Music
Lunch Time Concert - May (Oliver Nelson and Vasilis Rakitzis)
DATE
Thu 21 May 2026
VENUE
Woodville Auditorium
SELECT SHOWING
Programme:
Schubert sonata in A, D.574 'Grand Duo'
Allegro moderatoPresto Scherzo and TrioAndantinoAllegro vivace
Brahms sonata in A, Op.100
Allegro amabileAndante tranquilloAllegretto grazioso (quasi Andante)
Oliver Nelson - Violin
Oliver Nelson, born in Glasgow, began learning the violin at the age of
six. He gained scholarships to both Canford School and the Royal
Academy of Music, and at the latter he studied the violin with Xue-Wei.
During this time, he gained distinctions in both an MMus and the
Fellowship diploma, winning the Academy concerto competition and
appearing as soloist with its string orchestra. His performances have
included recitals at StMartin-in-the-Fields, chamber music at Jamie
Walton's North York Moors Chamber Music Festival and concertos
ranging from those with the Dorset Chamber Orchestra and Rebecca
Gilliver, to the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra. He is in demand as a
recitalist with some of Britain's finest pianists, including Nigel
Hutchison, Julian Jacobson, and Vasilis Rakitzis. Oliver's violin playing
appears in film, both in Francois Girard's The Song of Names
collaborating with Howard Shore and Clive Owen, and Bruce Webb's
award-winning Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Vasilis Rakitzis - Piano
Vasilis Rakitzis is a Doctor of Musical Arts from City University London,
and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and the Conservatories
of Athens and Amsterdam.
A pupil of Popi and Maria Efstratiadis, Martin Roscoe, Naum Grubert,
and Caroline Palmer, he has also participated in masterclasses with
Paul Badura-Skoda, Boris Berman, Martino Tirimo, and Leonidas
Kavakos. Vasilis has performed as a soloist with the leading Greek
orchestras, and he regularly appears in solo and chamber music
concerts in England and Greece. He was prizewinner in international
competitions, and was awarded the prestigious ‘Eleni Tim. Mykoniou’
prize by the Academy of Athens.
He currently lives in London and is a piano teacher at Queen Elizabeth’s
School, Christ’s Hospital, The Royal School in Haslemere, and the
Hindhead Music Centre.
