Celebrating Chamber Music at Guildhall School

Our Spring Season of events culminated in the return of the Chamber Music Festival, which once again saw talented current Guildhall students collaborating with the School’s world-renowned chamber professors during a weekend of inspiring performances. This year’s festival was particularly noteworthy, as the opening concert featured the Elmore Quartet, our Hans Keller Chamber Fellows, performing with the Vista Quartet from Yale School of Music, as part of an exciting new international collaboration. The performance marked the end of a week-long residency at Guildhall for the musicians from Yale, and featured Yale cello and chamber professor Paul Watkins – who also gave a masterclass to our students during the week – and Guildhall clarinet professor Andrew Marriner. Ahead of the concert, musicians from the Elmore and Vista quartets appeared on BBC Radio 3’s drivetime show In Tune, performing music by Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and joining Head of Chamber Music Matthew Jones to discuss the Festival with presenter Katie Derham.

The Chamber Music Festival followed fast on the heels of significant competition success for the Elmore Quartet, who won first prize in the Strings and Keyboard Ensemble division of the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League Competition, receiving a prize of £10,000 and now proceeding to the competition’s Gold Medal Final, which takes place at Wigmore Hall on Friday 15 May 2026. Xander Croft (Violin), Miles Ames (Violin), Inis Oírr Asano (Viola, and Art Dip Recorder) and Gabriel Francis-Dehqani (Cello 2025) of the Elmore Quartet have been Hans Keller Fellows at Guildhall School since 2023, during which time they have been mentored by our expert professors, and in turn have inspired our current students through performances and seminars. The Hans Keller Fellowship has been offered at Guildhall School since 2021, supported by The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust in memory of the musician and writer Hans Keller, who taught at Guildhall in the 1980s. The Astatine Trio were announced as our latest Fellows in the School’s Chamber Music programme last year.

The past term has also included several exciting Chamber Music successes for our alumni. The Fibonacci Quartet, founded at Guildhall School and including current student Kryštof Kohout (Art Dip Violin), and alumni Luna De Mol (Violin 2025) and Elliot Kempton (Viola 2024) received a 2026 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, worth £20,000, to support the development of their international career.  

In February, the Barbican Quartet, featuring Amarins Wierdsma (Violin 2017), Christoph Slenczka (Viola 2016) and Yoanna Prodanova (Cello 2018), launched their second album Lux Intus with a performance at Wigmore Hall. 

In March, the Paddington Trio, featuring Tuulia Hero (Violin 2022), Patrick Moriarty (Cello 2022) and Stephanie Tang (Piano 2022), recorded their first album, as well as performing music by Caroline Shaw at Sadler’s Wells, with New York City Ballet principal dancer and choreographer Tiler Peck’s Thousandth Orange set to it. The Trio is also on the 2025-26 Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, with the residency including two lunchtime recitals.

The Paddington Trio are included alongside several Guildhall alumni in the 44 new groups selected to join MERITA, an EU-supported training and promotional programme for early-career ensembles, coordinated by Le Dimore del Quartetto. Others include Henrietta Hill (Viola) as part of the Belinfante Quartet, Juliette Roos (Violin 2018) as part of the Kleio Quartet and Frederick Winterson (Cello 2019) as part of the Velvet Quartet.