Callum Smart & Richard Uttley
Biography Callum Smart & Richard Uttley
Callum Smart
attracted wide public attention at the age of 13 having won the strings category of the 2010 BBC Young Musician Competition performing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Vasily Petrenko and broadcast on BBC 2 and Radio 3.
Also in 2010, Callum became the top European prizewinner in the Menuhin Competition in Oslo. He has since appeared at a number of European festivals including the Dvořák Festival in Prague, the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad, Les Sommets Musicaux in Gstaad and the Valdres Sommersymfoni Festival with pianist Gordon Back, Mecklenburg Vorpommern with the Polish Chamber Orchestra and the Malmö International String Festival with Jonas Vitaud. UK recitals include Birmingham, the Cheltenham Festival, Glasgow, Leeds, the Lichfield Festival, Manchester, Newport and Perth. In March 2016 he gives recital performances with the pianist Richard Uttley in Birmingham, London’s Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Auditorium du Louvre in Paris.
January 2015 saw Callum make his Royal Festival Hall debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto under Michael Collins. Previous concerto appearances include venues such as Cadogan Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and performances with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with Glazunov’s Concerto under Grant Llewellyn and Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 as part of a North Wales tour with Nicholas Collon, Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 in Liverpool with Vasily Petrenko, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.5 with the European Union Chamber Orchestra, and Britten’s Violin Concerto with the Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra at Lichfield and Cheltenham Festivals and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. In 2013 he performed Tchaikovsky’s Concerto with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and made his North American debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Grant Llewellyn. In September 2016 he has been invited to perform Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Matthew Halls.
2014 saw Callum release his first recital album on Orchid Classics (ORC100040), which was met with critical acclaim. Described by Christopher Dingle from BBC Music Magazine as ‘an exuberantly assured debut’ the recording received four stars and was selected for special mention as June’s ‘The Strad Recommends’. He was also named as a BBC Music Magazine Rising Star: Great Artists of Tomorrow.
Callum began violin studies at the age of six and at nine became a student of Maciej Rakowski whose tutelage continued alongside his studies at Chetham’s School of Music. Currently in Indiana as the recipient of the Premier Young Artist Award from the Jacobs School of Music, he studies with Mauricio Fuks.
Callum plays on a c.1730-35 violin by Carlo Bergonzi.
Richard Uttley
has given solo recitals or played concertos in the UK’s major halls, and his playing has frequently been broadcast on BBC Radio 3. He has been recognised for his ‘musical intelligence and pristine facility’ (International Record Review), ‘amazing decisiveness … tumultuous performance’ (Ivan Hewett, The Daily Telegraph), and featured as a Rising Star in BBC Music Magazine.
He studied at Clare College, Cambridge, graduating with a Double First in Music, and with Martin Roscoe at the Guildhall School. His awards include first prizes in the Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition and the British Contemporary Piano Competition, and he was selected for representation by Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) in 2011.
Recently, Richard has attended the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove (Thomas Adès Masterclasses and Open Chamber Music), given regular recitals and made recordings with BBC New Generation Artist Mark Simpson (including Wigmore Hall and The Sage Gateshead live on Radio 3, and a film for Sky Arts), collaborated with visual artist Nat Urazmetova, and released his third solo disc Ghosts & Mirrors to critical acclaim.
Highlights of 2015/16 include Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time and the premiere of a new work by Rolf Hind at Cheltenham Festival; recording for NMC; commissioning and premiering works by Francisco Coll, Matthew Kaner and Naomi Pinnock; solo recitals in Bridgewater Hall and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; and recitals with Callum Smart in Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and Auditorium du Louvre.
Richard is a trustee of New Dots, a charity promoting contemporary music.
