Rising Stars

Three to look out for…

April Fredrick Soprano

Born: Wisconsin, US Career highlight: Performing Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra and singing the role of Jane in the world premiere of John Joubert’s Jane Eyre with the English Symphony Orchestra. She has always been one of my favourite literary characters.

Musical hero: Cecilia Bartoli is a singer who is unafraid to be herself, and cellist Yo-yo Ma has done amazing work to build bridges with other genres and artistic traditions.

Dream concert: A reimagining of a 19th-century salon in a house, with thinkers, artists, philosophers and poets, bringing together music, poetry, food and wine. Agostinho Sequeira Percussionist Born: Almada, Portugal Career highlight: Winning the TROMP Percussion Competition in 2020 was a fantastic honour. In 2017, after being named Portugal’s Young Musician of the Year, I played Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto and Peter Eötvös’s Speaking Drums Concerto with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Orquestra Metropolitana in Lisbon.

Musical hero: The percussionist Pedro Carneiro influenced me as a teenager and getting to know him has inspired me.

Dream concert: A concert in which the audience is enthralled by both the diversity of sound colours, depth and variety in the musical content and a strong connection with the artist and the music itself.

Liu Ming

Violinist

Born: Shenyang, China Career highlight: Being appointed leader of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. I was really worried about my ability to handle the position given my age, but in the last few months I’ve grown into the role. Musical hero: I saw violinist Kyung-wha Chung perform when I was young and was so moved by her passion and strength. My teacher Vera Tsu Weiling has the same power in her playing.

Dream concert: I’m a member of a collective called 1703 Studio and we’ve always wanted to play a concert together. We’re hoping to perform at Shanghai Symphony Hall soon to celebrate our teacher’s 20th anniversary.