Jacob Bettinelli recently won Third Prize in the Piemonte Opera International Singing Competition in Turin, Italy. Jacob graduated from the Masters at the Royal College of Music in July 2019, where he also gained his Bachelor of Music degree in 2017. He was a Jessie Sumner Scholar and Sussex Scholar supported by Tiong Kiu King Award, Talent Unlimited and K. Wah International Vocal Scholarship. Jacob is an alumnus of the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme.
For 2018/19 Jacob has been selected to participate in a week masterclass working closely with Dennis O’Neill CBE, culminating with concerts in Nafplio, Greece. He also performed in Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum; Concert at Verbier Festival and Tête à Tête Opera Festival and a recital for the Rachmaninov Song Festival at Pushkin House; bass soloist Handel’s Messiah at Regent’s Hall; Uberto in La Serva Padrona and Gil in Il segreto di Susanna in Macau; a concert in Kotor; sung bass soloist in Haydn’s Nelson Mass at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness; and premiered music by Puccini (senior) under Bruno Nicoli (La Scala) at the Auditorium del Suffragio in Lucca Italy. He will make his Bulgaria debut as ‘Masetto’ in Don Giovanni at the Varna State Opera House in September 2019.
Valentina Ciardelli was born in Pietrasanta (Lucca - Italy) to a German mother and Ttalian father. Initially a pianist, she started to play double bass in late 2009, graduating with Honours from the 'Istituto Musicale L Boccherini' in Lucca in October 2014. She then gained her Master of Performance (Honours) at the Royal College of Music in July 2016. Valentina also focused her attention on composition, graduating in March 2014 with Honours in conservatoire Giacomo Puccini in La Spezia. Valentina has won several awards and prizes and also won several orchestral auditions such as the Gustav Mahler Academy 2016 and the BBC SO training scheme. Between 2013 and 2016 Valentina has played, mainly as principal or co-principal, with several symphonic and chamber orchestras. She also has wide experience in solo performance. She recently won the Artist in Residence at BANFF, Alberta (Canada). Valentina is a young artist of Talent Unlimited (UK) and she lives and works in London. She been awarded a Junior Fellowship at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, London for the academic year 2018/19. She also won a scholarship from associazione Animando in Lucca for a research project investigating the music of Giacomo Puccini’s ancestors and her work had been published by Da Vinci Editions. Valentina is focused to expand the double bass solo repertoire composing new virtuoso pieces, transcribing (mostly Frank Zappa’s Repertoire), playing new composition written for her from many contemporary composers. She plays a Scipioni doublebass 2014.
Daniella Nassar is a pianist and cellist based in London. Born in Cyprus, she started piano at the age of 6 and cello at the age of 12 and developed a strong passion for both. She currently holds a Grade 8 Distinction in Piano as well as the ABRSM Diploma in Piano performance. Daniella is a member of the South East London Orchestra, the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, the Asteri Piano Duet, co-founder of the TLFV Orchestra at Trinity Laban and has performed as a soloist and as part of larger ensembles. She was recently awarded the first prize of the Grand Virtuoso Competition 2019 and was a finalist of the Watford Music Festival 2019. Daniella has performed solo and chamber works in Cyprus, London and Italy. She is currently in her third year, undertaking her BMus (Hons) degree in Piano Performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance studying under piano professor Yekaterina Lebedeva. As well as classical piano, Daniella is fluent in other genres of music such as jazz, contemporary and musical Theatre.