Sam Chaplin has led education projects for The London Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Opera House and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
He has recently been presenting the family concerts for Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra and has received commissions from them to create orchestral pieces with audience involvement.
As a choir leader, Sam directed the Choir With No Name for 13 years, a choir for people whose lives have been affected by homelessness. He directs Take Note, a local community choir based at Simon Balle School. He founded and directs the Hertford Children's Choir with his wife Rachel.
He also performs as a jazz singer and trumpeter at jazz clubs across the UK. See www.samchaplinmusic.com for more information.
Patrick Rafter is recognised as one of Ireland’s leading classical musicians. He has performed as soloist, recitalist and chamber musician across Europe, the Middle East, South America and Asia. A protégé of Maxim Vengerov, Rafter has appeared alongside Vengerov, Shlomo Mintz, Barry Douglas and John O'Conor. He has worked with composers including Arvo Pärt and performed under the baton of Semyon Bychkov, Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder and Gianandrea Noseda.
As soloist and director, he has collaborated with orchestras including Prague Philharmonia, Mannheim Soloists, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Kyiv Soloists and Camerata Ireland, appearing in major venues such as the National Concert Hall (Dublin), Royal Albert Hall (London), Konzerthaus Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Seoul Arts Centre.
In 2024, Rafter signed to Rubicon Classics for a multi-album collaboration. His debut recording with pianist Fiachra Garvey was released in December 2024, with a second album — featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra — scheduled for recording in August 2026 with French conductor, Swan Van Recham.
In 2023, he founded the Marble City Music Festival in his native Kilkenny. Under his artistic direction, the festival now presents editions in May and December annually, welcoming leading artists including Barry Douglas and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Rafter began his studies with Fiona Warren at the Kilkenny School of Music. He later received a full scholarship to the Royal Irish Academy of Music, studying with Eyal Kless and Fionnuala Hunt, before graduating with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he studied with Mateja Marinković . Following a performance for Maxim Vengerov, he was personally invited to continue his studies at the International Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland.
A first-prize winner of over one hundred national and international awards, his distinctions include the National Concert Hall Young Musician of the Year (Ireland), Clandeboye Festival Young Musician of the Year, Valiant Violin Competition (Switzerland), London Performing Arts Competition, the RDS Music Bursary and the Dublin Feis Ceoil National Conducting Competition.
Upcoming performances include appearances with the Vratsa Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, NSO Ireland, London Mozart Players, Menuhin Soloists, and tours in South America and China in 2026. Patrick will makehis Amercan debut with Mozart Violin Concerto No. 4 in October this year with major performances in Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco and Cerritos Center, Los Angeles. He will perform with Matthew Busse and the Royal Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
Patrick performs on a JB Vuillaume violin and a Eugene Sartory violin bow.
Ben Goldscheider has premiered over 70 new works for horn, spanning concerti, solo, chamber, and cross-genre projects—most recently with artist Anish Kapoor as part of his exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. In the 2026–27 season, he gives the world premiere of Gwilym Simcock’s Triple Concerto alongside Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jess Gillam and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms. The work is subsequently performed with the Sofia Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Antwerp Symphony Orchestra. Ben later returns to the BBC Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of Britta Byström’s Horn Concerto No. 2. Other highlights include performances of Anna Clyne’s Sirens, written for Ben, with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber Orchestra as well as Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1 with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. He also makes his debut with BBC Philharmonic and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Ottawa, with Ryan Bancroft.
Recent highlights include the world premiere of Laurence Osborn’s Horn Concerto with Manchester Camerata, debuts with Magdeburg Philharmonic (Christian Øland) performing Gavin Higgins’ Horn Concerto, a chamber music tour with Alina Ibragimova and Denes Varjon and a return to BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Ben has given recitals at major concert halls across Europe, including the Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, Musikverein, Pierre Boulez Saal, Southbank Centre and the Wigmore Hall. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Lucerne Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Prague Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the Ulster Orchestra.
A committed chamber musician, Ben has collaborated with leading artists including Daniel Barenboim, Martha Argerich, Sergei Babayan, Kirill Gerstein, Denis Kozhukhin, Sunwook Kim, Clara Jumi-Kang, and Allan Clayton at festivals such as Verbier, Salzburg, Jerusalem, Intonations (Berlin), and Barenboim (Buenos Aires). Highlights include a return to the U.S. with Camerata Pacifica in Los Angeles as well as performances at the Wigmore Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.
In October 2026, Ben will release his Pentatone debut featuring the four Mozart Horn Concerti with the Munich Chamber Orchestra. His other recordings include Legacy: A Tribute to Dennis Brain (Three Worlds Records), featuring newly commissioned works by Huw Watkins and Roxanna Panufnik. He has also released a solo concerto album with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Lee Reynolds), featuring works by Arnold and Gipps.
Ben is Principal Horn of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and a Principal Player of Camerata Pacifica. He is also a member of the Boulez Ensemble in Berlin. He holds a professorship at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.
Born in London in 1997, Ben studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Susan Dent, and in 2020 graduated with honours at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin with Radek Baborák. He was a prize-winner at the 2019 YCAT International Auditions, a concerto finalist in the 2016 BBC Young Musician Competition, and was nominated by the Barbican as an ECHO Rising Star for the 2021/22 season.
Natalie Cassidy is best known for her role of Sonia in the soap Eastenders. Having played at Chichester festival theatre and a number 1 tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Bedroom Farce.’ Natalie is delighted to be back in the theatre hosting HSO’s Musical Stories concert for children of all ages.
Michal Oren is an award-winning conductor from Tel Aviv. She was the Female Conductor Trainee at Opera North (2024–2025) and has worked with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She holds conducting diplomas from the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. A former Residence Music Scholar of the Robert Anderson Trust, she has been supported by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation since 2015.
Laure Chan has performed at world-renowned venues including the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall, and has appeared at major festivals such as the BBC Proms and Lucerne Festival. A BBC Music Magazine Rising Star and Classic FM “30 Under 30” artist, she combines her classical training with diverse influences as both performer and composer, and has won international prizes in Paris, Berlin, and New York.
Liubov Ulybysheva studied at the Guildhall School and Royal Academy of Music, winning the Mir Carnegie Prize for Cello. An award-winning soloist, chamber musician, and teacher, she has performed internationally at major venues, joined the Royal Opera House orchestra in 2018, released her debut recording, and is Artistic Manager of the Brundibar Arts Festival.