Phoenix Duo

Phoenix Duo

Josiah and Catriona first worked together in their studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland performing in the Marie Curie Hospice and later formed the Phoenix Duo, exploring classical cello-piano repertoire as well as Scottish traditional music and pieces that blur the line between genres. The Duo joined Live Music Now Scotland in 2022 and enjoy bringing their music to a wide variety of audiences. Through LMNS, the duo has performed in care homes, hospitals and churches across Scotland, and has presented recitals in Paxton House, St Giles’ Cathedral, The National Galleries of Scotland and Usher Hall.

Hailing from the Highlands of Scotland, Catriona Mackenzie is an international soloist, collaborative pianist, and educator. Recent highlights include concerto performances with The Inverness Symphony and The Highland Chamber Orchestras, a tour of Scotland with an arrangement of Liszt’s Via Crucis for piano and narrator, and a collaboration with the ballet school at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has recently been a prize-winner at the Royal Academy of Music Schumann Lieder Competition, and is a finalist in the upcoming Ashburnham English Song Competition. Catriona has received masterclasses and coaching from world-renowned musicians including Joanna MacGregor, Leon McCawley, Peter Donohoe and Adrian Brendel.

Catriona currently studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Michael Dussek and Malcolm Martineau and is generously supported by the Royal Academy of Music, The Cross Trust, and The Duncraig Educational Trust. She previously studied privately with Gintaras Janusevicius, and with James Willshire at St Mary’s Music School and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she graduated with a first-class honours degree in 2022.

Josiah Duhlstine is a cellist, educator and composer from Phoenix, Arizona. In 2018, Josiah moved to Glasgow to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he is now in the final year of his Master’s Degree in Classical and Scottish Traditional Cello Performance. His teachers include Alison Wells, Marie Fielding, David Watkin, and Ellen Gira.

In addition to Phoenix Duo, Josiah is a member of the genre-bending band, Alba Challah. Inspired by Klezmer Music, Alba Challah explores a wide variety of European Folk Music while also reimagining iconic pieces of Classical music that have roots in Folk traditions. Other new projects include the Lumen Piano Trio, and Scotch and Sawdust; a progressive bluegrass band that had its debut performance at Celtic Connections 2024.

Josiah has received training in cello teaching through the Suzuki Association of the Americas and is a teacher with the RCS Juniors Programme and an Ambassador within the Benedetti Foundation. In 2022, Josiah won the American String Teachers Association 75th Anniversary Composition Competition for his Bluegrass-inspired piece, “Passabluegrasslia”, and has continued to compose combining elements of Scottish, American, and Classical music.

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