The Fews Ensemble

Award winning Irish pianist David Quigley enjoys a wide and varied career as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. He has performed in many of the world’s greatest concert halls including the Philharmonie Köln, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Musikverein Vienna, Mozarteum Salzburg, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, National Concert Hall Athens, Wigmore Hall London, Konserthaus Stcokholm and Carnegie Hall New York.

As a concerto soloist he has appeared with many orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, Southern Sinfonia and Cairo Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Barry Wordsworth, Barry Douglas, Takuo Yuasa, Sachio Fujioka and David Porcelijn.

David is also a much sought after chamber musician and performs regularly with internationally renowned artists including oboist Nicholas Daniel, clarinettist Michael Collins, violinist Nathaniel Vallois and soprano Ailish Tynan. He performs regularly with his sister, the violinist Joanne Quigley in both duo recitals and in trio recitals with cellist Jonathan Aasgaard.

Born in Ireland in 1977, David began his musical studies at the age of four. He attended the Leinster School of Music, Dublin, studying with the renowned Irish teacher Mabel Swainson. In 1996 he entered Birmingham Conservatoire where he worked with the pianist/composer Philip Martin, graduating in July 2000 with a first class honours degree and the Principal’s Prize. As a result of winning the Joseph Weingarten Scholarship, David continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, with Balázs Szokolay and later with Brigette Engerer at the Paris Conservatoire.

In 2002, David was selected as the UK’s representative for the European Concert Hall Organisation’s Rising Stars series resulting in critically acclaimed debut recitals throughout Europe and the USA. His many national and international competition successes include winner of the inaugural Clandeboye Young Musician of the Year Competiton, the Royal Over-Seas League Piano Competition, the Ulster Bank Music Foundation Award, the Carnwath Scholarship and silver medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians London. He is also a former finalist of the RTÉ Young Musician of the Future Competition and the B.B.C. Young Musician of the Year Competition. He has been awarded major scholarships from the Martin Musical Trust, Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Myra Hess Trust, Northern Ireland Arts Council and the Wingate Foundation and he is a former winner of the Making Music Young Artist Award.

David’s discography includes Piano Music From Northern Ireland (Lontano records), Saint-Saëns Carnival Of The Animals with Jeremy Young and the Lancashire Sinfonietta, Rediscoveries: Old and New music of Ireland (Ischia Records) with his sister Joanne Quigley , Piano Music by Philip Hammond (Lontano records) and his latest release, Piano Classics (El Greco Records). He broadcasts extensively on both radio and television for the BBC, RTÉ, Classic FM, RTÉ Lyric FM and Dutch Radio 4.

Recent performing highlights include a multi city solo recital and masterclass tour of China and chamber music recitals at the National Concert Hall Dublin, Barber Institute Birmingham and RNCM Concert Hall Manchester.

Aside from performing, David is passionate about musical education. He is a member of the piano faculty at Birmingham Conservatoire, one of the UK’s leading music colleges. He is co-founder/director of Newry Chamber Music, a concert society that provides concerts and education projects in his home town and surrounding areas. David is also frequently invited to give Masterclasses and to adjudicate piano competitions throughout Ireland and the UK.

Rose Redgrave was born in London in 1974, daughter of an artist and a viola player. After her studies at the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music she spent some years gaining valuable experience playing in most of the London and UK orchestra’s in all of the major concert halls in Europe, commercial and BBC recording studios, alongside regular appearances in chamber music at the Wigmore hall and Holywell Music room.

Having established herself as a versatile chamber musician performing on both modern and period instruments, Rose then became a member of the Coull Quartet from 2010-2015 with whom she undertook a busy schedule of concerts and recordings alongside a full-time residency in Warwick University. With chamber groups such as Music Theatre Wales, Scottish Ensemble, Lontano, Goldberg Ensemble and Chroma, Rose has worked alongside composers such as Mark Anthony Turnage, Harrison Birtwistle, James Macmillan, Howard Skempton, Peter Maxwell Davies, Philip Glass, Gerald Barry, Judith Wier, and Joe Cutler (to whom she is married).

Recent concerto appearances include the York Early Music festival and with the Orchestra of the Swan performances of Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and Joe Cutler’s Music For Sunflowers. She has also recently performed Howard Skempton’s iconic Only The Sound Remains.

Rose currently enjoys an International performing career as the violist of the Fews Ensemble of Northern Ireland, as principal viola of the Orchestra of the Swan and on the baroque viola with the Kings Consort and the Academy of Ancient Music. She also plays regularly with the Adderbury String Quartet.

Recent recordings include Music for Clarinet and Strings with Gemini, ø for piano quartet by Gerald Barry with the Fidelio Trio and arrangements of Bach’s Trio Sonata’s with the Kings Consort which has just been released on the Vivat label.

Passionate about teaching Rose teaches viola at Birmingham Conservatoire and Cheltenham Ladies College.

She plays a french viola circa 1900. Rose lives in Birmingham with her husband and young son. 

One of Europe’s most versatile cellists, the Norwegian Jonathan Aasgaard is active as soloist, chamber musician, studio musician, orchestral principal, teacher, and explorer of new music.

He is Principal Cello of both the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfonia of London, a regular guest principal of leading British and continental European orchestras, and, as a dedicated teacher, Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

Chamber music performances have taken him across Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, and the USA: he has collaborated with artists such as the violinists Nigel Kennedy, Henning Kraggerud, and Julian Rachlin, violist Lawrence Power, cellists Yo-Yo Ma and Giovanni Sollima, pianists Simon Trpčeski, Boris Giltburg, and Joanna MacGregor, and clarinettist Martin Fröst in a range of prominent festivals and concert halls.

He has performed more than fifty works for cello and orchestra, his discography including recordings of the William Walton Cello Concerto with the Sinfonia of London, Richard Rodney-Bennett Cello concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Bloch’s Schelomo with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, works for cello and orchestra by Carl Davis with the Philharmonia yOrchestra, and, among a number of recital discs, Brahms’s cello sonatas with Martin Roscoe, an ‘Editors Choice’ for chamber music in the  magazine Gramophone. 2025 will see the release of Grieg’s cello sonata and third violin sonata with pianist David Quigley. 

A champion of new music, he has given the world première of Carl Davis’s Ballade for cello and orchestra, the European première of Giovanni Sollima’s Double Cello Concerto, the UK première of Weinberg’s Cello Concerto, the US première of concertos by Franz Neruda and Emil Hartmann, and world premières of dozens of solo pieces, many written specially for him.

Jonathan Aasgaard plays a cello made by Celeste Farotti, in Milan, in 1926. 

Máire Flavin is an Irish Soprano working with leading companies across the UK and Europe. Operatic highlights include Violetta La Traviata Irish National Opera and Opera North; Mimì La Bohème Opera Theatre Company, Iford Arts and Cork International Concert Series; Countess The Marriage of Figaro Irish National Opera, Opera North and Salzburger Landestheatre; Elena La Donna del Lago Buxton Festival Opera; Mathilde Guillaume Tell Irish National Opera; Dido Dido and Aeneas Theâtre Champs Elysées as well as several roles for Opera North including title role Handel’s Alcina, Hanna Glawari The Merry Widow, Fiordigli Cosí fan Tutte and the UK premiere as Anna Sørensen in Kevin Put’s Pulitzer prize winning opera Silent Night. She has also created the roles of Hannah in Dennehy and Walsh’s award winning The Second Violinist for Wide Open Opera and Bianca in Synott and Cucchi’s La Cucina for Wexford Festival Opera.

On the concert platform Máire made her National Symphony Orchestra Ireland debut with Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’Été and has been a regular guest since then, performing Mahler’s Second Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and several New Year’s Day Galas. She has also been a soloist with other leading orchestras including RTE Concert Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Philarmonie and Orchestra of Welsh National Opera.

Francesco Paolo Scola  graduated with full marks « summa cum laude”, aged just 18 from the V. Bellini conservatory in Palermo.

Whilst a student he won many major international competitions, including members of the international federation of Geneva. After completing his studies, he started working with the Orchestra of the Opera House in Rome at the age of 19 under Maestro  Riccardo Muti. 

In 2010 Francesco was appointed Principal Solo Clarinet – Section Leader with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast Uk, since then Francesco has been invited  as guest principal clarinet with many leading Orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Helsinki, Orchestre Les Dissonances Paris, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and The John Wilson Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra. 

A keen soloist, Francesco has performed most of the repertoire for clarinet and orchestra. He has toured worldwide and performed in some of the finest concert halls including the Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, Suntory Hall Tokyo, the Royal Albert Hall London and many others.

Francesco frequently broadcast live concerts on radio and television for Mezzo, RAI International, Yle Finnish radio, BBC radio 3, BBC radio Ulster, NPO Radio 4 and has recorded several CDs for labels such as Chandos, Naxos, Hyperon.

Very passionate about musical pedagogy, Francesco is clarinet professor at the  Conservatory of music “A. Scarlatti” in Palermo Italy, as well visiting professor at Queen’s University in Belfast and for the ARCS Clarinet Academy at Liverpool Hope University. He is frequently invited to give Masterclasses worldwide, including the Hochschule Für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, under the invitation of Wolfgang Meyer and Eduard Brunner, Associazione Stupor Mundi, Soni Ventorum, and Associazione Eliodoro Sollima, Belfast High School amongst others. 

Particularly keen in various chamber music project worldwide, Francesco is principal member of the Fews ensemble, the Soni Ventorum ensemble (Italy),  regular guest with the Fidelio Trio (UK).

Most recently Francesco has been contributing to create some new compositions to him dedicated alongside some of the most exciting contemporary composers, most notably the renowned Italian cellist/composer Giovanni Sollima, the project included two pieces for clarinet and piano “Anphenibene – Yafu’”, Marcello Bonanno concerto for clarinet and strings “In quella parte del libro della mia memoria” , Anselm McDonnell “When Aslan shakes his name” suite for solo clarinet, Piers Hellawell “Woodsmoke”for clarinet and piano, all projects were presented and broadcast by the BBC radio 3 classical connections.

Thomas Jackson began playing the violin at primary school in Manchester age 7 and at 14 he moved to Chetham’s School of Music, then on to the RNCM.

Thomas began his professional career in the Prague Philharmonia in 2000 before moving to London a couple of years later. In London he joined the Southbank Sinfonia for whom he led many concerts and directed a performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto no 5 from the violin.

Thomas then freelanced with many of the major orchestras in London and the UK before accepting a job with The Ulster Orchestra in 2006. Now Sub Principal First Violin, Thomas has played with the UO in various positions including Leader, Co Leader and Section Leader Second.

A keen chamber player, Thomas appears regularly with the Fews Ensemble and greatly enjoys Quartet playing. He has performed as concerto Soloist in the Ulster Hall in Brahms’ Violin Concerto, Double Concerto and also with Southbank Sinfonia Alumni in The English Music Festival.

Mia Cooper studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Yossi Zivoni, and completed her studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris.

After graduating Mia joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra as principal first violin, and has been in demand as a guest leader with orchestras such as the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal National Scottish Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra and Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra.

Mia joined the RTE Concert Orchestra as Leader in 2006, and in the same year joined the violin faculty at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.