2016 Performer Profiles:

No.3 – Ashok Klouda (cello)

Associate Artistic Director Jamie Campbell introduces some of the outstanding performers taking part in the 2016 Southwell Music Festival.

“The very high standard of Festival performances is due to the quality of our visiting musicians. I thought our audiences would enjoy getting to know some of these very special players and singers so are publishing a short series of profiles in the days leading up to the Festival. Returning for the third consecutive year is Ashok Klouda.

It is great to welcome back Ashok to Southwell again this year. He and I met as teenagers in the National Youth Orchestra and have enjoyed many collaborations in subsequent years.”

Please introduce yourself

“I’m a cellist based in Highgate, North London. My musical life is mainly focussed around chamber music and teaching, both of which I love. I am a member of the Artea Quartet, cello octet Cellophony and the London International Players and also perform in other flexible chamber music settings. I am one of the founders and directors of the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival which began in 2012 and takes place annually.”

What piece are you most looking forward to playing at the Festival?

“I absolutely love Strauss’ Metamorphosen, with its endless lines and dark textures, and I’m also really looking forward to performing Thomas Ades’ ‘Catch’, which is a hugely entertaining and theatrical work.”

What projects do you have coming up after the Festival?

“I’ve just had the pleasure of recording Schubert’s Quartet No.15 in G Major (one of my absolute favourite pieces) as a member of the Artea Quartet, and also very interesting piece for 4 cellos by the Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz, so am looking forward to hearing the finished products! This week I am off to play in a chamber music festival in Sylt, Germany along with my wife Natalie Klouda who will also be performing in Southwell this year.

“In the months immediately after the Southwell Music Festival I am very much looking forward to two concerts at Kings Place in September – performing the string trio arrangement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations and also ‘Alice in Wonderland’ for cello octet and narrator – and a programme of mixed chamber music at Cadogan Hall in November.

“Then at the end of November/beginning of December our festival will be taking place in Highgate, which is always a joy, especially after spending so much of the year organising and working towards it.

“However… the thing I am most excited about is the arrival of our second child – due at the end of September!!”