Italian cellist Nicola Siagri completed his studies at 'Conservatorio Jacopo Tomadini' in Udine under the tuition of professor Carlo Teodoro, and received his Master of Music degree with full marks and honours in 2016. He is currently studying with Raphael Wallfisch for the Artist Diploma course at the Royal College of Music in London as an Il Circolo Music Award Holder. He has a predilection for 20th century classical music and enjoys playing works for cello solo. He has participated in masterclasses with Denis Brott, Roel Dieltiens, Michael Flaksman and the Pražák Quartet amongst others. He has furthermore studied baroque cello performance with Italian cellist Walter Vestidello.
He frequently plays both as a soloist and as a member of chamber music groups, and has participated in many Italian music festivals such as 'Carniarmonie', 'Concerti di San Martino' and 'Lignano per la musica'.
Pianist Marie Otaka has just completed the Artist Diploma of Performance in Collaborative Piano at the Royal College of Music this July. She has been studying piano with Roger Vignoles, Simon Lepper and Nigel Clayton, and harpsichord with Terence Charlston as a Stanbridge Drake-Brockman Scholar. She was also generously supported by the Clemence Charitable Trust.
She firstly read Linguistics (Phonetics) for Master’s Degree at the Sophia University Tokyo, and went on to the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music. Her strong interests in English art songs and working with singers and instrumentalists led her to the study for Piano Accompaniment at the RCM. She completed the Master’s Degree of Performance in Piano Accompaniment with Distinction in 2017 and was awarded the bestaccompanists’ prize at the Brooks-van der Pump English Song Competition, the Lieder Competition and the Lies Askonas Competition.
Her performance highlights have included Schumann's ‘Liederkreis op 39’ masterclass with Sarah Walker at the Oxford Lieder Festival, flute masterclass with Sir James Galway at the RCM, ‘Afternoon Tea with Opera’ at the Royal Albert Hall, and a duo performance with flute at the Chofu International Music Festival in Japan. She has performed at the Regent Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James Piccadilly, Victoria and Albert Museum among others.
Marie is also a harpsichordist and play annually with the Chaconne Ensemble as a continuo player. She has appeared in the concert at the Handel House London, the Utrecht Early Music Festival Fringe in the Netherlands, and the final concerts as part of the International Handel Academy Karlsruhe in Germany.