Jordi Carrasco Hjelm is a Swedish double bass player focusing on chamber music and free improvisation. He lives in Amsterdam, where he was a BA student with Olivier Thiery and Rick Stotijn at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He finished his studies with an MA in Cross-Over Music Making with the jazz violinist Tim Kliphuis in 2019. He performs regularly with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra and as a guest in different European festivals and ensembles. Upcoming highlights in 2022 include performing with jazz legends Gwilym Simcock and Nils Landgren in the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the first performances of new chamber music pieces by composers Django Bates, Ralph Schmidt and Tom Coult, and performing Sandor Veress’s Memento with the violist Lilli Maijala in the Festival Musikdorf Ernen in Switzerland.

Australian-born violist, Francis Jonah Kefford, enjoys a diverse career as a chamber musician, teacher, festival director and orchestral musician. After studying in Toronto with Steven Dann, his most affecting musical influence, Francis remained in Canada for two seasons as Acting Principal Violist of the Canadian Opera Company. In the UK, Francis is a frequent performer with the London Symphony Orchestraand the Royal Opera House Orchestra. He has led the viola sections of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and theRoyal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. Francis also performs regularly with the UK’s pre-eminent chamber orchestras: including the Britten Sinfonia; English Chamber Orchestra; Aurora Orchestra;and the London Mozart Players.He started collaborating with O/Moderntin 2018.

Francis is Co-Director of the Saronic Chamber Music Festival, an annual chamber music festival in Greece, where he has developed a culture dedicated to deep exploration of the repertory in ensembles based in profound friendship as well as artistry. Here, and at other chamber music festivals across Europe – including among others, Zodiac Music Festival and Academy, France;Whittington International Music Festival, UK – Francis has collaborated with some of the finest musicians of his generation.
In 2007, Francis premièred ‘Elegie’ - a work for viola and string orchestra by the late, great Australian composer, Peter Sculthorpe – at the International Viola Congressheld that year in Adelaide, Australia.
Francis plays a viola by Rodolpho Fredi (Rome, 1931).

Laura Lunansky is a Dutch violinist with Argentinian origins. She is first violinist of the London-based Behn Quartet, which is recording an album of quartets by female composers in December 2022. She is also a founding member of de Formule, a piano quartet that focuses on interdisciplinary chamber music, and winner the Grote Kamermuziek Prijs in 2018. This season Laura has been performing as concertmaster in an unconducted, interdisciplinary adaption of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream with musicians from PHION, dancers from Introdans and actors from theatre group Oostpool. She has been a recipient of the Villa Musica kammermusik stipendium since 2021, and she appears regularly with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Dresdner Festspielorchester, Balthasar Neumann Ensemble, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Asko| Schoenberg ensemble and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Besides playing the violin she works as a presenter and judge in competitions and concerts.

Passionate about bringing live performance to everyone, Emma Purslow is a violinist and violist performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player in the UK and abroad.

She is first violin of the Alkyona String Quartet (Royal College of Music Junior Fellows 2022-2023), and has recently enjoyed guest performing with the Navarra Quartet, Corran Quartet and Explore Ensemble. Emma is a sought-after teacher, educator and workshop leader, coaching reguarly for Chetham's School of Music, the National Children's Orchestra, Royal College of Music Junior Department and the London Philharmonic Orchestra's Education and Community Program, in addition to her role as Head of Strings at Newton Preparatory School.
Emma enjoys a varied freelance orchestral career performing regularly with orchestras including the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as well as many others around the UK. Emma led the Street Orchestra of London between 2016-2019. Described by the Guardian as "truly uplifting" this 40-piece ensemble brings live performance to those unable to access it.

Kasmir Uusitupa is one of the most versatile violinists from the new finnish generation. He has studied intensively orchestral and string quartet playing from an early age. He has diverse experience of performing different genres, also with different instruments. His interest in other styles has been there since the beginning, as playing folk music with his family was a major influence on his development as a musician. Uusitupa’s forte is in chamber music, especially in the role of a leader. Therefore he is regularly asked to perform in chamber music festivals as well as to substitute concertmaster positions in major Finnish orchestras. He has appeared often as a soloist ever since his school years. The quick cancellations during covid times showed that he is ready to jump in the role of a soloist even on extremely short notice. Uusitupa has also reinforced his musicianship by studying conducting. Kasmir Uusitupa plays an Italian Spiritus Sorsana violin (~1700), kindly on loan from the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Artist Website

Daniel Eklund (1987) was born and raised in Lund, Sweden, where he started playing the viola at the age of 5. In 2015, he began his studies in the soloist class at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, with Professor Lars Anders Tomter and Tim Frederiksen.

Daniel Eklund plays a lot of chamber music, and is a member of the Nordic String Quartet. The quartet has performed at music festivals both within and outside the borders of Scandinavia. Their debut CD with music by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen won the 2019 Danish P2 Award in the category "Album of the Year with new classics". Danish, Nancy Dalberg's complete string quartets were also published in collaboration with Dacapo records in 2019. The English Music Web International has added the CD on their list of "Recordings of the year".
Since 2013, Daniel has a permanent position as principal violist in the chamber orchestra Musica Vitae, with whom he has been a soloist on several occasions.

Liana Svensson has been playing the violin with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra since its launch in 2014. She grew up in Florida, USA, where she made her concert debut with the Hollywood Philharmonic; since 2005 she has been based in Stockholm. While studying at Lilla Akademien, Liana performed regularly on international stages with Hugo Ticciati. In 2009 she won a gold medal in Berlingske Tidendes Musikkonkurrence, and later received the top prize from the Erik Grudd Foundation. She continued her studies with Marco Rizzi at Mannheim Musikhochschule, and Per Enoksson at Edsberg Manor’s chamber music academy in Stockholm. Since 2018 Liana has been performing as a full-time member of Västerås Sinfonietta, and as an active member of the Stockholm Concert Orchestra and Läckö Castle Opera. With a passion for music education, Liana has returned to Lilla Akademien as violin teacher and ensemble leader.

UK-born Alexander Jones is Assistant Principal of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He began learning the double bass with Gethin Griffith at the age of seven, and has since studied with Ronan Dunne, Tom Goodman, Graham Mitchell, Chi-chi Nwanoku CBE and Dominic Seldis. He was an undergraduate at Cambridge University before moving on to the Royal Academy of Music. Alexander has appeared as Guest Principal of the Philharmonia, BBC Scottish Symphony and Royal Scottish National orchestras, and has also appeared as Guest Principal with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Dunedin Consort and The English Concert. As a soloist, he has performed at the Grafenegg Festival, recorded for Divine Art and premiered works by several composers. As a chamber musician, he has worked with a number of ensembles and has performed at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and the BBC Proms.

One of Finland's most interesting solo violinists, Linda Suolahti, is seen as a significant trendsetter in Finnish art music, having impressed with her courage as an artistic director and organiser. Since 2016, Linda has led a chamber music festival, Kokonainen/Musequal, highlighting unknown and forgotten female composers and composers representing minorities. 2023 leading Finnish record label Alba Records published her debut album, ‘Unrecorded.’, containing previously unrecorded Finnish works by female composers. Linda has made an impressive career as a leader and concertmaster of numerous orchestras across continents, specialising in leading an orchestra without a conductor. She often appears as a soloist, sometimes directing the orchestra at the same time. Based in Helsinki, Linda is enjoying her versatile career as a freelance artist, regularly joining world-leading chamber orchestras such as the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. From 2017 to 2020, Linda was concertmaster of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.

Christian Ihle Hadland has established himself as a true craftsman of the piano, a musician whose delicate, refined playing and individual touch have led him to the most prestigious stages in the world. Christian came to international attention in 2011 as a BBC New Generation Artist, performing with all four of the BBC’s symphony orchestras and broadcasting solo and chamber recitals for the corporation in London. At his debut at the BBC Proms in London, he was praised by critics for his ‘pearly’ and ‘otherworldly’ sound. Christian made his professional concerto debut at the age of 15 with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and has since performed with all the major orchestras in Scandinavia. In the UK he has appeared as a concerto soloist with several major orchestras in addition to his work with the BBC orchestras. He has been Artistic Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, his hometown, since 2010.

Polina Leschenko was born in St Petersburg and began playing the piano under her father’s guidance at the age of six. Two years later she performed with the Leningrad Symphony Orchestra in St. Petersburg. At the age of 12 Polina made her UK debut at the Barbican Hall in London playing Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ concerto. Since then Leschenko has worked with prominent international orchestras and given critically acclaimed recitals and chamber music concerts at numerous world-renowned venues. An accomplished and admired chamber musician, Polina Leschenko also performs frequently at many festivals, and collaborates with artists including Martha Argerich, Ivry Gitlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Ilya Gringolts, Mischa Maisky, and Torleif Thedéen. Polina’s most recent CDs include a recital CD, ‘Forgotten Melodies’, Mendelssohn’s double concerto with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Richard Tognetti, a recording of the Dvorak Piano Quartet Op. 87, and ‘Deux’ with Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

Directed by violinist Hugo Ticciati, the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra is an integral part of O/Modernt. Comprised of top players from all over Europe, the orchestra performs eclectic and adventurous programmes, with anything from arrangements of medieval motets to Bach, Webern and Metallica. The orchestra regularly collaborates with world-renowned soloists such as Evelyn Glennie, Steven Isserlis, Anne Sofie von Otter and Nils Landgren, as well as jazz artists, rappers, choreographers, rock-balancers and more!
Over the last decade, the orchestra has gained an international reputation, with critically-acclaimed performances at the Wigmore Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wiener Musikverein and Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam. Recent and upcoming highlights include concerts in Kölner Philharmonie, Elbphilharmonie, Berwaldhallen, Kings Place and Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall. The O/Modernt players enjoy a wide range of outreach and educational projects in Sweden, the UK and further afield in India.

Festival 2022

Violins
CLARA BJERHAG
LUCA BOGNÁR
LAIA BRAUN
GABRIEL CORNET
XENIA GEUGELIN
JULIJA IVANOVAITÉ
ISKANDAR KOMILOV
SOFIA KORTELAINEN
MIRIAM LILJIFORS
LAURA LUNANSKY
JOHANNES MARMÉN
VICKY SAYLES
LIANA SVENSSON
HUGO TICCIATI
OSCAR TREITLER

Violas
JENNY AUGUSTINSSON
BRYONY GIBSON-CORNISH
FLORIAN HUBER
PRZEMYSŁAW PUJANEK
FRAUKE STEICHERT
HUGO SVENSSON

Cellos
JULIAN ARP
HEDVIG BENGSTON
REBECKA ERICSSON
CLAUDE FROCHAUX
EDWARD KING
SINÉAD O’HALLORAN

Double Basses
JORDI CARRASCO HJELM
JAKUB BECERRA PIETRYKA
BENJAMIN ZIAI

Oboe
HANNES HEINEMANN
INKEN MENCK
SIOBHAN PARKER

Bassoon
JONATHAN BAUER
ANDERS ENGSTRÖM

Horn
ANNA FERRIOL DE CIURANA
BJÖRN OLSSON
EELIS MALMIVIRTAV

Theorb
KARL NYHLIN

Sascha has quickly established himself as one of the most sought-after viola players in London. Since relocating to the UK in 2017 he has been in high demand as soloist, chamber musician and guest principal with symphony and chamber orchestras alike. He joined the Navarra String Quartet in 2018 and Britten Sinfonia in 2021 as associate leader of the viola section. Last season featured Sascha as soloist in the Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Printzregententheater in Munich and Konzerthaus Berlin along with partner Antoine Tamestit and the AKAMUS Berlin. He is a member of the Oculi Sextet and Sakuntala String Trio, both based in London. Sascha appears frequently as guest principal player of Aurora Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Academy of Ancient Music, English Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, a newly founded project very close to his heart in Romania. He enjoys both gut stringing his viola at different pitches as well as playing jazz in various ensembles. Newly Sascha has joined the professorial staff at Trinity University in London. Sascha joins the O’Modernt with great joy and commitment in both UK and international concerts.

Artist Website

Hailed as ‘a knockout performer’ by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron recently triumphed at the San Francisco Symphony in the title role of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater in a production helmed by Peter Sellars and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Ottavia in Monterverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. She is a current Rising Star of Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and an Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate/perform multiple projects across several seasons. She is a passionate interpreter of opera, chamber music, and concert works ranging from the baroque to the contemporary and is mentored by Barbara Hannigan.