About
The Impromptu Quartet is a group of 4 friends and colleagues that have worked and performed together regularly over the last few years.
Our core players are:
Following an undergraduate degree in Physics at Imperial College,London John sidestepped neatly into a Postgraduate Diploma at the Trinity College of Music studying with John Crawford.
John has worked with a wide variety of groups both in London and the North West, as orchestral leader, freelancer and teacher, as well as filming sessions for the BBC and Channel 4.
As a chamber musician, John has received coaching from Gordan Nikolitch, David Kenedy, Nic Pendlebury and the Wihan Quartet, and has performed in hundreds of venues across the UK and Europe, and is a keen recording artist with experience in many venues including at Abbey Road and Angel Studios.
He is alsp a member of the Heritage Orchestra, performing with artists including Tim Minchin, Antony and the Johnsons, and Professor Green.
Since March 2005 John has performed concertos to audiences in London, Vienna, Bratislava, Prague and Podebrady, and then followed that up with a performance of the Bach Double Violin Concerto in May 2006 with Lesley Gywther of the RLPO.
Outside of Music, John spends far too much time playing golf and is a keen amateur photographer.
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James studied Music and English at Newcastle and Sussex universities, and undertook a postgraduate course at Trinity College of Music, studying violin with Nona Liddell and viola with Nic Pendlebury. While at Trinity he led all the orchestras and the Contemporary Music Group, including performances with Evelyn Glennie at the Royal Naval College Chapel, Greenwich, of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder at the Royal Festival Hall, and of the solo violin part in Berg's Chamber Concerto.
Since graduating, James has pursued a busy freelance career in London and the south-east, including working with the London Sinfonietta, London Mozart Players, the Endymion Ensemble, and performances at the BBC Proms with the BBC Philharmonic. He is leader (and string fixer) of St Paul's Sinfonia, a professional chamber orchestra based in Deptford. He has performed the Kurt Weill Violin concerto with the Bergamo Ensemble and with Southern Winds, at the Canterbury and Brighton Festivals, and at the Royal Northern College of Music. With St Paul's Sinfonia he has played the violin solo in Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, Autumn as part of a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, and the Beethoven violin concerto.
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Andy began studying the viola whilst a Junior Exhibitioner at Trinity College of Music and quickly gained a place in the prestigious National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, performing across Europe including the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.
Andy was then awarded an Ash Scholarship to enable him to study geology at Imperial College and viola at the Royal College of Music. After a year he decided to devote all his time to music and transferred to the Royal College of Music fulltime. Andy completed his studies at Trinity College of Music with renowned soloist and teacher Rivka Golani.
Currently Andy is pursuing a busy career as a freelance violist, regularly performing with orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the English Symphony Orchestra. He has performed at many concert venues across London and the United Kingdom and further afield in the Czech Republic, Berlin, Paris, Beirut and Qatar.
As a chamber musician he was a founder member of the Dolores quartet, performing at the Nailsworth and Salisbury festivals and with the Impromptu Quartet has performed at over 100 weddings and functions and recording work at Abbey Road Studios.
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Alison Holford was born and brought up in Birmingham. She read music at Huddersfield University and Trinity College of Music, where she was principal cello in the college Symphony Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Group.
Since graduating she has pursued a busy freelance career, both playing and teaching in London and the south-east of England, including principal cello of St Paul's Sinfonia; principal and solo cello in the Bergamo Ensemble; cellist in the new contemporary music group, Splinter Cell; and in France, principal cello of Opera de Bauge.
She is a fervent supporter of Aston Villa FC and a keen observer of celebrity culture in all its forms!
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We also have a bank of players on file that we work with regularly and are more than capable of filling in should any member of the group be unavailable for your event.
This ensures that we are able to take on far more of the events than our individual availability would allow!
Our Musicians have performed with Orchestras including as The Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, London Sinfonietta, Britten Sinfonia, as well as with with Pop Artists including Antony & the Johnson's, Professor Green, Tim Minchin, and many more. As well as featuring on film scores including the recent release of Marvel Comic's Captain America.
We have played at venues including The Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican, Birmingham Symphony Hall and numerous hotels and private venues including Claridges, The Savoy and the Hilton.
Our client list is wide and varied from Barclays Bank and the major political parties to actors and musicians, and of course many private wedding functions.
