Trinity College of Music
Danielle Asherson, violin
Alison Gott, violin
Louise Parker, viola
Hannah Schofield, cello
The Chimera Quartet was founded at Trinity College of Music in 2003 and has gained a considerable reputation as a feisty and refreshing new quartet since winning the TCM Chamber Music Prize in 2004. After a series of highly successful concerts at venues including St Martin-in-the-Fields and the House of Commons, the all-female quartet embarked on a project promoting chamber music through a series of film-music performances at the Barbican and Renoir cinemas.
The quartet has been coached by Elizabeth Turnbull, Ann Hooley, Peter Lewis and Ofer Falk, and has participated in masterclasses with the Vellinger and Wihan Quartets.
Forthcoming engagements include a number of recitals and an International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa.
Danielle was born in South Africa and began her musical training at the age of 10, under the guidance of Lizbe Prinsloo. Within her first year she already showed great promise, having received the English Eisteddfod Trophy for the ‘most promising entrant’ and the ‘SASMT Silver Cup’. She has since received numerous scholarships and prizes. Under the guidance of Professor Jack de Wet, she reached the final round of the SAMRO violin competition and has performed on several radio stations, including the ‘Young Musicians’ broadcast on Radio Suid-Afrika. She has received distinction for all her UNISA and Royal Schools examinations. In 2003 she was invited to take part in the UNISA Grade 8 Scholarship competition in Pretoria.
Danielle has recently had masterclasses with Laura Kobayashi, Christopher Rowland and Pieter Schoeman. She recently obtained her BMus (performance) degree with first class, at the University of Cape Town, where she studied under Professor Jurgen Schwiettering. At UCT, she won a number of scholarships and bursaries, and performed regularly as a soloist and chamber musician. She was also privileged enough to perform Stevenson’s Concerto Grosso for 2 violins as a soloist with the UCT Symphony Orchestra. She was placed on the Dean’s merit list at UCT every year of her time there, for academic excellence. As an undergraduate student, Danielle was a principal member in the UCT String Ensemble, and a member and leader of the UCT String Quartet, who were invited to perform throughout the Western Cape, including the 2004 International Chamber Music Festival in Stalenbosch.
Danielle also teaches the violin, holding part-time posts at two prominent music schools, with her students being amongst the highest achievers. She has also played on occasion, as an extra with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra.
Danielle is currently on the Masters course at Trinity College of Music in London, studying with Michael Bochmann. She is a member of the String Ensemble, and various other orchestras.
Alison currently studies the violin with Michael Bochmann at Trinity College of Music. In 2004, she graduated in Music and Theology from Selwyn College, Cambridge, where she held a University Instrumental Award and played with the Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra. During her sixth form years, she was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, and leader of the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra.
Alison returned to Gloucestershire last year to work as a peripatetic violin teacher for the Gloucestershire Music Service, and hopes to pursue a career combining teaching and performance.
Louise began playing the violin at the age of seven, studying with Diane Davison whilst at St Joseph’s Primary School, Halifax. She became a member of the Calderdale Youth Symphony Orchestra at 11, and a founder member of the re-formed Yorkshire Youth Orchestra at 13, under the direction of John Pryce-Jones. She was made leader of the Calderdale Youth Orchestra at 16 whilst at Halifax Catholic High School and, for three years running, was awarded the Harrison Trophy by the Calderdale Music Service for gaining the highest marks in the ABRSM Grades 6-8.
Louise studied with Caroline Goddard at Rastrick High School's Sixth Form Centre where she won the RHS Young Musician of the Year competition in 2000. She accepted a place at Trinity College of Music to study violin with soloist Andrew Sherwood, and received the Bearder Award for Music in Calderdale in 2001. After successfully completing her BMus (Hons) degree in 2005, TCM awarded Louise a scholarship for a Post-Graduate Diploma (viola) studying with Peter Lewis.
During her time at Trinity College, Louise has been a member of the college's Sinfonia, Chamber Orchestra, Early Music and Jazz ensembles, and principal viola of the String Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra. She has performed at a number of prestigious venues in and around London as both a violinist and viola player, including St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, as both a chamber and orchestral musician. Some of the ensembles Louise has worked with include London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, British Youth Opera, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, St Paul's Sinfonia, EMFEB and the New Orpheus Ensemble. She also appeared on GMTV with The Hallion String Quartet. Louise is an established teacher of violin, viola and piano.
Hannah began playing the cello in 1992. She was principal cellist with the Cheshire Youth Orchestra and has been principal cellist of the New Orpheus Ensemble, EMFEB orchestra and the Deal Festival 2005, with the Naomi Butterworth Cello Ensemble. Hannah was a member of the TCM String Ensemble for three years and has played at major London venues with the National Musicians Symphony Orchestra. She has toured Germany, the Czech Republic and South Africa with various orchestras, and most recently completed a two-week tour of China in January 2006 with the Amadeus Orchestra.
Whilst at Trinity, Hannah has played in solo masterclasses for William Conway, principal cellist with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and for Orfeo Manlizzi, Professor of Cello at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik. During her time at Trinity she has studied with Naomi Butterworth and Richard Markson and is now studying under a scholarship to complete her Postgraduate Advanced Diploma this year under the guidance of Derek Aviss.