FLUTE, CELLO & PIANO
Helen Vidovich – Flute
Valerie Welbanks – Cello
Canadian cellist Valerie Welbanks is currently undertaking PhD studies at Goldsmiths College under the supervision of Alexander Ivashkin and Natalia Pavlutskaya. Valerie completed a Masters in Music Performance in 2008 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with distinction from Philip Sheppard’s class. She now plays regularly with the Ligeti Quartet and the Dionysus Ensemble. She produced and appeared in the play La Suggia in 2008, a production she initiated in collaboration with Bulgarian dramaturge Miryana Dimitrova. Thanks to several generous scholarship awards, Valerie has taken summer courses at the Toronto Summer Music Academy and the Orford Arts Centre under the tutelage of Janos Starker, the West Dean College and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Valerie has appeared as a recitalist in Canada, South Africa and the UK and has performed concertos with the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec and the Sinfonia de Quebec. In March and April 2012, Valerie will be performing Sofia Gubaidulina's concerto Sonnengesang at Goldsmiths College and at the Southwark Cathedral.
Helen Vidovich completed undergraduate music studies in Melbourne, subsequently moving to Sydney to study with Alison Mitchell and later Geoffrey Collins. In 2006 she completed a Master of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium and in the same year received an Australian Bicentennial Scholarship to assist further postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. During her time at the Academy and since graduation, Helen has been a pupil of Michael Cox and Patricia Morris on piccolo. She has also taken part in the London Symphony Orchestra Training Scheme, performed under the baton of Sir Colin Davis and completed summer courses and master classes in Italy, France, England and Sweden. In Australia she has appeared on several occasions as a concerto soloist with the Sydney Chamber Orchestra. Helen recently auditioned with success for the extra list of the Welsh National Opera Orchestra and now works as a teacher and freelance musician around London.
Fei Ren – Piano
Pianist Fei Ren graduated with distinction from the Postgraduate Diploma in Performance program at the Royal Academy of Music in 2008. She received the Lloyd Hartley Prize in 2008 from the Academy, and was a finalist in the keyboard section of the Royal Overseas League competition in 2007. While at the Academy, Fei studied under Christopher Elton. Previously, she completed a Masters degree at the University of Auckland's School of Music, studying under Professor Tamas Vesmas. She finished with First Class Honours and was the winner of the school's Concerto Competition in 2004. In 2005, she won New Zealand’s National Concerto Competition, as well as receiving the Encouragement Award in the Lev-Vlassenko Piano Competition in Australia. Late last year, Fei won Third Prize at the International Concerto Competition in Romania. In her home country of New Zealand, Fei has performed with the Auckland Philharmonic, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and the Auckland Youth Orchestra.
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