Presented by the Royal Academy of Music
Australian violinist Bridget O’Donnell is enjoying a varied career as a recitalist, orchestral and chamber musician. With the support of a Marten Bequest and the Australian Elizabethan Trust, she is currently undertaking postgraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music under Levon Chilingirian. Following her recent move to London after two years as a Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellow, she is the 2020 London Symphony Orchestra Scheme violinist and has lead the RAM Chamber and Symphony’s Orchestra, the Manson Ensemble and performed with pianist Leslie Howard at Australia House. She now regularly appear with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, English Chamber Orchestra, and the LSO and recently performed at the BBC Proms. In June, Bridget was awarded the RAM Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize for performance.
An avid chamber musician, Bridget is the 1st violinist of the Hill Quartet, mentored by Doric String Quartet cellist, John Myerscough. Recent performances include the Marylebone, Hatfield House and Petworth Chamber Music Festivals as well as performances at St. Martin in the Fields and St. James Piccadilly. They will give performances at the West Cork Chamber Festival over the next summer as well as undertake a residency at Ferrandou in Southern France.
Alongside her work with the Hill Quartet, Bridget recently collaborated with Levon Chilingirian and Kim Kashkashian giving performances at the RAM and has performed and taught in Patagonia, Argentina as part of the IX Siete Lagos Chamber Music Festival and also at the Romsey Chamber Music Festival. As the youngest member of the Verbruggen Ensemble, Bridget collaborated frequently with principal members of the Sydney Symphony. Having spent time studying at the ProQuartet seminar in Paris and the Estivo Festival in Verona, important mentors include Paul Katz (Cleveland Quartet), Reiner Schmidt (Hagen Quartet) and the Goldner Quartet.
Bridget is particularly passionate about engaging in cross-genre collaborations and commissioned a jazz-inspired string quartet by Misha Mullov-Abbado, to be premiered in March 2020. Recently, she also began working with the Manchester Collective and performed works by Edmund Finnis at the New Music Biennale in July. Bridget’s other great passion is for South American music and she performs with the tango orchestra, Tangalo, as lead violin.
Bridget performs on an 1890 Leandro Bisiach violin that was used in the film Master & Commander, generously on loan to her from private donors, as well as a John Dodd bow on loan through the Beares International Violin Society.
Following a master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge and a short career in management consultancy, Ben Michaels accepted a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music to pursue his ambition to become a cellist. He is currently undertaking his second year of postgraduate study with Felix Schmidt.
Ben is a founding member of the Hill Quartet. Awarded the Sir John Barbirolli Award by the Academy and also selected as Frost-Asset scholars, the Quartet are mentored by John Myerscough of the Doric Quartet. The Quartet’s 2018/19 season included concerts at Petworth, Marylebone, Louth and Hatfield House Chamber Music Festivals. This year’s season includes performances at St Martin-in-the-fields, St James’ Piccadilly and varied recital series at the Royal Academy of Music. Their programs will explore lesser known quartet works and feature a new commission by jazz musician, Misha Mullov-Abbado.
Ben is passionate about supporting new music and in 2018/19 was principal cellist of the Manson Ensemble, the Academy’s specialist contemporary music ensemble. In the spring of 2019, he performed as a solo cellist of the ensemble at the Royal Festival Hall in Stockhausen's monumental opera Donnerstag aus Licht in collaboration with the London Sinfonietta and Le Balcon. Recently, Ben collaborated with composer Lazar Lienbenberg to record a solo cello score for a RADA short film written by Anthony Horowitz.
Chamber and contemporary music aside, Ben enjoys wide range of other musical experiences at the Academy. In addition to his modern playing, he studies baroque cello with Andrew Skidmore, cellist of the OAE.
Ben’s studies at the Academy are made possible by the generous support of The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Help Musicians UK (Ian Fleming Award), The Janatha Stubbs Foundation, The Craxton Memorial Trust, The Emanuel Hurwitz Chamber Music Trust and The Tom Cocklin Memorial Trust.