Claire Prewer - Soprano

Claire was born into a musical family and has been singing since an early age, her first recording session taking place in a professional London studio when she was just five years old. At seventeen, Claire won a Scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where she studied on the A.G.S.M. 'performers' course and subsequently on the Opera Course.

Since leaving the Guildhall, Claire has sung in a wide range of styles and genres. Recent oratorio performances have included Elgar's 'Kingdom' & David Fanshaw's 'African Sanctus' in Worcester Cathedral, Orff's 'Carmina Burana', Handel's 'Messiah', Mendelssohn's 'Elijah', Bach's 'B Minor Mass' and Brahms' 'German Requiem'.

Opera roles have included Prokofiev's 'War & Peace', Britten's 'Rape of Lucretia', Poulenc's 'Les Dialogues des Carmelites', Humperdick's 'Hansel & Gretel', Mozart's 'Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail'. She also appeared as Donna Elvira opposite Benjamin Luxon in Mozart's 'Don Giovanni'. Gilbert & Sullivan roles include Pirates of Penzance, HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe and the Mikado. Recent concert performances with orchestra have included Richard Strauss' 'Four Last Songs' & Dvorak's 'Song to the Moon' (Exeter Cathedral), Chausson' 'Le Temps des Lilas', Puccini arias from La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, Turandot, Catalani's 'La Wally', Wagner's 'Liebestod' and Shoenberg's 'Pierrot Lunaire'. She has also performed Villa Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras' no.5 with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra 'cello section.

Claire's performances don't however stop in the Classical world. She has performed in numerous sessions and has given many jazz performances including with the CBSO's Berkley Street Dance Orchestra and Berkley Salon Ensemble. She has also performed backing vocals at the Royal Albert Hall for a concert with Fats Domino.  

Alongside her singing career, Claire is increasingly becoming involved in additional aspects of music, which includes studio session work, arrangements (for the CBSO's recent tour of China and Big Band arrangements for Cunard and P&O cruises) and record production. Claire also enjoys teaching and is a tutor at the Birmingham School of Acting, The King's School, Worcester and Malvern St. James. Claire has written a series of children's educational theory books which have been staged and she hopes to get published soon.

'Soprano Prewer has an amazing voice that bellies her small frame.'

(Ross Crawford - Birmingham Post)

 

 Benjamin Frith - Piano

Benjamin Frith was born in South Yorkshire in 1957 and from the age of ten studied with Fanny Waterman. He came to attention when at the age of fourteen he won the National Concerto Competition. This was followed by a Mozart Memorial Prize, the award for Young Concert Artists promoted by the National Federation of Music Societies (1983) and joint top prize at the Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy. His international career expanded much further after the award of a Gold Medal at the 1989 Arthur Rubinstein piano Masters Competition in Israel, where he also picked up the award for chamber music. He has appeared with many of the finest orchestras including the Israel Philharmonic, The Royal Philharmonic, The B.B.C. Philharmonic, Halle, C.B.S.O., B.B.C. Scottish, London Mozart Players, Berlin Symphony, Singapore Philharmonic and has performed under such conductors as Mehta, Skrowaczewski, Hurst, Bugaj, Wordsworth and Bamert. He has won golden opinions for his recordings of Beethoven, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Weber and Arnold and is currently engaged on a cycle of John Field's Nocturnes and piano Concertos for Naxos records. He appears at International Festivals such as Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Kfar-Blum and Kuhmo and every year at the Lindsay Quartet's Chamber Music Festival.

 Richard Jenkinson - Cello

Richard Jenkinson started to play the cello at the age of five and after winning a Scholarship from Derbyshire County Council studied with Florence Hooton until her sudden death in 1988. He continued his studies with William Pleeth and was awarded a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he studied with Raphael Wallfisch and William Pleeth. Whilst at the Guildhall he won all the cello and chamber music prizes and in 1994 after a performance of the Dvorak Concerto in the Barbican he was awarded the coveted Gold Medal. This led to a performance in Caracas with the Venezuelan Symphony Orchestra. In the autumn of 1994 Richard was awarded a top prize in the Vittorio Gui Chamber Music Competition in Florence, Italy and this led to him recording the Complete Sonatas and Variations by Martinu. During 1995 Richard used Scholarship awards from the Countess of Munster, Martin and Myra Hess Trusts to study with various teachers including Aldo Parrisot and Josef Fiegelshen in the USA. In January 1995 Richard was appointed Principal cello with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and during his three years in Ireland performed the concertos of Boccherini, both Haydn, Lutoslawski and Vivaldi. In 1998 he was appointed principal cello with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since has been guest principal with the Halle, Philharmonia and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. Richard gave his concerto debut at the age of 13 playing Haydn's C major concerto with a local orchestra and since this time has played most of the popular concertos with orchestras including BBC Concert, CBSO and the Innovation Chamber Ensemble (a conductor-less group he has formed with other CBSO members).  Recital performances have included the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Blackheath, CBSO Centre as well as in various music clubs around the country.

Richard plays on a 'cello by G B Grancino of Milan circa 1697.