Simone Lamsma
Hailed for her “brilliant… polished, expressive and intense” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and “absolutely stunning” (Chicago Tribune) playing, Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma is respected by critics, peers and audiences as one of classical music’s most striking and captivating musical personalities.

With an extensive repertoire, Simone has been the guest of many of the world’s leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, MDR Sinfonieorchester, National Symphony Orchestra Washington, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony, Les Siécles, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Belgian National Orchestra, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Hessischer Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Simone performed with such eminent conductors as Jaap van Zweden, Antonio Pappano, Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Louis Langrée, Gustavo Gimeno, Karina Canellakis, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Marc Albrecht, Stéphane Denève, Vassily Petrenko, Domingo Hindoyan, Simone Young, François-Xavier Roth, Juraj Valcuha, John Storgards, Omer Meir-Wellber, Edward Gardner, Kent Nagano, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, James Gaffigan, Sir Mark Elder, Case Scaglione, Edo de Waart, Andris Poga, Jun Märkl, Kevin John Edusei, Jaime Martin, Jader Bignamini, Petr Popelka and Mark Wigglesworth.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season include Simone being Artist in Residence at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and debuts with the Wiener Symphoniker on tour with Jaap van Zweden, the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center New York and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, both under new music director Jonathon Heyward. Simone will play with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin and music director Vladimir Jurowski for the orchestra’s 100th anniversary celebration at the Berlin Philharmonie. She will also return with such orchestras and conductors as the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Festival under Fabien Gabel, the Antwerp Symphony under Elim Chan at the Concertgebouw, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Tarmo Peltokoski, Paris’ Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Jaap van Zweden, the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal with music director Rafael Payare, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw under Osmo Vänskä, Tokyo’s Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra under Kazuki Yamada, Torino’s Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI with Alpesh Chauhan, Cologne’s Gürzenich Orchester with Roberto Treviño. That season will also be the third and last of Simone’s 3-year residency at the Oregon Symphony Orchestra.

In 2022 her most recent recording was released to great acclaim, featuring late works by Rautavaara, including a world première, with the Malmö Symphony and Robert Trevino for the Ondine label. Other recordings include Shostakovich’s first violin concerto and Gubaidulina’s In Tempus praesens with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic under James Gaffigan and Reinbert de Leeuw on Challenge Classics and a recital album of works by Mendelssohn, Janáček and Schumann with pianist Robert Kulek, also on Challenge Classics.

In 2019, Simone was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, an honour limited to 300 former Academy students, and awarded to those musicians who have distinguished themselves within the profession.

Candida Thompson
is known for her extraordinary musical communication and honest musicianship. Her curiousity and research led her to pioneering programmes and collaborations crossing boundries of culture, time and genre.

Candida studied violin with David Takeno at the Guildhall school of music in London and completed them at the Banff center for the Arts in Canada. An invitation for a series of masterclasses and concerts with Isaac Stern played an important role in her musical development. Candida has been invited in a play/direct role with groups such as the Chamber orchestra of Europe, City of London Sinfonia, Guildhall string ensemble, Camerata Nordica, Moscow chamber orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Saltzburg Camerata. In 2005 she became artistic director of Amsterdam Sinfonietta; a top notch string ensemble with an international focus and reputation. Play/directing the ensemble she has established a well attended adventurous concert series in the Netherlands which frequently tours Europe, South America, China and Australia and has recorded cds for Deutsche Gramophon, Sony, Decca, ECM and has a long relationship with Channel Classics.

Chamber music is always at the core of her musical activities. Performing with kindred musical spirits like Bruno Giuranna, Fazil Say, Xenia Yankovich, Victor Julienne Laferriere, Iris Juda and Janine Jansen she shaped her musical taste and standard. Candida is invited to festivals such as the Kuhmo festival in Finland, Ernen festival in Switzerland, La musica Sarasota in the US, ‘Harriet & Friends’ in Austria and also performed at the Utrecht Kamermuziek Festival.

Most recently Candida, Harriet Krijgh and pianist Magda Amara also performed at the the Schubertiade in Hohenems. In 2022 Candida and Harriet founded a festival Heuvelrug Chamber Music in Holland where they are joint ‘Artistic leaders’.

As a stong advocate for the heritage of classical music but also with a keen interest in todays cultural developments Candida seeks artistic dialogue. This leads to compelling projects involving living composers such as Jorg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, Michel van der Aa, but also involving philosophers, photographers, urban dancers, actors and light designers. Because Candida values the development of younger musians highly, she is a regular guest at institutions like Villa Musica Chamber Music in Germany or the Guildhall School in London to coach and play with young talents.

Candida plays on a Guarneri, del Gesù (1698-1744) kindly on loan from a private collector.