Jigsaw Players – Vergottis Cultural Centre

BIOGRAPHY

Emmanuella Reiter
Born into a family of musicians in Jerusalem, Emmanuella Reiter began her musical studies with her father at an early age.
After lessons in violin and piano at the Conservatoire National de Région de Nice, France, Emmanuella switched to viola and entered in 2001 the class of Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA.
There, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees, and served for three years as teaching assistant to Kim Kashkashian.
Emmanuella has participated in many festivals worldwide, has performed in a chamber music setting with artists such as Ida Haendel, Peter Frankl and has performed with world class orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Mrs Reiter frequently performs solo and chamber music around the globe.
Her passion for teaching has led her to writing: “Karen Tuttle’s Heritage: The Theory and Practice of Co-ordination”, a technique to help coordinate physical and musical gestures. Emmanuella held the post of Visiting Professor at the Birmingham Conservatory in 2009-2010, has been regularly invited to give classes at the Royal Academy of Music Junior and Senior divisions.
Emmanuella is the founding Director of the Jigsaw Players Chamber Music Series in Wimbledon. She has been a member of the London Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008.

Mark Derudder
Mark Derudder was born in Fukuoka (Japan) but moved to Belgium at the age of two and started playing the violin at the age of six. In 2002 he won first prize in the National Competition “Axion Classics”. In 2004 he won the Gold Medal at the Marlow Music Festival. At the Guildhall, he received the MBF Ian Fleming Charitable Trust Award and the Martin Musical Fund Award. Mark has performed as soloist and chamber musician in venues across the UK, Europe and the USA. He also held a Fellowship for two years at the Guildhall as member of the Idomeneo String Quartet with which he performs regularly around the world. In 2012 he joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in London as a member of the first violin section.

Nicholas Bootiman
Nicholas Bootiman was born near Munich, Germany, where he started his first music lessons. Later he attended the Purcell School, Royal College of Music, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and the New England Conservatory in Boston, USA. His primary teachers were Kim Kashkashian, Milan Skampa, Ian Jewel and Andriy Viytovych.
Nicholas is frequently invited to guest lead viola sections throughout the country, and has appeared as such with Philharmonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and City of London Sinfonia.
Concerto performances include Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay and Philharmonia Orchestra, and Penderecki’s Viola Concerto with Boston Modern Orchestra Project. As a chamber musician Nicholas often takes time out to play with friends at festivals around UK and Europe and has performed at the major London chamber venues. He composes as a hobby, and as conductor co-directs the Reuleaux Ensemble.

Thomas Hancox
Thomas Hancox has worked as guest principal flute of the London Philharmonic and Philharmonia orchestras, performed as a soloist alongside Trevor Pinnock, collaborated with ensembles including the Allegri and Sacconi string quartets, and also played with English National Opera, the Dunedin Consort, the London Handel Orchestra, the Saraband Consort, the Locrian Ensemble, and the Britten-Pears Orchestra. He is an artist on the Countess of Munster Musical Trust Recital Scheme, and also for Live Music Now.
A committed teacher, he works with students at King’s College (London), the Dragon School (Oxford), and on several summer courses (the Flute Kitchen, Harrogate; the London Flute Academy). He was previously the Junior Editor of Pan, the journal of the British Flute Society, and now acts as an animateur for CAVATINA Chamber Music Trust.
He first read music at St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated with a double first, before pursuing further studies in Paris with Patrick Gallois, and subsequently at the Royal Academy of Music, London, with Paul Edmund-Davies and Samuel Coles, finishing with a distinction and the honorary DipRAM. He was generously supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, the Leverhulme Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and the Craxton Memorial Trust.

Bartholomew Lafollette
Hailed by the Irish Times for being “as free in touching the heartstrings as he was in dashing off dazzling runs”, Bartholomew Lafollette’s highlights with orchestra include performances of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Walton and Elgar Cello Concertos in the Barbican Hall as well as appearing as soloist with the City of London Sinfonia. He has also performed The Brahms Double Concerto with Daniel Stabrawa and the Poznan Philharmonic in Poland and Elgar’s Cello Concerto at the Sibelius International Music Festival in Helsinki. He was the first recipient of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s honorable Ardan Award which led to appearances throughout the British Isles.
Bartholomew engages in a rich variety of musical collaborations and has recently performed, amongst others, with Anthony Marwood, Christian Tetzlaff and Andras Keller. He frequently appears with the award winning Doric String Quartet with whom he recorded Eric Wolfgang Korngold’s string sextet for Chandos. He participates regularly in international festivals such as Ravinia and Spannungen and has a special relationship with IMS Prussia Cove, performing both in Cornwall and on their annual tour.
Born in Philadelphia, Bartholomew was drawn to the cello at an early age, entering the Yehudi Menuhin school at the age of thirteen. Continuing his studies with Louise Hopkins at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he received a First Honours Masters degree and was a post-graduate Fellow. His career was launched by the prestigious Young Concert Artist’s Trust (YCAT) in 2007, after which he made successful debuts across the UK, including numerous performances at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. His performances both as soloist in recital and with orchestra are critically lauded for their intensity and commitment.
In 2011 at the age of twenty-six, Bartholomew LaFollette was appointed Principal Cello Teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School. He is especially grateful for the indefinite loan of a Benjamin Banks Jr. cello made in 1785.

Kaija
Kaija was born in Rapla, a small town in Estonia. She comes from a musical family: her mother and older sister are both piano teachers and her grandfather was a violinist. When she was two years old she held hands and sang in the continuous human chain from Tallinn to Vilnius to protest the Russian occupation.
Kaija began her musical education at the Rapla Music School and Tallinn Music High School. She went on to complete her undergraduate and masters degrees at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with additional diplomas from Temple University in Philadelphia and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She has won several prizes at national and international competitions including at ‘Remember Enescu’ in Romania and at the National competitions of Estonia.
Currently Kaija is working with several professional ensembles including the English Chamber Orchestra, the Jigsaw Players, BBC Wales and is on the casual list for groups including the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Kaija loves to travel and is regularly invited to festivals across the world in countries including Estonia, France, Greece and the USA. She has performed at such venues as The Royal Festival Hall, The Walt Disney Hall (LA), The Philharmonie (Berlin), and The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) with artists including Gustavo Dudamel, Anthony Marwood and Colin Davis.
As adept on viola as she is on violin, Kaija frequently performs solo recitals on both instruments, most recently at St Martin in the Fields with Sholto Kynoch. Kaija’s future engagements include recitals at Regent’s Hall and St John Smith Square. As a soloist Kaija is highly sought after, recently having performed the Brahms violin concerto with de Havilland Philharmonic as well as various concertos with groups including Philharmonia Britannica, Exeter University Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, Parnu City Orchestra (Estonia) to critical success.

Vassilis Varvaresos
“Varvaresos not only has a natural yet finely honed technique, it springs as one with the wide scope of profound musicianship. Varvaresos engaged his audience with a performance that sizzled from start to finish.”

• New York Concert Review
  March 2012 marked Mr. Varvaresos’ Carnegie Hall recital debut, to both audience and critical acclaim. Immediately following his debut, he was asked to play at the White House for President Barrack Obama.
  Being re-invited to the Athens Festival of 2012, Mr. Varvaresos will be making his inaugural appearance at the Herodeion theater in Athens, performing Prokofiev’s Concerto no. 2 with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra.
  In December 2010 Mr. Varvaresos was named Most Promising Young Greek Artist from the Critics’ Association of Greece. The dynamic young Greek pianist is also the 1st Prize winner of the Maria Chairogiorgou-Sigara 3rd International Piano Competition, held in Athens in May 2010.
  Winner of the coveted First Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at the age of 14, his recital debuts in New York and Washington were acclaimed. The New York Concert Review ended thus: “Following this great program greatly played, Vassilis Varvaresos played a spicy Greek dance with all the exuberance and heartiness of a soul in love with life.” The Washington Post’s headline called him a “Young Master on the Rise.”
  Mr. Varvaresos made his sensational New York orchestra debut in 2007 at Lincoln Center performing Lowell Liebermann’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Juilliard Orchestra under the baton of Andreas Delfs. In October 2010, as a special guest of the Archbishop of the Greek-Orthodox Church of America, Mr. Varvaresos appeared with the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra in Chopin’s Piano Concerto in e minor at Alice Tully Hall, while in the winter of 2008 he was asked to be the soloist with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, representing Greece on a two-week tour of China, on the occasion of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Mr. Varvaresos, on this occasion, performed in front of a total of 6000 people.
  Mr. Varvaresos’ made his recital debut in Athens, Greece appearing at the 2010 Athens Festival. During the same summer he has appeared in recital and chamber music concerts in Mykonos, Greece and in Constantinople and Cyprus.
  Mr. Varvaresos previous seasons included concerts in Vienna’s legendary Musikverein, performances of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in Leukosia and Lemesos under the baton of Spiros Pisinos, recitals in Mykonos, Greece and a featured concert at the International Piano Festival of Gijón, Spain.
  Since then, he has performed in numerous occasions both in the U.S. and abroad. Highlight performances include an appearance with the Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra, where Mr. Varvaresos performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in a double-bill special event as well as concerto and recital appearances in the U.S. and his native Greece.
  As a soloist with orchestra in the United States, Mr. Varvaresos has performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the Victoria Symphony in Texas, Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 with the Westmoreland Symphony (PA), Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with the Dearborn (MI) Orchestra Society, Haydn’s Concerto in D Major with the Hartford Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 with the Modesto (CA) Symphony, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 with the Altoona (PA) Symphony, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 1 with the JCC of Greater Washington, and Beethoven’s Concerto no. 3 with the Sacramento Youth Symphony.
  Mr. Varvaresos’ performances in his native Greece include the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto at the Megaron Hall with the Athens State Symphony Orchestra, Solon Michailides’s Piano Concerto and the Grieg Piano Concerto in the Megaron Hall of Athens, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 2, Mozart’s Concerto no. 20 and Beethoven’s Concerto No. 3, with the Orchestra of Thessaloniki. He has performed numerous times on Greek State Television, as well as on television in Italy, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. Mr. Varvaresos has represented Greece in a special “EuroConcert” at the Museum of Modern Art in Helsinki, at the Greek Embassy in Milan, and for the U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He has also performed as a recitalist in Austria, Germany, France, Italy, The Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia.
  Mr. Varvaresos is a founding member of Fourtissimo!, a group of four award-winning pianists whose goal is to reinvent the concert going experience through tasteful and uncompromising experimentation: unorthodox choice of repertoire, questions and choices concerning the form of the piano recital, and original compositions/transcriptions that test the limitations of the instrument and point the way towards a new type of instrumental virtuosity and inventiveness. The group’s debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in October 2010 received immediate audience and critical acclaim.
  Mr. Varvaresos is also active as a composer. His dance composition Three Etudes was chosen to represent the Juilliard School in a Dance Forum hosted by the Pallucca Schüle in Dresden, Germany in October of 2007. He has written ten film scores, including “Ellsworth Kelly: Fragments” and “Sir John Soane: An English Architect, an American Legacy” produced by the Checkerboard Film Foundation. He has also composed the score for the short film “Hardwood”.
  Born in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1983, Mr. Varvaresos started studying music at the age of five, and received a scholarship to the Conservatory of Northern Greece. He continued his studies at the Conservatory with Milena Mollova. He won First Prize in the 1995 Petar Konjovic International Competition in Belgrade, the 1996 Pan-Hellenic Young Artist Competition in Athens, and was chosen as one of eleven young musicians from around the world to perform in Monte Carlo in a special “little Mozarts” concert organized by Italy’s RAI TV. Mr. Varvaresos holds a bachelor of music degree and a master of music degree from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Jerome Lowenthal. His paper on Claude Debussy, which won the Scholastic Distinction Award from The Juilliard School, was published in Greece by Kodikas Publications. In May 2011 Mr. Varvaresos received his Doctorate in Piano Performance from the Juilliard School. He was a student of Jerome Lowenthal, Yoheved Kaplinsky, and Robert MacDonald.
  Mr. Varvaresos is currently pursuing the prestigious Diplôme d’ Artiste-Interprète degree at the Conservatoire Nationale et Superieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris, France. He studies with Michel Dalberto.
  He has been recipient of Musical Studies Grants from the Bagby Foundation and George & Marie Vergottis Scholarships at The Juilliard School. Since 2008, he has also been the recipient of the Gina Bachauer Foundation Grant for Outstanding Talent in Music and Onassis Foundation Grant.