Madeleine Mitchell and Noriko Ogawa

The dynamically talented Madeleine Mitchell (Barry Millington, Evening Standard) is one of Britain's most celebrated violinists, performing as a soloist and chamber musician in over 40 countries. She was a finalist in both the European Women of Achievement and the Creative Britain Awards, Helen Wallace, Editor of BBC Music Magazine describing her as not only a violinist of great virtuosity but also of a very special poetic character...visionary imagination...she has been an independent pioneering figure in the violin world...a tremendous inspiration.

She broadcasts frequently for both television and radio including ABC-Australia, SABC, European and BBC television and the BBC Proms with Joanna MacGregor including their own arrangement of Bach. Madeleine has performed concertos with major orchestras including the Czech and Polish Radio Symphony, Wurttemberg and Munich Chamber, the Royal Philharmonic and other London orchestras; Welsh Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra de Bahia - Brazil, Czech Symphony of Karlovy Vary, Malaga Symphony of Spain and for the BBC, with conductors including Sir Alexander Gibson and Tamas Vasary and in major festivals such as Schwetzingen. She directs concertos from the violin such as Bach and Vivaldi Seasons and commissioned a unique concerto by Harvey, Pecou and Panufnik for violin and voices, premiered at Bath and Spitalfields festivals.

Noriko Ogawa was awarded third prize in the 1987 Leeds International Piano Competition and has since achieved considerable renown in Europe, America and in her native Japan where she is a national celebrity. In 1999 Noriko Ogawa was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education's Art Prize in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the cultural profile of Japan throughout the world and she has just been awarded the Okura Prize for her outstanding contribution to music in Japan. Following her success at Leeds, Ogawa gained a devoted following. Ogawa records regularly for the BBC as recitalist and soloist, gives chamber recitals and appears with all the major UK, European, Japanese and US orchestras. Amongst the leading conductors she has worked with are Charles Dutoit, Hans Vonk, Alexander Lazarev, Libor Pesek, Leonard Slatkin, Vernon Handley, Tadaaki Otaka, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Kasper de Roo and Günther Herbig.