Watkins, Rhys (1982

Violinist from Cardiff, Wales, who attended Chetham’s School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. His teachers included When Zhou Li and Mateja Marinkovic.

In 1999, he became a member of Sinfonia Cymru. Other groups with whom he has worked include the Artea String Quartet, the Hereford String Orchestra, the Hertford Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Oxford University Chamber Orchestra, Philomusica of Aberystwyth, the Shrewsbury Symphony Orchestra, Symphonica Tywi, the Tapestry String Quartet and the Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra.

He was the featured soloist with Symphonica Tywi in April 2005 for the “Violin Concerto” of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

On 18^th November 2005, he was the guest soloist of the Oxford University Chamber Orchestra in a performance of “Violin Concerto No. 1” by Sergei Prokofiev.

He performed “Violin Concerto in D major” by Ludwig van Beethoven with the Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra at St. Mary’s Church in Albrighton on 17^th November 2007.

On 6^th December 2008, he flew solo again, this time with Philomusica of Aberystwyth, on the “Violin Concerto” of Jean Sibelius at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

He reprised this concerto with the Wolverhampton Symphony Orchestra at Cranmer Methodist Church on 7^th March 2009.

On 22^nd October 2010, he and fellow violinist Maxine Kwok-Adams teamed up for “Etudes-Caprices, Op. 18” by Henryk Wieniaswki and “Suite for Two Violins and Piano, Op. 71”, with keyboardist Sophia Rahman.

He and pianist Gareth Jones and cellist Steffan Morris interpreted “Trio No. 6 in G, K. 564” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “Trio No. 2 in C, Op. 87” by Johannes Brahms at the Riverfront in Newport, South Wales, on 2^nd February 2011

On 1^st March 2011, he and pianist James Willshire performed “Sonata in C minor” by Beethoven and “Sonata in G major” by Mozart at the Lampeter Music Club.

He and violinist David Alberman, cellist Amanda Truelove and violist Robert Turner interpreted “String Quartet No. 8 in E minor, Op. 59, No. 2” (“Razumovsky”) by Beethoven at Jerwood Hall in St. Luke’s on 13^th March 2011.

In October 2011, he was the solo violinist with Sinfonia Cymru in performances of “Concerto in D minor for Oboe and Violin” by Johann Sebastian Bach.

He revisited the Tchaikovsky concerto on 13^th November 2011 with the Hertford Symphony Orchestra.

On 1^st February 2012, members of Sinfonia Cymru gave a recital at the Riverfront that comprised “Phantasy Quartet in F” by Benjamin Britten and “Septet in E flat” by Beethoven.

The Tapestry String Quartet appeared at Hatchlands Park in East Clandon on 22^nd April 2012 for a trio of quartets: “String Quartet in D major, K. 575” by Mozart, “String Quartet in D major, Op. 64, No. 5” (“The Lark”) by Franz Joseph Haydn, and “String Quartet in F major, Op. 96” (“American”) by Antonin Dvorak.

On 10^th June 2012, members of the LSO interpreted Franz Schubert’s “Trout” quartet at Jerwood Hall in St. Luke’s.

Rhys was the guest soloist of the Hereford String Orchestra in a performance of “Violin Concerto No. 3 in G” by Mozart at Leominster Priory on 30^th June 2012.

Sources:

Watkins, Rhys (1982–Present)

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