Artistic Directors - Louisa and Samuel Staples

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Described as ‘A passionate authority, a communicative sensitivity and a sound of luxurious depth; here is a young woman we have not finished hearing about’ (Bachtrack 2018). Berlin based British violinist Louisa Staples has already performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, including the Southbank Centre, Cadogan Hall, L’Auditorium de Radio France, and the Concert Hall of the Forbidden City, Beijing. 

She is a major prize winner in multiple international competitions including the Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition and the Carl Flesch International Competition.

Recent highlights include performances of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto in the Grand Hall of the Liszt Academy in Budapest and L’Auditorium de Radio France, a concert series across Germany as soloist with the Brandenburger Symphony Orchestra and invitations to festivals including the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Schiermonnikoogfestival and the Harrogate International Music Festival.

Louisa has undertaken masterclasses with eminent musicians including Philippe Graffin, Zakhar Bron, Rainer Schmidt and Robert Levin and has performed with orchestras including the City of London Sinfonia, Savaria Symphony Orchestra, London International Orchestra, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and the Orion Orchestra. She has featured on numerous live radio broadcasts on channels such as BBC Radio 3, Medici TV, RBB Kulturadio, Classic FM and France Musique. 

An avid chamber musician, Louisa has recently given performances of chamber works in venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Mendelssohn Remise and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. 

Aged eight, Louisa was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School where she was a student of Professor Natasha Boyarsky.
She is currently pursuing her bachelors degree at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, where she is a student of Professor Antje Weithaas.

Louisa plays a 1774 Lorenzo Storioni violin loaned to her by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

British violinist Samuel Staples was born in London to a musical family and began playing the violin when he was five after a short-lived but enthusiastic career as a cellist. Aged eight he was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied with Natasha Boyarsky. 

His teachers and mentors since have included András Keller, Vasko Vassilev, Boris Kucharsky, Pavlo Beznosiuk, Andriy Viytovych and Pavel Fisher.

As a soloist and chamber musician he has performed across Europe and the USA as well as in most major UK venues, and is a regular guest at festivals worldwide. Recent highlights include a performance for BBC Radio 3 of Benjamin Britten’s violin concerto with the BBC Philharmonic.

A keen orchestral musician, Samuel is in increasingly high demand as both a leader and director. He has performed as a principal with many British orchestras including the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, The Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Sinfonia Cymru, and is looking forward to leading the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in September. 

Passionate about historical performance, Samuel also enjoys collaborating regularly with many leading baroque ensembles including La Nuova Musica, Avison Ensemble and La Serenissima, with whom his recording of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins will be released next year.

Samuel is extremely grateful to the Beares International Violin Society for their continued support of his career.