Trinity College of Music
YMF 2005
![[Bella Court Trio]](images/2005/bella240.jpg)
THE BELLA COURT TRIO was formed in September 2003 at Trinity College of Music. It has regular coaching from Richard Markson, David Kennedy and Gina McCormack and has played in masterclasses with the Wihan and Velinger Quartets. It has rapidly established itself on the concert platform with recitals in London, Oxford, Italy and Holland. In March 2004 the Trio won the audience prize in the Cavatina Chamber Music Competition at Trinity College of Music and shortly afterwards, travelled to Florence in Italy to perform in St. Mark's English Church as part of the Maggio Musicale Festival as a consequence of which it has been asked to return to Italy later this year to give further recitals in both Florence and Sienna. Recently, the Trio was invited to perform at the opening 'Young Talent' concert of the Peter the Great Festival in Groningen, Holland, where its members spent a week studying intensively under the guidance of the Menuhin Festival Piano Quartet and masters such as Florian Donderer, Tanja Tetzlaff, Paul Komen and Jan Ype Nota. Engagements in 2005 include performances at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon and in Cheltenham as part of the Chipping Camden Festival.
The Trio takes its name from the Tudor household that once stood on the site of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich which now houses Trinity College of Music where the group formed.
ROBIN MARTIN (violin) was born in 1979 and developed his musical skills at Dulwich College where he was an academic and music scholar. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra from 1996-1998, playing under Sir Colin Davis and Mstislav Rostropovich. He spent his GAP year teaching and travelling in India before taking up a place at Bristol University to read History.
While at Bristol he was leader of the university symphony orchestra and was heavily involved in orchestral music around the West of England. After graduating from Bristol, Robin took up a scholarship to study with Diana Cummings at Trinity College of Music.
He is the leader of the TCM String Ensemble and the New Orpheus Ensemble. He has also led the TCM Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonietta and was a finalist in the TCM Bach competition in the Autumn of 2003. He will be appearing as a soloist with the TCM String Ensemble in March 2005 and is currently completing his advanced postgraduate diploma.
ROSALIND GLADSTONE began learning the cello at the age of 4. While at school in Oxford she was principal cellist of the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra, the Oxford Concerto Orchestra and the Thames Vale Youth Orchestra. During her GAP year she stayed in Oxford to play with the Oxford Chamber Orchestra and the Oxford University Orchestra before taking up her place to study English Literature at Cambridge University. She was a member of the Cambridge University Music Society First Orchestra and the Macmillan Ensemble and performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. Roz is currently studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Performance at Trinity College of Music. She has played with the TCM Contemporary Music Group, Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra. She is also a member of the New Orpheus Ensemble and has worked with the BBC Concert Orchestra on their 'Burning Bush' project. The project culminated in a collaborative performance of Jewish Folk Music in the Royal Festival Hall. She has forthcoming solo recitals in London and Oxford.
NICHOLAS BURNS (piano) read Music at Bristol University and learnt piano with Vanessa Latarche of the RAM. During this time he gave numerous recitals in Bristol Music Club and the Victoria Rooms. He was a member of the Bartholdy Piano Trio in 2001-2002, which performed around the South of England and was regularly engaged as an accompanist. He passed his LRSM with distinction in December 2002 and won the Open Sonata Competition at the Woking Festival in the same year.
While at Bristol he also developed a serious interest in conducting and worked with virtually every university ensemble. He continued to study conducting at Trinity College of Music under Peter Stark and is the founder and Music Director of the New Orpheus Ensemble. He has recently been working as assistant conductor for New Sussex Opera's production of Falstaff and is the conductor of the Gravesend Youth Orchestra. He continues to study piano with Simon Young and is pursuing a career as a freelance conductor and chamber musician.