Mark Padmore
was born in London, grew up in Canterbury and studied at King’s College, Cambridge. He has established an international career in opera, concert and recital and his performances in Bach’s Passions have gained particular notice throughout the world. As well as regular appearances at many of the world’s leading opera houses, he appears with the Munich Radio, Berlin, Vienna, New York, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestras and has conceived projects exploring both Bach St John and St Matthew Passions with the OAE. In addition, his work in the recording studio has attracted considerable acclaim, most notably Schubert’s Winterreise with Paul Lewis which won the Gramophone magazine Vocal Solo Award for 2010 and Schumann’s Dichterliebe with Kristian Bezuidenhout which won the Vocal Solo category of the 2011 Edison Klassiek Award. Mark is Artistic Director of the St. Endellion Summer Music Festival in Cornwall.

Kristian Bezuidenhout
Kristian Bezuidenhout was born in South Africa in 1979. He began his studies in Australia, completed them at the Eastman School of Music and now lives in London. After initial training as a modern pianist with Rebecca Penneys, he explored early keyboards, studying harpsichord with Arthur Haas, fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson and continuo playing and performance practice with Paul O’Dette. Bezuidenhout first gained international recognition at the age of 21 after winning the prestigious first prize as well as the audience prize in the Bruges Fortepiano Competition.

Bezuidenhout is a frequent guest artist with the world’s leading ensembles including Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Orchestre des Champs Elysées, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Concerto Köln, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Collegium Vocale Gent, in many instances assuming the role of guest director. He has performed with celebrated artists including John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Christopher Hogwood, Pieter Wispelwey, Daniel Hope, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Isabelle Faust, Viktoria Mullova, Carolyn Sampson and Mark Padmore.

Since 2009, Bezuidenhout has embarked on a long-term recording relationship with Harmonia Mundi. Recordings include Mozart Violin Sonatas with Petra Müllejans, and Volumes 1-7 of the complete keyboard music of Mozart (Volume 1 was awarded a Diapason Découverte and Caecilia Prize and Volume 3 was recently awarded the German Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). Other projects for Harmonia Mundi include Mendelssohn piano concertos with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and Schumann Dichterliebe with Mark Padmore - both recordings won the Edison Award. His recording of Beethoven violin sonatas with Viktoria Mullova (ONYX label) won an ICMA and an ECHO Klassik award for the best chamber music album of 2011. In 2013 Bezuidenhout was awarded the ECHO Klassik Award for Concerto Recording of the Year (Mozart Concertos with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) and nominated as Gramophone Magazine’s Artist of the Year.

Recent concerts include appearances with the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and 2014/15 performances include Seattle Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Concertgebouworkest, Berner Symphonieorchester, English Concert, Il Giardino Armonico and Rotterdam Philharmonic. Recital performances include New York, London, Wroklaw, Salzburg, Barcelona and Frankfurt, among others.