McLean-Thorsen-Strange Piano Trio - Worldwide Artists Ltd. UK

Winner of the First Prize at the 2002 Maria Canals International Piano Competition in Barcelona, Viv McLean has performed at all the major venues in the UK as well as in France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland, Malta, Israel, Cyprus, Japan, Australia and the USA.

His concerto work includes appearances with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, London Concert Orchestra, Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Musicians' Symphony Orchestra. He has performed chamber music with leading groups such as the Ysaye String Quartet and the Leopold String Trio and collaborated with musicians such as Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Eijin Nimura, Mia Cooper, Sarah Nemtanu, Lawrence Power, Phillip Dukes, Matthew Sharp, Kate Gould, Alasdair Strange, Raphael Perraud, Isa Katarina Gericke, Jeanette Ager, Nora Gubisch, Richard Dubugnon, Wayne Marshall and Christopher Warren-Green.

Viv has performed in festivals including the Cheltenham International Festival and Harrogate Festival in the UK, the International Beethoven Festival, the Mecklenburg Festival and the Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden.

Viv studied at Chetham's School of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne where he held the Hodgson Fellowship and received financial assistance from the Hattori Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. He was made an associate of the Royal Academy in 2005. He made his Wigmore Hall recital debut through winning the Friends of the Royal Academy Wigmore Award. Whilst studying at the Academy, Viv was the piano winner at the Royal Overseas-League Music Competition and was selected as one of three winners of the National Federation of Music Societies' Young Artists Competition, leading to various recitals and concerto appearances throughout Great Britain.

Viv has recorded regularly for BBC Radio 3 since making his recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded recitals for Classic FM as well as for WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway and Radio Bialystok in Poland. His commercial releases include recordings for such labels as Sony Classical Japan and Naxos, as well as for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's own label.

Future plans include concerts in France, Norway, Japan and the UK. Please see Viv's concert diary for more information.

The acclaimed Norwegian violinist, Marianne Thorsen, has recently performed with ensembles including the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Royal Danish Orchestra, Berlin Symphony, Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Slovak Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. In her homeland, she plays regularly with the Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony and the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestras.

Marianne Thorsen has won many international competitions including, most notably, the 2003 Sion International Violin Competition, and, in 1998, she was chosen as the Norwegian Concert Institute's Young Musician of the Year. She studied with György Pauk at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she was awarded the DipRAM, the Academy's highest award for performance.

Thorsen enjoys a regular collaboration with the Trondheim Soloists, with whom she recently toured and recorded Mozart: Violin Concertos Nos 3, 4 and 5 for 2L Recordings to great critical acclaim: the disc was awarded the Norwegian Spelleman Prize. Her latest recording for 2L (Ståle Kleiberg's Violin Concerto with the Trondheim Symphony) was also received most favourably and has received a Grammy nomination for 2010. Future releases include a CD of Norwegian music by Johan Halvorsen with the Bergen Philharmonic conducted by Neeme Järvi for Chandos.

In 2004, Marianne Thorsen gave the world premiere, with the Trondheim Symphony, of a violin concerto dedicated to her by the Norwegian composer Ketil Hvoslef. A subsequent performance in 2005, with the Oslo Philharmonic under Vassily Sinaisky, was broadcast on national Norwegian television (NRK).

As a chamber musician, Thorsen has performed with such eminent artists as Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Pascal Rogé, Lars Anders Tomter, Frans Helmerson and the Norwegian pianist Håvard Gimse, with whom she recorded a CD for Simax Classics of duo recital repertoire. She was a founder member of the Leopold String Trio, with whom she has performed extensively at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and the Wigmore Hall, as well as at the Edinburgh, Bath and Cheltenham Festivals (live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3). The Trio have recorded numerous CDs for Hyperion to great critical acclaim, including the complete Beethoven String Trios and Mozart: Divertimento K563, Schubert's 'Trout' Quintet, as well as the Mozart Piano Quartets with Paul Lewis and the complete Brahms Piano Quartets with Marc-André Hamelin.

In 2000, Marianne Thorsen was appointed Leader of the internationally-renowned Nash Ensemble of London, with whom she appears and broadcasts frequently at the major British and International music festivals, at London's South Bank Centre, the BBC Proms and as part of a regular series at the Wigmore Hall. She was also invited to become Artistic Director of the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden music festival in Røros, Norway, in 2009, and is currently looking forward to the festivals in March 2010 and 2011.

In 2006, Thorsen was appointed Professor at the Institute of Music at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, and is also a Professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Marianne Thorsen plays the 'Emiliani' Stradivarius by arrangement with the Leif Hoegh Foundation of Norway.

Former Principal Cellist of the European Union Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Alasdair Strange won the Associated Board Scholarship to study with Derek Simpson at the Royal Academy of Music, London. On completion of his studies, Alasdair was awarded the DipRAM, the Academy's highest award for performance, as well as the prestigious Carnegie Fellowship. Alasdair was first prize-winner in many competitions, including the Alessandro Pezze, May Mukle, Herbert Walenn, Harry Isaacs, Florence Hooten and David Martin Prizes as well as the 'Young Musician of the West'.

Alasdair's concerto appearances include Penderecki's Cello Concerto No. 2 at the Barbican Hall with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain to great critical acclaim, which was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Alasdair Strange is privileged to have collaborated closely with the legendary composer, Gyorgy Ligeti, on his Cello Concerto for a gala performance at the Ligeti Festival, London, in the presence of the composer.

Alasdair has given numerous recitals throughout Europe with pianist Viv McLean, including appearances at the Kultur Kreis Festival, Hannover, the Southwark Festival, Wigmore Hall and the Purcell Room on London's South Bank, as well as at many music societies and concert clubs throughout Great Britain.

As a chamber musician, Alasdair has performed alongside such luminary artists as Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Yuri Bashmet and Daniel Hope, and he currently performs as cellist in the Thorsen-Strange-McLean Trio with Marianne Thorsen (Leader, Nash Ensemble of London) and Viv McLean (First Prize-Winner, Barcelona International Piano Competition).

Other solo highlights include performances of the Brahms Double Concerto at the Barbican,as well as concertos by Elgar, Saint-Saens, Schumann, Dvorak, Haydn D, Boccherini G and Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations at venues including the Fairfield Halls, Snape Maltings Aldeburgh, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Wembley Town Hall, St. James' Piccadilly and the Royal Albert Hall.

As an orchestral Principal, Alasdair has worked under such illustrious conductors as Haitink, Giulini, Rostropovich, Ashkenazy and Sir Colin Davis on extensive European tours at concert halls including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin's Philharmonie, the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London, Symphony Hall Birmingham and at the Edinburgh, Salzburg and Vienna International Festivals.

Alasdair is Artistic Consultant and concert artist at the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden 2009/10 in Røros, Norway, with performances broadcast on Norway's national classical radio, NRK Klassisk.

Alasdair Strange is Artistic Director of the London Ensemble and Managing Director of the London Soundtrack Orchestra. In May 2009, the orchestra performed the world premiere of Hitchcock's 'Psycho' accompanied by live orchestral accompaniment for SKY Movies.

UPDATED December 2009 -

DO NOT REPRODUCE WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM

Worldwide Artists Ltd. (www.worldwideartists.com)