Thomas Edwards, french horn & Sean Greenheld, piano

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Programme

Beethoven: Horn Sonata in F major, Op. 17

Franz Strauss: Nocturno, Op. 7

Franz Strauss: Theme and Variations, Op. 13

Paul Stanhope: Dawn Interlude

Jan Koetsier: Sonatina, Op. 59 No. 1

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Australian-born Thomas Edwards is a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music. He started learning the piano aged four and, by the age of six, had picked up the cello as well. At the age of ten he started learning the french horn at his primary school. Thomas began to focus on the french horn as his primary instrument when he started studying with Chris Howes in 2010.

Thomas attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts in Sydney for Cello and French Horn. He began studying for a Bachelor of Music Performance with David Thompson at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2014 and, in his second year, he was accepted for a professional placement with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Thomas was Principal Horn of the New South Wales Arts Unit Symphony Orchestra for two years and was a member of the orchestra for their European Tour of 2010. He was a member of the Sydney Youth Orchestra from 2012 until 2016. In 2016 Thomas’s brass quintet was invited by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to perform a highly successful concert series and educational regional tour of NSW.

Thomas has performed with the Penrith Symphony Orchestra, the Balmain Sinfonia, the Woollhara Symphony Orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra Young Symphonists, the Piccadilly Symphony, the Micheal Haydn Orchestra, the Bruckner Linz Orchestra and as soloist and principal with the Bluescope Steel Youth Orchestra during several European tours. During his time in youth ensembles he worked with members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra and soloists such as Rex Richardson, James Morrison and Avan Yu. He performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Youth Olympics in 2012 and was one of the musicians invited to perform in chamber ensembles the compositions selected for HSC Encore in 2013 at the Sydney Opera House.

In 2016 Thomas began a year of study on exchange at the Royal Northern College of Music with Lindsay Stoker. During that year he performed in masterclasses with Rodolfo Epelde, Frøydis Ree Wekre, Alberto Menendez, Jasper de Waal and Tim Jackson. He has since continued and finished his studies with Lindsey Stocker and Julian Plummer at the Royal Northern College of Music, being awarded Bachelor of Music with Honours.

Thomas was a member of the Sonare Wind Quintet which competed in the 13th Concours International de Musique de Chambre at Lyon. In 2018 his new wind quintet, Festivo Winds, won the Fewkes Woodwind Competition and the June Emerson Launchpad award. In 2019 the quintet participated in events organised by the Tunnell Trust, working extensively with acclaimed horn player Tim Brown.

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Twenty-four-year-old British pianist Sean Greenheld, originally from York, is currently studying for his postgraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music under Helen Krizos. Sean also studied at the RNCM for his undergraduate degree, for which he was awarded first class honours.

Sean has a wealth of performing experience at venues across the United Kingdom, most notably the Purcell Room in London, the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds and the Millennium Centre in Cardiff. He has also participated in masterclasses with various distinguished pianists including Martin Roscoe, Carole Presland, Alessandro Taverna, Stefano Fuizzi and Bernard D’Ascoli. One of Sean’s most outstanding achievements is receiving the joint First Prize in the Fergal O’Mahony Prize 2017 held at the Royal Northern College of Music.

A key focus for Sean is his love and passion for chamber music and accompaniment, as he is a firm believer that music is most powerful when shared. He regularly accompanies students at Yorkshire Young Musicians at the Leeds College of Music for their ABRSM exams. Sean is proud to be a Help Musicians UK Myra Hess Award Holder and is very grateful for the support of Help Musicians UK during his postgraduate studies.