Jan is now head of the string faculty for Bedfordshire Music teaching the violin and viola. He is also the director of the county chamber music course which involves a hundred or so children twice a year. He has lead the Bedford Sinfonia for twenty years, and also leads a quartet which has a repertoire that includes quartets by all of the major 19th and 20th century composers. He regularly appears as a soloist having performed concertos by Dvorak, Beethoven, Elgar, Mozart, Saint Saens, Mendelssohn and Bruch as well as Berlioz's 'Harold in Italy' and the Brahms double concerto. Jan plays a violin made for him by a contemporary Czech maker, Tomas Pilar, in 2002; which is a copy of Fritz Kreisler's Guarnerius 'del Gesu' violin made in 1733. |
Caroline Waters was born in Jersey and studied at Chethams School of Music, Manchester, with Nannie Jamieson and Malcolm Layfield. She then went on to the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Richard Deakin and won a number of prizes for performance. Caroline gives solo recitals and plays regularly with the string quartet, and has also toured with a number of orchestras and ensembles throughout the UK and abroad. John Shayler was Head of String Teaching for Bedfordshire County Music Service for 30 years, up until his early retirement in 2002. He plays and teaches violin and viola, and, as well as coaching on County orchestral and chamber music courses, is conductor of Bedfordshire Youth Opera. John is also been a mentor for the Professional Development department of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. He is a long-standing member of the European String Teachers' Association and is a member of the ESTA Council, recently appointed as their International Liaison Officer. He has given masterclasses around Britain, and in Arezzo, Italy. John has been teaching recently at the Alexander School of Music in Spain. David Knight received his musical training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied the 'cello with Stefan Popov. He graduated in 1987 and was awarded the Libotton Memorial 'cello prize. He has played orchestral, operatic and chamber music ensembles, both professional and amateur, throughout the south of England and the Midlands whilst pursuing a teaching career, joining the Bedfordshire County Music Service full time in 1991. He teaches throughout the county and works with students on County Youth Orchestra and Chamber Music courses and is principal cellist of Bedford Sinfonia. As a conductor, David studied with Alan Hazeldene and Lawrence Leonard. He has supervised music for local operatic companies and is Music Director of the Milton Keynes Sinfonia. LINKS |