artists
Thomas Mathias
Artistic director
Welsh violinist Thomas Mathias has been broadcast live as a soloist on S4C Television and BBC Radio Cymru, and has given recitals across Europe and North America. Thomas was recently selected as an Associate Artist of the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) and Countess of Munster Trust. He won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Julius Isserlis Scholarship and is a Hattori Foundation prize winner.
Thomas has performed as a soloist with orchestras in the UK and USA, and in 2026 will give the world premiere of Kian Ravaei’s violin concerto. Last year, Thomas gave the UK premiere of Tessa Lark’s Ysaye Shuffle, and this year’s appearances include IMS Prussia Cove, Tenby International Music Festival, and Wyoming International Chamber Music Festival.
Recent performance highlights include solo and chamber appearances in Hawai’i, Texas, Nevada, Indiana, Florida, and the UK. In 2022-23, Thomas was a member of the Kuttner Quartet-in-Residence at Indiana University. Appointed Concertmaster of Ballet Indiana Orchestra in 2022, Thomas is regularly invited as a guest to play with orchestras across the UK and USA.
Thomas is an Artist Diploma candidate at Indiana University, studying with Mauricio Fuks and Alex Kerr. An avid researcher into violin practice, Thomas has been invited to give presentations at conferences across the world, including Japan, Poland, and the USA. He was awarded a Presser Foundation award for his work, and was published in the Journal of Research in Music Education in 2025.
Thomas is Artistic Director of the Tenby International Music Festival (Wales, UK) and Associate Director of the Wyoming International Chamber Music Festival (USA)
Dominic Ciccotti
Artistic director
Dominic is a Welsh pianist and teacher based in Manchester, England. He completed his Master of Music with distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, studying with Mei Yi Foo, following undergraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Frank Wibaut and Dr. Murray McLachlan.
He has performed throughout the UK and internationally as both a soloist and chamber musician, with appearances at venues including Wigmore Hall. His passion for chamber music has led to long-standing collaborations with ensembles and instrumentalists.
Alongside his performing work, Dominic runs a busy teaching practice, Piano Tuition Manchester, working with students of all ages.
This year, he is co-founding a new music festival in West Wales with violinist Thomas Mathias, dedicated to showcasing chamber music from across the world. He also continues his work as part of a piano duo with Yuki Minami, with new projects planned for the year ahead.
Yuki Minami
Japanese pianist Yuki Minami studied at Osaka College of Music before earning her master’s degree with distinction from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, where she studied under Mei Yi Foo. She later continued her studies with Kathryn Stott at the Royal Northern College of Music, receiving a postgraduate diploma with distinction.
She has recently achieved success in several competitions, including an Honourable Award at the International Chopin Piano Competition in Asia, second prize at the European International Piano Competition in Japan, and first prizes in the Eric Hodges Memorial Prize, the RWCMD Concerto Competition, and the RNCM Beethoven Competition.
Yuki has performed at prestigious venues such as Izumi Hall (Osaka), St David’s Hall (Cardiff), Steinway Hall, and Wigmore Hall (London). She has also appeared as a concerto soloist with orchestras in Japan, Brazil, and the UK.
felix pascoe
From Melbourne, Australia, violinist/violist Felix Pascoe has performed throughout Australia and extensively overseas including concerts in the U.S.A, U.K, China, Singapore, Israel, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Tunisia and New Zealand. He has performed with highly-regarded orchestras such as, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is currently on trial for Assistant Principal 2nd Violin of the London Mozart Players.
As a violist of the Karelia Quartet, Felix has both won and placed in several competitions in the UK including a recent debut at Wigmore Hall and an intimate performance for His Majesty King Charles the III at St James’s Palace. A graduate of The University of Melbourne and the Australian National Academy of Music, Felix received a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, completing his Master’s of Arts under the esteemed tutelage of Dr. Robin Wilson. Felix has enjoyed acting as concert master of the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions as well as performing in several masterclasses with esteemed soloists such as Vilde Frang and Veronika Eberle.
hugh mackay
Scottish cellist Hugh Mackay is carving out a distinctive path as a solo artist, combining an adventurous repertoire with a deep exploration of the cello’s rich history. A winner of the Suggia Gift and Dewar Arts Award, and a former Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund Scholarship holder, Hugh’s artistry has resonated with audiences at leading venues, including Wigmore Hall, the Dortmund Konzerthaus, and the Palace of Versailles.
An avid chamber musician, Hugh is currently a chamber music scholar at the Landesstiftung Villa Musica in Neuwied-Engers, Germany, where he performs with world-leading musicians and fellow young artists. He won the Special Prize at the 2025 Royal Over-Seas League International Strings Competition, the Audience Prize at the Schiermonnikoog Festival, performed as Cross Trust Artist of the Year at the Perth Festival of the Arts, and has appeared at the West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival under the direction of Lawrence Power.
Hugh was a semifinalist at the 2024 International Bach Competition in Leipzig. He made his concerto debut in 2021 with the Bremer Philharmoniker under the direction of their chief conductor, Marko Letonja, performing Schumann’s Cello Concerto at the Dortmund Konzerthaus and Die Glocke Bremen.
Born in 2000 in the Scottish Borders, Hugh trained at St. Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh and the Royal Academy of Music, where he held the Yadegar-Hall Award and won the inaugural LSO Conservatoire Scholarship.
hana mizuta-spencer
Hana Mizuta-Spencer is a British violinist. She has played in venues in London, Japan, Holland and Switzerland, including the British Library, Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John’s Smith Square and on BBC Radio 3. Hana has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the Piccadilly Sinfonietta, Oxford Symphony Orchestra, Camden Symphony Orchestra and North London Symphony Orchestra. She has been invited to perform with Ensemble Modern and the Esbjerg Ensemble, and regularly attends festivals including Open Chamber Music, Prussia Cove, Frinton Festival, Lewes Chamber Music Festival and Mendelssohn on Mull with the Doric String Quartet. She is a member of the contemporary music collective, Mad Song and a founding member of the Talos Quartet.
Having completed a BA in History from University College London, she went on to study for a Masters in Violin Performance at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Professor David Takeno. She was awarded a Concert Recital Diploma in recognition of her exceptional final recital. She is currently studying for a Soloist Masters with Barbara Doll at the Basel Musik-Akademie.
Tabitha appel
Tabitha is in her second year at St John’s College, Cambridge, reading music, whilst studying violin with David Takeno in London. She performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician and in recent years has participated in masterclasses members of the London Haydn, Brodsky, Doric and Castalian String Quartets. In 2023 she won the Oxford Philharmonic Junior Concerto Competition. She has performed numerous concerti with local orchestras in Oxford and joint led the NYO in its 2021 season. This year in Cambridge she was the assistant musical director of a newly translated Yiddish play called Stempenyu.
Her musical development has been hugely influenced through participation in Festival Resonances Academy, MusicWorks, and Wye Valley Chamber Music Festival summer residency and Kuhmo Festival. She is a member of the Telyn Quartet, formed in 2023. Together, they have been awarded a place on ChamberStudio’s residency and Mentorship scheme, and were invited to attend Tunnell Trust’s Music Coll Course.
Her interest in historically informed Baroque performance has been enhanced through the mentorship of Margaret Faultless, Nicholas Mulroy, Rachel Podger and John Butt in Cambridge and at Dartington summer school.
kian ravaei
Composer Kian Ravaei (b. 1999) takes tone painting to a new level, synthesizing diverse inspirations into evocative musical portraits. Whether he is composing a string quartet inspired by wonders of the natural world, electronic music that evokes the pulsating energy of late-night dance clubs, or a symphonic poem that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, he takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions.
Ravaei has collaborated with sought-after artists such as pianist and cultural activist Lara Downes, Grammy-nominated violinist Tessa Lark, and New York Philharmonic clarinetist Anthony McGill. Chamber musicians have championed his works, leading to commissions from Chamber Music Northwest—where he was a Protégé Project Composer-in-Residence—as well as Seattle Chamber Music Society and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. His rapidly expanding catalog has earned him notable honors including a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellowship, a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Composer Teaching Artist Fellowship, a New Music USA Creator Fund Award, and a Barlow Endowment Commission.
He counts celebrated composers Valerie Coleman, Richard Danielpour, and Derrick Skye among his teachers, and holds degrees in composition from UCLA and Indiana University. Ravaei is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School
The Tenby International Music Festival is built on community and the belief that music brings people together across cultures, backgrounds, and generations. With artists from as far as the United States, Australia, and Japan, alongside Welsh musicians and traditions, we’re working to introduce Tenby to a diverse range of musical voices.
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