Lunchtime Recital - Ekaterina Chunikhina, oboe, Oliver Cuttriss, piano

Programme

G. Silvestrini - “Hommage à Prokofiev”
H. Dutilleux - Oboe Sonata
M. Dranishnikova - “Poem”
A. Jolivet - Serenade for Oboe and Piano
G. Silvestrini - Etude III. “Boulevard des Capucines”

Biographies

Recognised for her "extraordinary virtuosity" (Musical Opinion Magazine ) Ekaterina Chunikhina is a third year undergraduate student and an ABRSM Scholar, studying at the Royal College of Music in London. Ekaterina grew up and studied in Russia until the age of 16 and it gave her a foundation strong enough to continue her further education at The Purcell School for Young Musicians, where she was supported by a substantial music award.

Now Ekaterina continues to develop her professional skills, studying oboe with Juliana Koch, Olivier Stankiewicz and cor anglais with Christine Pendrill. During her time at RCM, she has been awarded a Royal Philharmonic Society Instrument Purchase Grant and a Wolfson Instrument Award. Ekaterina’s most recent achievements include a recording of a Concerto for oboe section composed by a Grammy Award-winning producer Michael Fine with the London Symphony Orchestra strings, Solo Woodwind Competition Prize at the Royal College of Music and the Birmingham Royal Ballet Wind & Brass Partnership. She is also very proud to be a member of the Talent Unlimited charity.

Ekaterina became a laureate of various international competitions and took part in masterclasses with Alexei Ogrintchouk, Nick Deutsch, Kai Frombgen, Jacques Tys and Christopher Cowie. She performed as a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician in well-known concert halls including the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, St John's Smith Square, King's Place and took part in a number of sitting-in and side-by-side projects with professional UK orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

Ekaterina is rather new to the UK, but she feels at home here. She enjoys the education, mentality and culture. The musical recognition in this country really attracts her and she sees her future in the UK. At the moment Ekaterina is trying to be an active participant in first-class events at RCM, making new acquaintances and continuing to strengthen her name, as well as the name of her educational institution in the musical world.

Hailing from Burgess Hill, Oli began playing the piano at the age of nine, alongside the oboe and electric guitar. A versatile musician and venerable sight-reader, he has won numerous local competitions, performed in masterclasses with Danny Driver, Lindsay Garritson and the late Peter Katin, played for an original musical at the Edinburgh Fringe and for countless other functions involving the keyboard. He graduated from Royal Holloway in 2016 with the Alice Dougherty Chaplin Prize for Performance before going on to work at Bishopsgate School and St George’s School, Windsor Castle until 2019.

With the unexpected aid of the Covid lockdown, he completed a livestreamed 24-hour piano recital in a bid to financially support a Performance Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music, which he completed in 2021 with Distinction. He currently works as a sought-after freelancer, accompanying professionally across London.

Presented in association with Talent Unlimited.

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