String Quartet & Trio - String Quartet - String Quintet in East Midlands, West Midlands
Ariella String Quartet & Trio playing for functions and weddings, Ariella Strings regularly give formal Chamber recitals in varying forms: String quartet, String Trio and also String Quintet.

Ariella Strings Ariella Strings was established in Milton Keynes in **** by a group of conservatoire trained musicians. Known originally as Midsummer Strings, they have changed their name recently to Ariella Strings. All the individual members live in and around Milton Keynes and work professionally throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. They play regularly in London, the home counties, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and the South Midlands.

As well as playing for functions and weddings, Ariella Strings regularly give formal Chamber recitals in varying forms: String quartet, String Trio and also String Quintet.

The core of the group is the string trio which can be added to according to the taste of the individual and the event being booked for.

We have Changed our Name from Midsummer Strings to Ariella Strings

This is just a name change, everything else will be the same: The same professional musicians, the same music and the same high performance for your wedding, celebration or event. Please contact us by using the Bookings/enquiry form for any event you would like us to play for, or if you want any further information.

Each member of Ariella Strings is a highly experienced and accomplished performer in their own right, within the quartet, trio, and also with other professional ensembles. We all perform with professional orchestras all over the country and give formal recitals.

For Ariella Strings we form various groups for concerts, functions and weddings. These include: string trio, string quartet and string quintet. At its core is the Ariella String Trio whose members are:

John Bass

John studied viola with John White and Stephen Shingles at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He has played with various professional orchestras throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, as well as performing in chamber ensembles. John’s special interests are arranging music for chamber groups and conducting.

Freddie Collarbone

Freddie studied both at the Royal Academy of Music, London and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music, Glasgow. She has worked as a fulltime cellist with many of the country's orchestras such as the Ulster Orchestra, Scottish Baroque Ensemble and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Freddie now freelances across the United Kingdom and is a member of various chamber ensembles giving recitals and playing for functions.

Cheryl Agnew-Bass

Cheryl studied violin with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester. After graduating in **** she worked fulltime for six years with the Natal Philharmonic Orchestra in Durban, South Africa. Since returning to England Cheryl has freelanced with professional orchestras across the United Kingdom and in Europe, including Ulster Orchestra, London Bach Orchestra, Cyprus State Chamber Orchestra, New Queens Hall Orchestra and Milton Keynes City Orchestra. Alongside her freelance orchestral commitments Cheryl performs with Ariella Strings, giving recitals and playing for functions.

Naomi Zoob

Naomi studied at the Royal College of Music where she held a Senior Exhibitioner Award and took master classes from William Pleeth and the Chillingirian String Quartet.

She is a freelance musician working with the Bournemouth, Milton Keynes City, London Concert and English National Orchestras, she has recently been working with G*, Hayley Westenra, Vittorio Grigolo and Katherine Jenkins.

Hywel Davies - Violinist/Violist

Hywel was in the National Youth Orchestra & was leading local orchestras while still at school where he also won a County music bursary. He studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Trinity College of Music London, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, winning the College String and Concerto Prize, Conservatoire National de Region de Nice with Aaron Rosand (Curtis Institute, Philadelphia) & was invited to attend master classes at the Mozarteum Salzburg.

As well as giving recitals, Hywel has played in many film sessions including Warner Brothers' Batman Begins (party scene), Steven Spielberg's Band of Brothers (episode *), Second Nature (American Cable TV), Four Feathers, Daniel Deronda (BBC), The Way We Live Now (BBC).

Hywel plays in many orchestras including Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Concert Orchestra, English National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Welsh National Orchestra. Hywel recently played in the filming of The Duchess with Keira Knightly(released later in ****.)

Jeremy Sampson - violin

Jeremy Sampson studied at the Royal College of Music. He spent two years as violinist-in-residence at Oundle School, and has since been a freelance player with Orchestra of St. John’s, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, Corelli Strings, the Academy of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Jeremy is co-leader of the King’s Chamber Orchestra, has appeared as guest leader of the Carl Rosa Opera Company, Southern Sinfonia and the Cyprus State Chamber Orchestra.

Gillian Brightwell - Violin

Gillian lives in London and works regularly with the Oxford Philomusica, London Concert Orchestra, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, Milton Keynes City Orchestra, the CBSO and many other orchestras. She has * dogs, both from Battersea Dogs' Home and plays tennis as much as possible. Whenever the weather is good you will find her walking on one of the long distance coast paths, cooking on a camp stove and watching clouds, sunsets and stars.

Rachel Sanders-Hewett - 'cello

Rachel Sanders-Hewett studied Music at the University of Birmingham, where she was awarded both the Barber Undergraduate Prize and the Roland Gregory Prize. She graduated with first class honours in **** and went on to study cello with Sally Pendlebury and baroque cello with Alison McGillivray at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She regularly leads the cello sections of both the Bartholdy Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of St Paul’s, Covent Garden, and freelances with many other orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Teodora Ilieva - violin

Teodora won a full music scholarship to the prestigious Wells Cathedral School in Somerset at the age of **. She continued her violin studies at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, obtaining her Bmus degree studying under respected teachers Catherine Lord and Professor Yfrah Neaman. Teodora’s many stage appearances have been for various audiences including celebrities and members of royalty, such as the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Charles Worthington to name but a few. Including performances with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, she has also performed as a soloist on world-famous venues such as The Royal Albert Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square, St James’ Palace amongst others.

Information

For all functions and events, we pride ourselves on our personal service, from your initial enquiry to the day itself.

For weddings, most people hire us to enhance their reception- playing in the background whilst their guests eat and enjoy themselves. We can also add to your wedding ceremony by playing appropriate pieces during the service, whether you are getting married in a church or you are having a civil ceremony.

For all functions/anniversaries, birthday parties or other events, we offer a wide variety of musical styles, ranging from baroque to boogie woogie! We can add atmosphere and class to any occasion, be it a formal dinner or a buffet knees up!

Although many people prefer to leave the choice of music to our own experience and judgement, we will always try to include the music you want. Please have a look at our repertoire list for ideas and listen to our sample tracks on the audio page.

We will need three (* for quartet) dining–table height chairs without arms. We will provide everything else. Location We will need three square metres for the trio and * square metres for quartet. As string ensembles are typically unamplified, it is important to locate us easily within earshot, especially if we are playing specific pieces at poignant moments. Outdoors the sound of a string group becomes significantly thinner. Positioning us near a solid wall can help direct our sound towards your guests.

There are some commonsense limitations to the conditions in which the groups can work in, particularly if we are to be playing outside. We cannot play in: