Lunch Time Concert - June (Judith Choi Castro & John Paul Ekins)

Lento – Tema – Variations 1-3 – Andante 

Vivo 

Adagio-Allegro moderato 

Allegro giusto 

Andante 

Menuetto — Trio 

Allegro moderato 

Moderato 

Andantino

JUDITH CHOI CASTRO was born in the Canary Islands and studied the violin with Anatoli Romanov. In 2004, she moved to London.

She graduated with a BMus with Honours degree and a Masters of Arts degree from the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music respectively. During her studies she won several awards including, Hatfield Music Festival 1st prize, J.E Motimer Award from Martin Musical Scholarship Foundation, scholarships from “Cabildo de Canarias”, Ministerio de España, and Rondo Music Society.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Judith has played in most important venues in the UK including St. Martin in the Fields, Fairfield Halls, Hannover Square, Fitz William Museum in Cambridge, the National Gallery, Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and Cadogan Hall. Outside the UK, She has also played chamber music concerts in Festivals in Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Sweden and Spain.

As an orchestral player, She works regularly with London Philharmonic Orchestra, Aurora, London Sinfonietta, Royal Philharmonic, Orchestra Sinfónica de Barcelona, and Bournemouth Symphony. Judith has recently recorded her debut album “Assorted Encores” under her own record label. She is also the artistic director of the Festival Academy of Music International in Tenerife. Judith plays a Lavazza violin from Italy c.1740 kindly on loan by the Harrison Frank Foundation.

JOHN PAUL EKINS has given performances throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, and overseas in Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain and Switzerland. He has been broadcast on the BBC, on Romanian national television and radio, and on Polish television. He graduated from the RCM Senior Department with First Class Honours, having studied with John Barstow and also gained a Master’s of Performance (Distinction) in 2011. He was the recipient of a Music Education Award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and receives generous support from Making Music, The Concordia Foundation, The Razumovsky Trust and The Keyboard Charitable Trust. 

He He has performed as soloist at a number of prestigious venues in the UK and abroad, including London’s Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Fairfield Hall and Steinway Hall, Belfast’s Ulster Hall, Bergen’s Troldhaugen, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, Bucharest’s Athenaeum, Kraków’s Florianka Hall, Prague’s Martinů Hall, and Zürich’s Tonhalle. His concerto highlight thus far has been his 2013 debut at The Royal Albert Hall, where he performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue alongside Southbank Sinfonia. He has also performed concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Gershwin with orchestras throughout the UK. 

John Paul has been particularly honoured to be presented to Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Prince Philip at a Reception for Young Performers at Buckingham Palace.