TALLAND QUARTET w/ PETR PRAUSE & TOBY HUGHES

~ Programme

Dobrinka Tabakova; Smile of the Flamboyant Wings

Joseph Haydn: String Quartet Op. 64 No. 6, in E flat major

Interval -

Ernst von Dohnanyi: String Sextet in B flat major w/ *PETR PRAUSE viola II TOBY HUGHES cello II

This concert will last 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.

~ TALLAND QUARTET was formed at the Royal Northern College of Music and is dedicated to sharing a passion for chamber music with audiences of all ages. Named after Cornwall’s Talland Bay, the ensemble has won multiple prizes at the RNCM and continues its studies on the College’s Quartet Studio programme. They have also been appointed Haworth Emerging Artists at Stoller Hall and joined Italy’s renowned Le Dimore del Quartetto network.

The Quartet performs regularly at festivals and concert societies across the UK and is passionate about education and new music. Recent projects have included school workshops and a commission with composer and drummer Eden Longson, supported by the Nicholas Boas Trust.

They have participated in international programmes including the Danish String Quartet Academy and Delft Chamber Music Atelier, and have worked with distinguished musicians including Donald Grant, Pavel Fischer, Sini Simonen, and Marc Danel.

~ PETR PRAUSE was born in Ostrava, Czech Republic and started to play the cello at the age of six with Miroslav Dolezil and Ivan Merka. He progressed to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he was taught by Miroslav Petras and members of the Smetana Quartet, graduating with master’s degree.

He also studied at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland, and with Raphael Wallfisch at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he was awarded the Concert Recital Diploma (Premier Prix). He taught cello at the Prague Conservatory of Music and was Principal Cellist of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, while performing as a soloist throughout the world.

From 1997 until 2019, Petr Prause was a member of the Talich Quartet. He also joins other outstanding musicians in all kinds of chamber music formations and gives masterclasses at a wide range of international institutions. He was invited to the Jury of international competitions in Lyon and Munich.

Petr Prause plays an exquisite cello Giovanni Grancino (1710) which he has on loan from the Czech National Museum Collection as well as a Martin Stoss cello, Vienna, 1821.

~ TOBY HUGHES is a prominent double bassist and one of the UK’s leading soloists. Born in 1992, he began his musical training at a young age and studied at the combined universities of Lausanne, Fribourg, and Sion under Professor Božo Paradžik.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the ‘Future Talent’ Coombs Scholarship and the Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Julius Isserlis Scholarship,’ and has won major competitions such as ‘Young Musician of the Year’ as well as first prizes at the Bromsgrove and Tunbridge Wells competitions.

Toby performs regularly with ensembles including London’s 12 Ensemble, Northern Ballet, and the London Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared at venues such as Wigmore Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields. We are delighted to welcome Toby back to the Elmore Festival this year.