Artists
Malcolm Martineau was born in Edinburgh, read Music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge and studied at the Royal College of Music. Recognised as one of the leading accompanists of his generation, he has worked with many of the world’s greatest singers including Thomas Allen, Janet Baker, Florian Boesch, Olaf Bär, Barbara Bonney, Ian Bostridge, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Simon Keenlyside, Felicity Lott and Bryn Terfel. He has presented his own series at the Wigmore Hall (a Britten and a Poulenc series and Decade by Decade – 100 years of German Song) and at the Edinburgh Festival (the complete lieder of Hugo Wolf). He has appeared throughout Europe, North America and Australia. He was a given an honorary doctorate at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2004, and appointed International Fellow of Accompaniment in 2009. Malcolm was the Artistic Director of the 2011 Leeds Lieder+ Festival.
Malin Byström studied at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. She made her praised role debut as Salome in 2017, a role for which she was awarded the prize as the Female Singer of the year at the 2018 International Opera Awards. She has performed the roles of Marie (Wozzeck), Elsa (Lohengrin), The Woman (Erwartung), Minnie (La fanciulla del West), Rusalka, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Mathilde (Guillaume Tell), Marguerite (Faust), Elisabeth de Valois (Don Carlos), Jenůfa, Die Feldmarschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Fedora, Tosca or Desdemona (Otello), in opera houses such as Dutch National Opera, Teatro Real, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera House, Deutsche Oper Berlin or San Francisco Opera. On the concert platform Malin Byström has sung Mendelssohn’s Elias, Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 and Missa Solemnis, Grieg’s Peer Gynt or Mozart’s C Minor Mass.
Recognized by the critics as one of the most exciting talents of his generation, Marc Heredia began playing piano at the age of three and studied at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia and the Hochschule für Musik Basel. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, giving recitals both as a soloist and chamber musician, in concert halls such as the Auditorio Nacional and the Fundación Juan March in Madrid, the Palau de la Música Catalana and L’Auditori in Barcelona or Mozart hall Auditorium in Zaragoza. He has also appeared in festivals such as the series Soloists of the 21st century in the Sony Auditorium Madrid, the Ibercamera Girona Concert Season, the Wissembourg Festival or the Chopin Festival Valldemosa. As a soloist with orchestra, he has performed with orchestras like OBC – Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Camera Musicae Orchestra, S.XXI Orchestra, and JONC – Catalonian Young Orchestra.
Qualified by The New York Times as an 'exceptional lied accompanist,' Brazilian pianist Marcelo Amaral has positioned himself as one of the most internationally sought-after collaborative pianists. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Indiana, and since winning the Robert Schumann International Competition in 2009, he has collaborated with numerous singers, including Christoph Prégardien and Roman Trekel. He is a frequent guest at Wigmore Hall in London, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and the Oxford Lieder Festival. Among his most important musical influences are prominent artists such as Elly Ameling, Helmut Deutsch, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Malcolm Martineau, and Peter Schreier. Marcelo Amaral is a member of the Arts Council of the Hugo Wolf Academy, and since 2014, he has held a chair in Lied Interpretation at the Hochschule für Musik in Nuremberg.
At only 33 years of age, Mezquida shines equally as composer, pianist, improviser, accompanist and bandleader; that he is eclectic and versatile, is to name the obvious. Above all, Marco is a playful and unpredictable artist, who creates a world of his own that is at once inviting and fascinating. Mezquida is creative and resourceful, blending influences of Keith Jarrett, Schubert, Bill Evans, Rachmaninov and Paul Bley. He lets them all in, invites them to play in his music, integrates them into his stream of consciousness. Mezquida plays in a large variety of constellations including solo piano, accompanied by orchestras, duos and trios. His music crosses genres, including jazz as well as his original approaches to Ravel, Handel or Chopin, flamenco, or popular Latin American music. One of his most successful projects in the last few years has been Chicuelo y Mezquida, a trio that blends jazz and flamenco together.