I Musicanti

A mixed instrument chamber ensemble, I Musicanti comprises some of the most experienced and respected musicians to be found in the UK, handpicked by the group’s artistic director, international double bass virtuoso Leon Bosch. Please note that the line-up has changed since first announced.

Under Bosch’s direction, I Musicanti comes together to present distinctive programmes with a particular emphasis on music that has been lost and found or simply overlooked: great works by unknown composers and unknown works by great composers.

Many of the ensemble’s projects are the result of Leon Bosch’s vivid curiosity and commitment, something for which he is well known as a double bassist. But the ensemble also provides a vehicle for its members to pursue their own artistic projects. And although the musicians of I Musicanti are all soloists in their own right, the group also collaborates with international performers of the highest calibre.

While I Musicanti works with prestigious venues to promote its concerts, its eye-catching programmes and the quality of performers add something unique to festivals and concert series.

About the musicians…

Leon Bosch – Double Bass

Leon Bosch conducts chamber and symphonic ensembles around the world and is one of the few double bass players to direct concertos from the instrument.

During his playing career, he performed concertos around the world and served as a guest with ensembles such as the Lindsays, Brodsky Quartet and Zukerman Chamber Players.

Leon is committed to rediscovering neglected music, as well as expanding and diversifying the double bass repertoire, and has recorded 16 CDs of wide-ranging programmes, with more in planning.

Leon grew up in South Africa, the son of the political activist Jonas Fred Bosch, and spent time in a police cell for organising protests while at school. He left the apartheid regime behind to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

He became a British citizen in 2000. In recent years he has returned to his roots, musically, forming the Ubuntu Ensemble with other UK-based South African musicians, and commissioning music for the South African Double Bass project, the first CD of which was released in 2020. He also acts as a mentor for South African musicians worldwide.

Away from music, he runs marathons and ultra-marathons and holds a Master’s degree in Intelligence and International Relations from Salford University.

Gina McCormack is one of Britain’s leading violinists and chamber musicians, switching effortlessly between concertos, quartet-playing, orchestral leading and giving recitals at venues across the country and abroad.

Gina studied with György Pauk at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, and attended masterclasses with Sandor Vegh, Dorothy DeLay, Andras Mihaly and Siegmund Nissel. For many years she was the leader of the Sorrel Quartet, making frequent BBC Radio 3 broadcasts as well as recording twelve CDs for the Chandos label. Most recently, Gina spent two years as first violinist of the Brodsky Quartet, her first concert with that ensemble being at Sydney Opera House.

Gina’s long-standing duo with pianist Nigel Clayton performs regularly both in the UK and overseas. Her passion for dance has led to collaboration with choreographer Matthew Bourne, whose orchestra she has led for many years.

Gina teaches violin at the Royal Northern College of Music and also gives regular masterclasses both in the UK and at summer festivals abroad.

Benedict Holland studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Manoug Parikian and was subsequently a prize winner at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied with Yossi Zivoni.

As a chamber musician, he was a founder member of the Matisse Piano Quartet and the Music Group of Manchester, broadcasting regularly for the BBC, recording, and undertaking British Council tours. He is also a member of the Victoria String Quartet whose acclaimed début concert took place in 2017. As an experienced orchestral leader, he has guest-led many of the UK’s major orchestras, including the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Northern Sinfonia, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Orchestra of Opera North and BBC Philharmonic and was also leader and Artistic Advisor of chamber orchestra Sinfonia Vivia from 2001-2019.

Ben has always been a champion of contemporary music and of working with living composers (e.g. Harrison Birtwistle, Brett Dean, Steven Mackey, Anna Meredith, Duncan Ward) and became Psappha’s violinist in 2010. Personal highlights with Psappha include collaborations with John Casken and Peter Maxwell Davies, taking Klas Torstensson’s Violin Concerto to a two-week residency at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, premiering Mark Simpson’s chamber opera Pleasure, and a tour to Israel of Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King.

Ben teaches at the RNCM, where he was awarded a professorship in 2016, Junior RNCM, and Chetham’s School of Music. He gives consultative classes in orchestral and contemporary techniques at Birmingham and Trinity Laban Conservatoires and professional development classes for string teachers throughout the UK.

Ben plays on a rare violin by Rogeri, c. 1710.

Garfield Jackson was born in London and studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Royal Academy of Music.

He has been a member of the Endellion String Quartet since its foundation in 1979. The quartet has appeared worldwide, gives regular high profile series in London, broadcasts for the BBC and has for 20 years been resident at Cambridge University. A large and varied list of recordings include a Beethoven cycle for Warner Classics.

As a soloist, Garfield has appeared at the Southbank, the Barbican and Wigmore Hall. As a chamber musician he has appeared with many international artists, including members of the Amadeus Quartet, Steven Isserlis and Joshua Bell.

Garfield currently teaches at the Royal Academy of Music who awarded him FRAM in 2002.

Since his concerto debut at the age of ten, the award-winning English cellist Richard Harwood has performed concerti and chamber music in major venues including London’s Royal Albert Hall, Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein (Vienna), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Thomaskirche (Leipzig), Auditorium du Louvre (Paris) and Alice Tully Hall / Lincoln Center (New York).
As concerto soloist, Richard has worked with numerous orchestras including The Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, RTÉ National Symphony, RTÉ Concert and the Auckland Philharmonia.
As chamber musician, he has collaborated with the Jerusalem and Endellion Quartets, Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Chen Halevi, Julian Bliss, Martin Roscoe, Peter Donohoe, Gottlieb Wallisch and Julius Drake, among others. Richard was cellist of the Sitkovetsky Trio from 2014-2016.
Richard’s discography includes a debut disc for EMI Classics, recorded with pianist Christoph Berner, Composing Without The Picture (Resonus); a solo album of concert works written by film composers; and Christopher Gunning’s Cello Concerto recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. On screen, Richard can be seen and heard in Phil Grabsky’s 2009 documentary In Search of Beethoven and is regularly featured as a soloist on movie soundtracks, most recently in Patrick Doyle’s score to Kenneth Branagh’s Murder On The Orient Express.
Richard was appointed principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the beginning of 2018. He has also been a principal of the John Wilson Orchestra and guest principal at the London Symphony and RTÉ Concert orchestras.
Richard began his studies with Joan Dickson, before continuing with other eminent teachers such as Steven Doane, David Waterman, Heinrich Schiff (University of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna) and Ralph Kirshbaum (Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester). He complemented his studies by taking masterclasses and lessons with Mstislav Rostropovich, Janos Starker, Steven Isserlis, Boris Pergamenschikow, Miklós Perényi, Bernard Greenhouse, Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartet), William Pleeth, Zara Nelsova and Ferenc Rados.
Richard plays a cello by Francesco Rugeri, dated 1692.

I Musicanti has a Website .