members
David Appleton is probably best described as pianocircus' longest serving member! It should be noted that not only is he the ensemble's Company Secretary, but also its Librarian - a role which compliments his personality marvellously! David has also arranged several works for pianocircus, most notably Conlon Nancarrow's Study No.5. David works regularly with the pianist Kate Ryder, recently broadcasting a programme 'The Comfort of Angels' for BBC Radio Three, presenting 'Three Little Scandals' at the Barbican and touring Stockhausen's two piano epic ‘Mantra’. David is currently collaborating with several composers on a project for solo piano - Bartok: Subject and Reflection, which is due to be premiered in Spring 2007. |
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Adam Caird graduated from the University of Manchester in 1999 with 1st class honours, and from the Royal Northern College of Music with a GRNCM in 2000 and an MPhil in Performance in 2002. In addition to pianocircus, Adam performs regularly in the Ephyra Duo, with saxophonist Charlotte Bradburn, and the Ephyra Trio, with Charlotte Bradburn and cellist Vanessa Lucas-Smith. Adam is also a composer and arranger. His saxophone and piano work, Modern Standards, is published by Astute Music and he has also written and performed original scores for silent films at the Cornerhouse Cinema, Manchester, including Earth for solo piano. |
Kate Halsall studied at The Royal College of Music with Kendall Taylor and Yonty Solomon. She is the course manager for Chamber Music International, an assistant to iF Festival's Music Orbit events, and is the founder and promoter of the Music and the Mind concert series at the Institute of Psychiatry in Denmark Hill. She works with a number of small ensembles including the German vocal ensemble Mosaique, and duoDorT, a keyboard and electronics duo with fellow pianocircus pianist Semra Kurutaç. |
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Semra Kurutaç studied piano with Russell Brandon at the University of Wales, Cardiff and in July 2002 graduated with a Masters in Performance Studies. In the same year she joined pianocircus. Semra has also worked as a Repetiteur for the Welsh National Youth and alongside Cardiff based composer Charlie Barber. Her concerto appearances have included those with the Cardiff University Orchestra, the Aldworth Philharmonic (Reading) and the Manchester Symphonia with whom, in July 1997, she made her concerto debut at The Bridgewater Hall. Semra and fellow pianocircus member Kate Halsall also perform regularly together as a piano duo. |
A former BBC Young Musician of the Year keyboard finalist, Helen Reid has given recitals at venues including the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Fairfield Halls and Blackheath Halls, London, St. George’s, Bristol, Cheltenham, the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and the Aldeburgh, Deal, Dartington, Hampstead and Highgate and Buxton Festivals. She has appeared on BBC Radio 3 and in 2006 was hailed as a ‘rising star’ in The Independent magazine. Helen is professor of piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Trinity College of Music Junior Department. |
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Graham Rix was a scholar and prize winner at both the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with Joan Havill. As well as solo classical and contemporary music performances, he co-founded 2 ensembles; the Hildegaard Trio (1993 – contemporary music) and Three’s Company (1997 – cabaret) the success of which led to numerous concerts/performances, television and radio broadcasts in the UK and throughout Europe. Graham also played keyboards for the chart topping easy listening band ‘The Mike Flowers Pops’. As well as teaching, for over ten years Graham has led music workshops with probationers and inmates in prisons for arts organisations such as Glyndebourne Opera (M.D. for ‘Race the Devil’, a ‘prudential award’ nominated rock musical), Create (Arts), the City of London Sinfonia, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. For eight years Graham was one of a team of three workshop leaders for the Irene Taylor Trust (music in prisons) who won a British Composers Award in 2004 for their children’s songbook project ‘Beyond the Secret Door’. |
