Fauré is one of the cellist's many enthusiasms. ‘For me, he is one of the all-time great composers; his music has an ecstatic radiance to it that I find incredibly moving and uplifting … His greatest pieces – including much of the chamber music – move me as deeply as any music.’ Here Steven Isserlis brings his insight to bear on some of the composer’s chamber repertoire.

About IMS Prussia Cove
IMS Prussia Cove nurtures and inspires world-class musicians and brings world-class music to communities in Cornwall. Our seminars, concerts and education work bring musicians from across the globe to a remote part of Cornwall to enrich lives through music and inspire new generations. 

Our work began in 1972 when the Hungarian violinist Sándor Végh was invited to Cornwall to attend a small music festival. Inspired by its wild and beautiful landscape, he suggested that Prussia Cove was an ideal place to teach young musicians. Together, he and Hilary Tunstall-Behrens founded an International Musicians Seminar, and more than a half century later we are proud to continue their work under the Artistic Direction of renowned cellist Steven Isserlis. 

Our Masterclass Seminar teaches and inspires exceptional emerging artists, and Open Chamber Music brings young talent and older colleagues together to study chamber music. Our concerts series bring world-class music to audiences in Cornwall and across the south of England, and our thriving outreach and education programme inspires young people and wider communities in Cornwall. More information: i-m-s.org.uk 

Steven Isserlis, cello
Acclaimed worldwide for his technique and musicianship, cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a uniquely varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, educator, author and broadcaster. He appears with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, and as a chamber musician, has curated concert series for many prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall, 92nd Street Y and the Salzburg Festival. Since 1997, he has been Artistic Director of the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove. 

Steven has a strong interest in historical performance, working with many period instrument orchestras. He is also a keen exponent of contemporary music and has premièred many new works, including John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil, Thomas Adès’s Lieux retrouvés and three works for solo cello by György Kurtág. His latest recording, A Golden Cello Decade, 1878-1888, was released in November 2022. Steven has written a commentary on Schumann’s famous Advice for Young Musicians, and his latest book, a critically acclaimed companion to the Bach cello suites, was published in paperback in March 2023. Steven plays the ‘Marquis de Corberon’ Stradivarius of 1726, on loan from the Royal Academy of Music. 

Maja Horvat, violin
Maja Horvat communicates the impact of music in her performances so that everyone can find comfort in art. She explores the magic of her instrument, giving contemporary pieces a good start in life and playing unknown gems from the 20th Century, as well as celebrated masterpieces. Maja made her Wigmore Hall debut as first violinist of the Brompton Quartet, of which she is a founding member. In 2019, she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize. Maja has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra; she has performed as a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Oxford Philharmonic and the Fidelio Orchestra. She was a Tillett Debut Scheme Artist in 2022/23. In 2022, Maja graduated from the Royal College of Music, London, where she studied with Alina Ibragimova, Daniel Rowland and Leonid Kerbel. 

Angus Webster, piano
Angus Webster enjoys a growing career as a conductor and pianist. In recent seasons, he has conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Ulster Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and Osaka Philharmonic. Raised in Cornwall, Angus studied conducting with Esa-Pekka Salonen and won top prizes at the Panula International Conducting Competition in 2018. He studied piano with Alasdair Beatson and Claudio Martínez Mehner and has played in masterclasses with Ferenc Rados, Rita Wagner, Dénes Várjon and Kirill Gerstein at IMS Prussia Cove. 

Madelyn Kowalski, cello
American cellist Madelyn Kowalski performs at chamber music festivals internationally and has received numerous awards. She holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she studied with Alison Wells. Madelyn is a 2023-24 artist with the Classeek Ambassador Programme in Switzerland and a fellow at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance in Nova Scotia. In 2020, Madelyn performed the Scottish première of Errollyn Wallen's Cello Concerto, and her performance at the 2023 Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad with pianist Anna Han received the André Hoffmann Prize for the best interpretation of the work commissioned for the festival. 

Jonathan Ferrucci, piano 
Italian-Australian pianist Jonathan Ferrucci has given concerts as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe, Australia and the United States. He has performed at Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall and Milton Court Concert Hall in London, Carnegie Weill Hall in New York and the Fazioli Concert Hall in Italy, among other venues. Jonathan has been a prize winner of numerous competitions, such as the International Bach Competition in Leipzig, the Royal Overseas League and the Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition. A Kirckman Society Artist for 2022-23 and Keyboard Trust Artist since 2019, Jonathan’s recent work includes a seven-date tour of the United States, focused around the Goldberg Variations, and concerts in Italy with the Orchestra da Camera di Perugia, playing as a soloist and together with his mentor Angela Hewitt. Other recent concert activity includes a tour of Oregon as a 'Rising Star', recitals in Padua for Amici della Musica di Padova (Sala dei Giganti), Vicenza (Teatro Comunale), Florence (British Institute – Lord Acton Library), Perugia for the Trasimeno Music Festival and Rome (Villa Torlonia). 

Trio Venere: Gaia Trionfera, violin; Nigel Thean, cello; Daniel Borovitzky, piano 
Gaia Trionfera is from Perugia, Italy and recently completed her university studies with Krzysztof Węgrzyn at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover. She is currently enrolled in a Master’s degree programme with Rainer Schmidt at the Hochschule für Musik, Basel. As a soloist and chamber musician, Gaia has been awarded prizes in more than 30 national and international competitions, including the Concorso internazionale città di Padova, Feast of Duos (Sion, Valais) International Competition A Grumiaux (Brussels) and the Vienna Grand Prize Virtuoso competition. She has performed in ensembles and concert halls in Italy and abroad. 

Prizewinner at the International Karl Davidov Competition, Malaysian cellist Nigel Thean began playing the cello at the age of seven. At 10, he studied at Wells Cathedral School as a full scholar under the tutelage of Penny Driver and subsequently completed his Bachelor's and Master's with Leonid Gorokhov in Hannover. He currently studies at Basel with Thomas Demenga. An avid chamber musician, he has been featured in numerous chamber festivals such as the Hitzacker Sommerliche Musiktage, Rome Chamber Festival and Verbier Festival. Notable collaborators include Pieter Schoemann, Ulf Schneider, Robert McDuffie and the Doric and Hagen Quartets.

Daniel Borovitzky was born in 1991 in Samara, Russia, and emigrated with his family to Israel at the age of three. He has toured North and South America, Europe and East Asia as a soloist and chamber musician. As a soloist, he has performed under Zubin Mehta at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv, and with the English Chamber Orchestra in London, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Israel Camerata Jerusalem, Haifa Symphony Orchestra and Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble. Borovitzky has won several international competitions, including the Grand Prix Animato (Paris, 2014), Isidor Bajic Memorial Piano Competition in Serbia (First Prize, 2012), a special prize for the performance of Israeli music at the Aviv Competitions (2013) and the Clairmont Award (Tel Aviv, 2014). He has participated in the Aspen Music Festival and School, the International Holland Music Sessions festival in Bergen, the Tel-Hai International Piano Master Classes and the Mizmorim Festival in Basel, Switzerland. Borovitzky is a recipient of scholarships from the America–Israel Cultural Foundation (2002-16) and the Yehoshua and Margrit Lakner Foundation (Zürich, 2015-17). 

Chaos String Quartet: Susanne Schäffer, violin; Eszter Kruchió, violin; Sara Marzadori, viola; Bas Jongen, cello
Founded in 2019 on the interdisciplinary concept of chaos, the Chaos String Quartet combines a highly refined ensemble culture and a fiery vitality with a passion for exploring experimental and improvisational approaches. With their affinity for embracing unpredictability and risk-taking, the ensemble’s members bring a unique dynamism and vibrancy to their playing featuring a whole universe of sounds. 

Recently selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist 2023-25, the Chaos String Quartet is rapidly establishing itself on the international music scene. The Quartet has been awarded at the most prestigious international competitions, including ARD (2022), Bordeaux (2022), Haydn (2023) and Bad Tölz (2023). Additional successes include winning the Second Prize at Budapest’s 2021 Bartók World Competition and the Premio V. E. Rimbotti in Italy.