Teachers
Nicola Siagri, MMus, ArtDip
Italian cellist Nicola Siagri obtained the Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music in London in 2019, the highest-level degree of performance study offered, studying with renown cellist Raphael Wallfisch.
He previously completed his Master of Music degree in 2016 with full marks and honours at Italian conservatoire "Jacopo Tomadini" in Udine, under the tuition of professor Carlo Teodoro.
As a performer, he has played in various venues throughout Europe, both as a soloist and as a member of chamber music groups, in countries such as Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and in the United Kingdom, and has been invited to play in many Italian music festivals such as “Carniarmonie”, “Concerti di San Martino” and “Lignano per la Musica”.
He has participated in masterclasses with Denis Brott, Roel Dieltiens, Sebastian Comberti, Michael Flaksman and the Pražák Quartet amongst others. He has furthermore studied baroque cello performance with Italian cellist Walter Vestidello.
He has a predilection for 20th century classical music and enjoys playing works for cello solo.
Nicola Siagri's personal website
Lucy Gijsbers, MMus, ArtDip
New Zealand cellist Lucy Gijsbers graduated in July 2018 with an Artist Diploma from the Royal College of Music, London. As an RCM Scholar, she graduated top of her class under the tutelage of Thomas Carroll. She completed her Bachelor of Music in cello and piano performance with first-class Honors in 2014, and in 2015 completed her Master of Musical Arts at the New Zealand School of Music.
Lucy has performed in venues throughout the UK, Estonia, Italy, New Zealand and Australia. She has participated in masterclasses with Lynn Harrell, Wolfgang Schmidt, Philippe Muller, Natalie Clein, Marko Ylonen, Alisa Weilerstein, Narek Hakhnazaryan and Leonard Elschenbroich, amongst others. Lucy performed in the 2018 Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival, and also the Adelaide International Cello Festival and the Canberra International Music Festival. In September 2015 she was invited to attend the Melbourne Cello Festival, where she performed Ligeti’s Solo Cello Sonata in the Rising Stars Concert.
Lucy has been concerto soloist with the Tawa Orchestra, Wellington Youth Orchestra and the Michael Monaghan
Orchestra in Wellington. A member of Duo Cecilia, the duo won first prize in the New Zealand School of Music Duo
Competition in 2015. In 2018 she was a prizewinner at the RCM Cello Competition.
She is a contract tutti with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Nordic Symphony Orchestra,
Oxford Philharmonic, and performs regularly with Orpheus Sinfonia and other London orchestras.
Lucy Gijsbers's personal website