Ariella Strings

About the musicians		Each member of Ariella Strings is a highly experienced and accomplished performer in their own right, within the quartet, trio, and also with other professional ensembles. We all perform with professional orchestras all over the country and give formal recitals. For Ariella Strings we form various groups for concerts, functions and weddings. These include: string trio, string quartet and string quintet. At its core is the Ariella String Trio.


		John Bass - viola John studied viola with John White and Stephen Shingles at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has played with various professional orchestras throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, as well as performing in chamber ensembles. John’s special interests are arranging music for chamber groups and conducting.

		Freddie Collarbone- 'cello Freddie studied both at the Royal Academy of Music, London and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Glasgow. She has worked as a fulltime cellist with many of the country's orchestras such as the Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Baroque Ensemble and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Freddie now freelances across the United Kingdom and is a member of various chamber ensembles giving recitals and playing for functions.

		Cheryl Agnew-Bass- violin Cheryl studied violin with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. After graduating in 1989 she worked fulltime for six years with the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa. Since returning to England Cheryl has freelanced with professional orchestras across the United Kingdom and in Europe, including Ulster Orchestra, London Bach Orchestra, Cyprus State Chamber Orchestra, New Queens Hall Orchestra and Milton Keynes City Orchestra. Alongside her freelance orchestral commitments Cheryl performs with Ariella Strings, giving recitals and playing for functions.

		Fiona Robertson - violin Fiona Robertson studied Violin at the Royal Northern College of Music with Richard Deakin going on to a freelance career in the North of England. She moved down to Bedfordshire in 1999 and has been a full time member with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia since 2001. Fiona enjoys playing in various small chamber groups in the surrounding area.

		Mandy Britton - violin Mandy studied at the Royal Academy of Music.On leaving the Academy she joined the D'oyley Carte opera company followed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Northern Chamber Orchestra and most recently the B.B.C. Philharmonic Orchestra. She moved to Kimpton in Hertfordshire 6 years ago with her family and now regularly freelances with various orchestras and is a member of the Laurel String quartet.

		Sue Appel - viola Susan won an open scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music. She continued her studies in The Hague at the Royal Dutch Conservatorium. Staying on in Holland to pursue chamber music & solo recitals she spent three years also performing with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic & Radio Symphony Orchestra. Since returning to Britain she has enjoyed working with almost every British orchestra as a free lance viola player. She also enjoys instrumental teaching, inspiring the next generation to enthuse about the viola & violin.

		David Knight - 'cello David studied the ‘cello at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with the eminent professor Stefan Popov. He graduated with Honours, was awarded the Libotton Memorial ‘cello Prize and led sections in both Symphony and Opera orchestras. David’s career has varied greatly since then from to teacher to cellist, conductor in both theatre and concert hall plus a stint in management. He is a well known and respected ‘cello teacher and can regularly be found freelancing as an orchestral player in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. David is much in demand both as chamber musician and concerto soloist having recently performed the Haydn, Saint Saens and Brahms Double concertos.

		Hywel Davies - violin/viola Hywel was in the National Youth Orchestra and was leading local orchestras while still at school where he also won a County music bursary. He studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Trinity College of Music London, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, winning the College String and Concerto Prize, Conservatoire National de Region de Nice with Aaron Rosand (Curtis Institute, Philadelphia) & was invited to attend master classes at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Hywel plays in many orchestras including Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, English National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Welsh National Orchestra. Hywel recently played in the filming of The Duchess with Keira Knightly(released later in 2008.)

		Gillian Brightwell - Violin Gillian lives in London and works regularly with the Oxford Philomusica, London Concert Orchestra, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Milton Keynes City Orchestra, the CBSO and many other orchestras. She has 2 dogs, both from Battersea Dogs' Home and plays tennis as much as possible. Whenever the weather is good you will find her walking on one of the long distance coast paths, cooking on a camp stove and watching clouds, sunsets and stars.

		Rachel Sanders-Hewett - 'cello Rachel Sanders-Hewett studied Music at the University of Birmingham, where she was awarded both the Barber Undergraduate Prize and the Roland Gregory Prize. She graduated with first class honours in 2003 and went on to study cello with Sally Pendlebury and baroque cello with Alison McGillivray at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She regularly leads the cello sections of both the Bartholdy Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St Paul’s, Covent Garden, and freelances with many other orchestras and chamber ensembles.

		Jeremy Sampson - violin Jeremy Sampson studied at the Royal College of Music. He spent two years as violinist-in-residence at Oundle School, and has since been a freelance player with Orchestra of St. John’s, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Corelli Strings, the Academy of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Jeremy is co-leader of the King’s Chamber Orchestra, has appeared as guest leader of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, Southern Sinfonia and the Cyprus State Chamber Orchestra.

		Valerie Kirby-Ashmore - viola and violin Trained at The Guildhall School of Music and was awarded Rudolf Kempe Scholarship. Orchestral engagements include the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra, Brandenburg Sinfonia and Opera Orchestra, Cambridge Sinfonia, Cambridge International Opera, Bath Georgian Festival and Heart of England Opera. Solo recitals include Vaughan Williams Flos Campi for Viola Solo Choir and Orchestra, Bloch Hebraique Suite, Vivaldi Concerto for Two Violins, Brahms Songs Op. 91, Frank Bridge Songs for Voice and Viola, and Rubbra Two Sonnets. She performs with The Parlour Consort and various string quartets including the world premier of Opera by Paul Barker at the Edinburgh Festival.

		Naomi Zoob - 'cello Naomi studied at the Royal College of Music where she held a Senior Exhibitioner Award and took master classes from William Pleeth and the Chillingirian String Quartet. She is a freelance musician working with the Bournemouth, Milton Keynes City, London Concert and English National Orchestras, she has recently been working with G4, Hayley Westenra, Vittorio Grigolo and Katherine Jenkins.

		Teodora Ilieva - violin Teodora won a full music scholarship to the prestigious Wells Cathedral School in Somerset at the age of 11. She continued her violin studies at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, obtaining her Bmus degree studying under respected teachers Catherine Lord and Professor Yfrah Neaman. Teodora’s many stage appearances have been for various audiences including celebrities and members of royalty, such as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Charles Worthington to name but a few. Including performances with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, she has also performed as a soloist on world-famous venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square, St James’ Palace amongst others.