups and orchestras, but prioritising chamber music and contemporary music. He is co-artistic director of PODIUM Festival in Haugesund, and recently commissioned three trios for violin piano and double bass all financed by the Norwegian Arts Council.

His current main priorities of bass performing are the chamber orchestra Ensemble Allegria, Krantz (a chamber music concert series in Oslo), and Boyes Musikkompani (a violin-bass-piano trio which triples as a production company and a podcast).