Thyrsus Classics
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Natalia LOMEIKO
Natalia Lomeiko launched her solo career aged seven with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic. A few years later she was invited to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School (the late Lord Menuhin hailed her as 'one of the most brilliant of our younger violinists').
​After completing her studies at the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music she won several prestigious international competitions, including the 'Premio Paganini' in Italy and 'Michael Hill' in New Zealand. Natalia has been accompanied by major orchestras around the world including the St.Petersburg Radio-Symphony, Tokyo Royal Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Melbourne Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and many other orchestras.
She has performed chamber music alongside such renowned musicians as Gidon Kremer, Tabea Zimmermann, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Schlomo Mintz, Boris Pergamenschikov, Isabelle Faust and Yuri Bashmet. Natalia has recorded for DYNAMIC, FONE and Trust Records with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky. Her recent projects include a recording with her husband Yuri Zhislin for Naxos in autumn 2009 as well as numerous solo and chamber engagements around the world.
In 2011 Natalia was appointed as a Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London.
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Yuri ZHISLIN
​Described by The Strad as a 'Virtuoso with a truly Romantic temperament', Yuri Zhislin is one of the most versatile musicians of his generation. Equally at home on both violin and viola, Zhislin enjoys an active and illustrious career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing in his native Russia, as well as Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. His performances have taken him to nearly 60 countries around the globe. Acknowledged by critics for his easily recognasible, distinct and warm tone, Zhislin collaborated with Maria Joao Pires, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Natalie Clein, Levon Chilingirian and Michael Collins among many others.
​Winner of the 'BBC Radio Two Young Musician of the Year' in 1993, Yuri studied at the Royal College of Music in London and has performed in major concert venues across Europe, including the Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Kings Place in London, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot and Salle Gaveau in Paris, Stadcasino in Basel and Kolarac in Belgrade.
Zhislin recorded his debut recital CD with a brilliant Greek pianist George Lazaridis in 2005 for the SOMM label, which received rave reviews in the media. Together with his wife, an outstanding Russian violinist Natalia Lomeiko, Yuri toured the UK, Japan, Australia and New Zealand and recorded a critically acclaimed CD for Naxos in 2009. Lomeiko and Zhislin were invited to perform the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for two consecutive seasons in Brisbane, Australia, as part of the Master Concert Series. In 2004, Yuri formed the Russian Virtuosi of Europe - a highly versatile and vibrant chamber orchestra that brings together some of the best string players from Eastern Europe that are now based in London. The Virtuosi performed in London, Paris and Zurich, toured South America and took part in numerous festivals throughout Europe. Future plans include concerts in Russia, a return South America tour and several concerts at major London venues.
Zhislin was an Artistic Director of the Evaristo Valle Festival in Spain between 2000 - 2005.
Yuri is a professor of violin and viola at the Royal College of Music and is in high demand as a visiting professor giving masterclasses in Conservatorio de Liceo in Barcelona and Classes Magistrales in Leon, Spain, Malmo Academy in Sweden, as well as in Bulgaria, Holland, Japan and Australia. Zhislin has been an Associate Concertmaster of the Oxford Philomusica since 2011.
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David LLOYD
​A PhD from the University of Sheffield in England, David Wyn Lloyd began his musical studies in 1981 at the Royal College of Music in London. During the period in which he attended this school he won several prizes for viola and chamber music. He then continued his studies with Peter Schidlof of the Amadeus Quartet.
David Lloyd has had an intense professional career, playing with major London orchestras, collaborating on film and television and signing several recordings. He was a member of the BBC Symphony Orchestra for four years. During his stay in London, he played under several conductors, including Klaus Tennstedt, Christoph von Eschenbach, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Sir John Pritchard, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Zubin Mehta, Günter Wand, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Colin Davis, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Alexander Lazarev and Essa Pekka Salonen, among others. He played in prestigious concert halls such as Royal Albert Hall, Festival Hall, Barbican Center, Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw, Paris Opera, La Scala, Musikverein and Gewandhaus.
Since April 2012, he is the head conductor and artistic director of the Orquestra Clássica do Centro. Following the OCC's move to Cape Verde, he was awarded by the Minister of Culture of that country the title of Honorary Master of the National Orchestra of Cape Verde.
Has been for the last two decades Professor Auxiliar at the Universidade de Aveiro.
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David CRUZ
Born in Portugal, graduated in 2002 from the National Superior Academy of Orchestra in the class of cellist Paulo Gaio Lima.
From 2001 to 2003 he is a member of the of the European Union Youth Orchestra, performing in some of the major European concert halls and under the direction of maestros such as Sir Colin Davis and Vladimir Ashkenadzy.
He continues his musical studies in the United States at Indiana University, where he studies with Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Janos Starker. He teaches at the String Academy of the same University as assistant to cellist Susan Moses.
As a member of the Latin American Music Ensemble of Indiana University, and a prize winner of Latin American Institute of IU, he makes several recordings of music by Latin American Composers such as the sonata for flute and cello by the Chilean composer Juan Orrego Salas for a cd release of his major works during his 80th birthday celebrations.
From 2005 to 2009, he was a professor at the Professional Music School of Mirandela, at the Piaget Institute in Mirandela, and at the University of Minho.
During this period He was principal cello of Orchestra the Câmara do Minho, and Camerat Musical da Guarda.
Living in the USA from 2009 to 2014, he completed his PhD in Music at Boston University, under the direction of the cellists Michael Reynolds and George Neikrug. As his dissertation, he completed an analytical study on the works for cello by the Portuguese composer Fernando Lopes Graça.
At the same University he was Assistant Professor of Michael Reynolds.
He was honored by this University as a member of the Honor Society Phi Kappa Lambda. Also during this period, he was a cello and chamber music teacher at the Rhode Island Philharmonic School of Music and at the Sharon Music Academy.
He is dedicated works by contemporary composers such as the solo cello suite "Passo Cruzado", by Polish composer Igor Iwanek (premiered at the Boston Portuguese Festival in 2012, and the work "Circumloquios Enrevesados" by the Mexican composer Alejandro Castillo, (premiered in August 2009 in Bloomington, USA).
He regularly performs solo and chamber music in important halls in Europe and the United States and is regularly invited to teach in festivals and masterclasses in Spain, Portugal and USA.
Currently, he is professor of cello and chamber music at the University of Aveiro, Musical Director of the Thyrsus Music Encounters and cellist of the Suggia Quartet.
Having instrumental pedagogy as one of his main passions, he has dedicated for more than 15 years to instrumental teaching and pedagogical research, with a main inspiration in the schools of Janos Starker and Demetrius Dounis.
Marta EUFRÁZIO
Marta Eufrázio studied with Alberto Gaio Lima at the Artave Vocal School (Artave) and chamber music with David Lloyd and Jed Barahal, before being admitted to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with the renowned Grigory Zhislin.
It was in this institution that, in July of 2001, she finished with distinction the Degree in music (violin specialty) and, two years later, the Master in Performance (violin).
She also concluded in 2005, the Degree in Music Teaching (violin) and obtained the Diploma of Advanced Studies in Music in the area of ​​performance in 2011, both from the University of Aveiro.
She participated as a teacher in Masterclasses led by internationally renowned professors such as Ida Haendel, Dr. Felix Andrievsky, Lewis Kaplan, Joyce Tan, Geraldo Ribeiro and Daniel Rowland.
She performed solo with the Artave orchestra in 1996, with the Musicare orchestra in 2004 (under the direction of Maestro Cesário Costa) and in 2008 and 2009 with the Raízes Ibéricas orchestra (under the direction of Maestro José Atalaya and Piero Beluggi respectively) and with the Filarmonia de Gaia orchestra, in July and October 2012 ( under the direction of maestro Mario Mateus). In parallel, she developed a constant activity in the field of chamber music in quartet, trio and duo with pianist Constantin Sandu. She is currently 2nd violin of the Suggia String quartet and Professor at Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (Oporto), where she teaches since 2004. At this school she has also been responsible for the coordination of the chamber music program. She was awarded the Specialist Degree by the Polytechnic Institute of Oporto in February 2015.
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Ana Barros
Bachelor in Music from Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo. Master in Music from Universidade de Aveiro.
From 2003 to 2006, she was a member of the Estúdio de Ópera da Casa da Música (Oporto) where she worked with Peter Harrison, Lorna Marshall and Jeff Cohen.
She regularly works on new musical productions of works by composers such as Amilcar Vasques Dias, Nuno Corte-Real, Carlos Marecos, Fernando Lapa, Fernando Valente, Carlos Azevedo, Pedro Faria Gomes, Sérgio Azevedo and António Chagas Rosa, among others. She recorded FADO (s) with the Performa Ensemble, Cicuta in the Cd Pas de deux by António Chagas Rosa, the play for singing and guitar by Lopes Graça with Augusto Pacheco, Severa: the fado of a fado with Bruno Belthoise and Words dream: surrealism Portuguese with Isabel Sá
In 2013, she was invited by the French wind quintet Le Concert Impromptu, to perform the BWK show at the acclaimed Festivals of Normandy (France) and at the Brecht Festival (Germany), touring California and Oregon with the ensemble De Rope en Corda.
Ana Barros demonstrates a very close connection with the popular musical tradition of fado. Having recorded the Sound Iberian, directed by Artur Caldeira. With the Fatum Ensemble, he toured Mexico in 2013. With the Performa Ensemble she performed "Fado (s)" in Dublin, York and Vigo, as well as recorded an album with music based on the fado tradition.
She is currently working on research on women composers and performers as well as the works for singing and piano by Berta Alves de Sousa, (for a chapter dedicated to her chamber work in the book about the composer).
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Alexandre Andrade
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Graduated in Flute Education (Aveiro University) in 1995, in Pedro Couto Soares' class. He completed his Master of Arts in Ireland (Waterford Institute of Technology) in 1997, studying early music with Rachel Brown.
A Doctor of Music (University of Aveiro) in 2005, he dedicated his Dissertation to THE PRESENCE OF THE FLUTE TRAVERSA IN PORTUGAL FROM 1750 TO 1850.
His repertoire and performance of the traverso in the second half of the century. XVIII and 1st half of the century. XIX. In November 2013, under the Erasmus program, he held a high-education class and seminar at the Real Conervatorio Superior de Música in Madrid for the Traverso and Modern Flute classes. In September 2016, he completed his Masters in Interpretation - Early Music - Traverso, at ESMAE (Porto) in the class of Olavo Barros. He also worked in the Baroque Orchestra with professors Pedro Sousa e Silva, Ana Mafalda Castro, Benjamim Chénier and Marco Ceccato. Founding member of Ensemble Ars Iberica, Iberian Ensemble and Ventos do Atlântico, he has performed concerts and training in the area of ​​Ancient Music in Portugal, Spain and Brazil.
He is Professor of Music at the I.S.E.I-Viseu, Piaget Institute (Portugal), guest lecturer at the Federal University of Alagoas and the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil) and Flute teacher at the JOBRA Conservatory of Music (Portugal).
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Vinicios Perez
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Vinícius Perez was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began his musical studies at the early age of six, playing the classical guitar.
After successfully graduating from the UFRJ-CLA with Magna cum Laude (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and the Hochschule für Musik Luzern (Luzern, Switzerland), he decided to focus his musical career on the early european plucked string instruments, with particular emphasis on the instruments from the lute family.
This decision took him on a one-year-self-taught intense learning process, during which he had the opportunity to go through extensive literature concerning historical informed performance as well as specific lute literature, going from early 16th century publications through late 18th century manuscript sources. This enlightening journey culminated with his admission at the prestigious Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (Basel, Switzerland) in the class of one of the world’s leading authorities in historical plucked string instruments Professor Hopkinson Smith. Between 2012 and 2015 he had the joy and pleasure of working with Professor Smith, who will always remain as his deepest and truest musical and poetical influence.
Vinícius has been a well-in-demand continuo player, and has performed with the Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden, Konzert Theater Bern, Bach Collegium (Freiburg), Renate Steinmann (Zürcher Barockorchester), Ensemble La Fontaine, Jerusalem Baroque Orchester and others.
He regularly performs as a soloist: at the 13-Course Lute, Archlute, Theorbo, as well as at the 7-Course Lute.
His solo recording debut “The Galant Lute” is the result of both his researching works on late 18th century performance practice and style together with his desire to make it possible for the modern audience to experience the charming, galant and colorful sound of the lute through an original and yet unheard repertoire
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José Maurício Brandão
Born in Salvador, BA, where he began his music studies at the age of four with piano and solfege classes. At age 10 he became a student of the Preparatory Course of the School of Music of UFBA (EMUS / UFBA). In 1988 he entered the undergraduate course at this university, obtaining, in 1993, an undergraduate degree in Instrument / Piano. During graduation, he began studies in conducting, accompanying, co-repetition, chamber music, harpsichord and old music, besides integrating Madrigal from UFBA (1988-1992). In the years 1994-95 he was assistant conductor of the University Choruses of the State University of Londrina (Londrina / PR), and also worked as a teacher in the Department of Art of this university. He also worked as a spokesman for several groups of early music, as well as being the founding conductor of the Madrigal and Chamber Orchestra of the Cascavel Music Festival (Cascavel / PR). In 1996 he began a Master's program in Music, in Orchestral Conducting, having developed studies in opera regency and research on Brazilian operatic repertoires, obtaining the Master degree in 1999. He has developed research and performance activities especially in Brazilian opera, operatic regency and teaching procedures in regency. He was regent of the Madrigal of the UFBA between 1998 and 2001; regent titular of the Choir of the Catholic University of Salvador between 1997 and 2007; regent founder and coordinator of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Salvador / Bahia between 2001 and 2006. He was also a substitute teacher at the UFBA School of Music in three periods of two years, having directed the Symphonic Orchestra of UFBA numerous times; Professor of Art History at São Salvador College (2002); and professor of the degree in Music at the Faculdade Evangelica de Salvador (2006). In 2005, he began a PhD program at UFBA, obtaining a PhD in Music, in Orchestral Conducting, in 2009, having developed research on the work of Antonio Carlos Gomes. In 2011, he completed his second Ph.D. program in Music in Orchestral Conducting and Musicology at Louisiana State University - LSU (Baton Rouge / LA, United States of America), receiving the renowned Huel Perkings Fellowship, and developed research on philosophy, didactics and literature of regency. José Mauricio is an assistant professor of regency at UFBA where he also performs the functions of Head of the Department of Music and Artistic Coordinator of the Symphony Orchestra and Madrigal of UFBA. He has conducted concerts with the UFBA and LSU orchestras, as well as guest conductor of the Bahia Symphony Orchestra, the Louisiana Youth Orchestra, and other American cities such as Baltimore, Scranton and New York, paralleling his activities as a chamber musician, piano, organ, and especially harpsichord.
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