Orla McGarrity is an Irish violinist based in Manchester, where she graduated from the RNCM with both First-Class Honours Bachelors and Masters Degrees. She studied under James Clark, Cecily Ward and Pavel Fischer and has performed in masterclasses for Arabella Steinbacher, Nathaniel Vallois and Vera Vaidman. Orla is currently a Fellow on Manchester Camerata’s Ruth Sutton Scheme and is enjoying a busy freelancing career both in Manchester and at home in Northern Ireland. In 24/25 Orla was one of the Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble's Young Artists and has since gone on to perform with them and sit on their board. Orla's love for curating chamber events led her to working as the Programming Assistant at the RNCM in 2022/23 and co-directing Enys Chamber Music Festival in Cornwall. She also enjoyed interning at Weesp Chamber Music Festival in the Netherlands and working as an ad hoc chamber music tutor at RNCM's Junior Department. Orla recently set up the Mourne Chamber Music Festival in Newcastle County Down which she plans to continue for years to come. She plays on an 1810 Giuseppe Baldantoni violin generously loaned to her by the Harrison Frank Family Foundation and is grateful to be supported by Help Musicians and the William and Frances Dobie Charitable Foundation. When not playing violin, Orla can be found evicting slugs from her allotment or reading a good book.

The Talland Quartet formed during their time at the Royal Northern College of Music and are dedicated to sharing their passion for chamber music with others. Named after the serene yet wild Talland Bay in Cornwall, the quartet have won multiple prizes at the RNCM and are currently continuing their studies at the college on the Quartet Studio programme. They were the Young String Quartet in Residence at South Downs Summer Music Festival in 2025 and look forward to attending West Cork Music Festival in 2026 as Young Artists. The Quartet enjoy a diverse range of projects, from supporting Anna Meredith at Manchester International Festival to delivering primary school workshops in the North of England. They are keen to support the creation of new music and are currently working on a commission with composer and drummer Eden Longson, which has been generously supported by the Nicholas Boas Trust. ​They have performed at concert societies and festivals across the UK such as Manchester Middays and Lake District Music, and have enjoyed trips further afield for the Danish String Quartet Academy and Delft Chamber Music Atelier. Most recently, the Quartet joined Italy's esteemed Le Dimore del Quartetto network. ​They have been fortunate to study with esteemed musicians such as Donald Grant, Pavel Fischer, Sini Simonen, Richard Ireland, Cecily Ward, Tim Frederiksen and John Myerscough.

A graduate of the Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag in the Netherlands, RNCM and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire receiving the highest marks for performance, cellist Harry Broom BMus Hons, MMus, PgDip (1997) is currently pursuing a busy and diverse career both as a performer and a teacher. Harry has performed in concert halls such as the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Royal Albert Hall London, The Bridgewater Hall Manchester, The Glasshouse Newcastle, Tivoli Vredenburg Utrecht and Symphony Hall Birmingham. Harry currently freelances with orchestras such as BBC Philharmonic (No.2, No.4), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra No.4 (also in conjunction with Dutch National Opera at the Nationale Opera and Ballet Amsterdam), The Hallé (No.2), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Welsh National Opera, Residentie Orkest Den Haag and the English Symphony Orchestra and has been broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3 and Dutch Radio NPO 4. In chamber music, Harry is a member of the Lismore Quartet based in Edinburgh performing concerts around the UK. He also plays regularly as a guest in concerts with ensembles (Talland Quartet, Pelargos Quartet and Aestus Quartet) around the UK and the Netherlands.

bigail Hammett is a Manchesrer based Violist and Violinist from South Wales. She earned her Master’s degree from the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), where she subsequently held the position of Junior Fellow of Viola. She also completed recently the Hallé Professional Experience Scheme and has been a Live Music Now Artist since 2018. Currently, Abi freelances with various Orchestras and Chamber Ensembles across the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition to her orchestral work, she is a founding member of the Treske Quartet. The ensemble previously served as RNCM Quartet Studio Artists and as the Quartet in Residence at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).

Natálie Kulina (1996) was born in the Czech Republic and was lured into music making by a shiny, tiny, fresh-out-of-the-factory violin that a teacher brought to school one day. Despite spending most of her teens only pretending to practice the violin and secretly reading through stacks of books and designing early-internet interfaces instead, she’s somehow been a fixture on national competition and concert circuits, which led her to study at the Brno Conservatory, and eventually to move to the Netherlands for the Amsterdam Conservatory. She graduated both schools with the highest awards, and enjoyed all the things that come with it: learning from brilliant peers and teachers, from world class soloists and conductors, traveling internationally, performing on important stages, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam or Rudolfinum in Prague, and eventually being lucky to make a living as a chamber musician, a soloist, and as an orchestra player. In her early twenties, she also became focused on contemporary music, which has opened doors to work in electronic music and specialised ensembles. Natalie has since premiered new compositions, and dipped her toes into theatre, film, and fashion world collaborations. Lately, Natalie’s been happily working as a cultural producer and project manager for several important Dutch cultural institutions, and picking up the violin for projects that are closest to her heart: those too inspiring and exciting to miss, those that allow her to express something that she couldn’t say otherwise, and those that bring musicmaking together with great friends.

Ravi Nathwani is an exciting young British Asian guitarist from Reading. He completed both his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at The Royal Northern College of Music under the tutelage of internationally renowned guitarist Craig Ogden. He has performed at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, King’s Place and Stoller Hall. Ravi has been the recipient of the Help Musicians UK Postgraduate Award and The Julian Bream Career Development Award and is currently on the International Guitar Foundation’s Young Artist Programme. During his time at The Royal Northern College of Music, Ravi was invited to play at Wigmore Hall on two occasions. He made his debut at the venue in 2022 performing Rain written for soprano, flute, guitar and electronics, by the contemporary Icelandic composer, Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Two years later he performed Loop the Fractal Hold of Rain for guitar duo by American composer Gabriella Smith. Ravi has performed in masterclasses with some of the world’s leading guitarists including Zoran Dukic, Sean Shibe, Tilman Hoppstock, Laura Snowden and Stephen Goss. Ravi became the first guitarist to be a member of RNCM Songsters; an audi oned group of predominantly singers and pianists specialising in performing art song around the UK. In addition to his solo achievements, Ravi works closely with mezzo-soprano, Sophie Clarke in a duo called Cantelina. Together, they received First Place for their performance of Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas in the RNCM Bessie Cronshaw/Frost Brownson Song Cycle Competition. They have given recitals around the UK, at venues such as Ilkley’s King’s Hall, Buxton’s Pavilion Arts Centre, the RNCM Concert Hall and additionally given a performance on BBC Merseyside radio. Ravi has also arranged numerous song for the duo showcasing the ensemble’s versatility.

Sam Kane is a Northern Irish violinist and composer whose work bridges contemporary classical music with the influence of traditional Irish music. As a violinist, he has appeared as soloist with the Ulster Orchestra and Manchester Beethoven Orchestra, and has performed at festivals across the UK and Ireland including Clandeboye, Charles Wood, Blackwater Valley Opera, Belfast International Festival of Chamber Music, Mourne Chamber Music Festival, Buxton International Festival and Harp Ireland. A finalist in both the RNCM Concerto and Gold Medal Competitions, Sam was awarded the Norman George Violin Prize, the Irish Heritage Homan Potterton Bursary for Strings, and the BBC Northern Ireland Young Musician’s Platform Award. He has freelanced with the Ulster Orchestra, Northern Ireland Opera, Hallé, and Camerata Ireland, touring China with the latter in 2025. Sam graduated with distinction from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2024, where he studied violin with Cecily Ward. As a composer, Sam was awarded the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Rushworth Composition Prize in 2023 and was commissioned to write for Ensemble 10:10 under Domingo Hindoyan. His music has since been performed by the Ulster Orchestra, Buxton International Festival, NOMAD, Ulster Youth Orchestra, Mourne Chamber Music Festival, and the Hard Rain SoloistEnsemble, where he was Featured Young Artist during the 2023/24 season. Recent highlights include collaborations with NOMAD and Ben Nobuto, alongside composition lessons with Caroline Shaw at the Stauffer Centre for Strings in Cremona. Sam is founder and Artistic Director of Furness Festival Strings, and performs on a Vincenzo Panormo violin generously on loan from the Harrison-Frank Family Foundation.

Sarah Luttrell is a mezzo-soprano from the Irish Midlands, recognised for the richness of her vocal colour across operatic and concert repertoire. She is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she completed her Master of Music with First Class Honours under Wilma MacDougall and was the recipient of the RCS Trust Postgraduate Scholarship. In 2024, she was awarded the prestigious International Opera Awards Bursary, marking her as an artist of exceptional promise on the international operatic stage.