An
enticing mix of popular and classical music, from Haydn to Gershwin,
and Lloyd Webber to George Canseco.
The Trio and I,
is a musical fusion of the immense talents of Filipina theatre
star Gia Macuja and the world renowned London Piano Trio, Robert
Atchison - Violin, Olga Dudnik - Piano, and Bozidar Vukotic
- Cello.
Individually they have achieved success in their own right,
it was just a matter of time before a performance of husband
and wife team, Robert and Gia was to happen. This performance
debut of The Trio and I marks the beginning of a series of concerts
that will be taking them as far as the Philippines by the beginning
of next year.
It is with great pleasure that the group performs for the first
time for the British/Filipino public on behalf of the Centre
For Filipinos aiming to show recognition to the countless achievements
of many Filipinos in this country.
Gia Macuja,
vocalist, is one of the Philippines’ foremost theatre
performers based in the United Kingdom. Her long CV includes
being a member of the original cast and playing the lead role
of Nala in ‘The Lion King’, playing the roles of
Gigi and Ellen in Miss Saigon, and classic Shakespearean heroines
such as Beatrice in ‘Much Ado About Nothing and Katherine
in ‘Taming of the Shrew’. She won the National Music
Cometition for Young Artists of the Philippines ((NAMCYA) and
was the Philippine representative in opera to the 2nd International
Festival in Southeast Asian countries. Throughout her career,
Gia has performed all over the world in countries such as France,
Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, Siberia and England.
Olga Dudnik,
pianist, from an early age has been giving concerts in the most
prestigious musical venues throughout the Soviet Union. Born
in Ukraine, she studied at the Special Music School for Gifted
Children where she received the Gold Medal for Excellence. A
multi awardee of international piano competitions starting from
the age of 16 when she won the Ukraine Piano Competition, Olga
made her debut in London at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall.
She has appeared with numerous orchestras including the London
Philharmonic Orchestra at the Qyueen Elizabeth Hall. She joined
the staff at the Guildhall School of Music and combines a teaching
career with a busy schedule of piano recitals, concertos and
ensemble appearances across Europe as well as producing two
CDs released by Albany Records.
Robert
Atchison,violinist was born in London and studied music from a young age. His teachers included Sheila Nelson, Bronsilaw Gimpel at the Royal Northern College of Music, Emmanuel Hurwitz at the Royal Academy of Music and Maurice Hasson. In 1982 he was a finalist in the Abbado International Competition in Milan, Italy. Mr. Atchison has given concerto performances and recitals in the USA, South America, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Ireland.
In 1983 Mr. Atchison made his concerto debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall playing the Beethoven concerto and in 1984 at the Barbican with the Vivaldi Four Seasons. He joined the Philharmonia Orchestra in 1984 and remained there until 1990. From 1991 to 1997 he was a member of all three orchestras of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and was co-principal to Iona Brown. In 1993 he was appointed Director of the Spanish Chamber Orchestra, appearing frequently as soloist. Since then he has had a busy chamber and solo career. Mr. Atchison is Violinist with the critically acclaimed London Piano Trio and tours regularly with them throughout the UK, Germany, Spain and the Far East. Plans for 2008 include a tour of Canada and the United States. He is also in demand as a freelance leader in the United Kingdom and Europe. He is Leader of the Disney production The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre in London. Mr. Atchison’s recordings include the Telemann Twelve Fantasias and the complete Sonatas and Partitas of J. S. Bach for the Altamira label. Also on Altamira he has made many recordings with the London Piano Trio including the recently released Complete Piano Trios of Armstrong Gibbs. Future recordings for 2007-8 include two violin and piano recital albums and the two Mendelssohn concertos and the world premiere recording of the Haydn Wood violin concerto for Toccata Records. Mr. Atchison was recently appointed as the Artistic Director of the new Gibbs Festival at Danbury, Essex. The Festival’s inaugural season is 2008.
He is also Artistic Director with Renato Bossa of the International Music Series at the Certosa di Capri, Italy.
Vozidar
Vukotik started playing the cello at the age
of seven. Graduating from the University of East Anglia with
a BA (hons) in muisic, he was awarded the prestigious Goldsmith
Company Scholarshipo in 1991 to study with Stefan Popv on the
Advanced Solo studies course at the Guildhall School of Music
and Drama in London. Winner of many prizes including the coveted
Performance Recital Diploma (Premier Prix) in 1993 and the National
Federation of Music Societies Competition which included a debut
recital in the Purcell Room in 1994 and the Jeunesses
Musicales International Cello Competition which led to Vozidar
performing as a soloist throughout the UK and Europe. Acclaimed
in The Times newspaper as a ’glorious individual player’,
he is a founder member of the Tippett String Quartet which was
recently described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘a quartet
of such exciting ideas and vital interpretative insight that
it promises to make a significant contribution to the realms
of chamber music’.
