Arts at Elstree
We are delighted to announce the start of our Sunday Evening concert series for 2025.
All concerts take place at the synagogue on Sunday evenings at 5:00pm.
Tickets are £15 (£13 for synagogue members and under 21s) and include refreshments with wine in the interval. Parking is available and the synagogue is fully accessible.
Sunday 18th May 5:00pm
Ellen Baumring-Gledhill (cello) and Dafydd Chapman (piano)
Programme
Couperin: Les Chérubins
De Falla: Suite Populaire Espagnole
Prokofiev: Cello Sonata
Interval
Ernest Bloch: Three Pieces from Jewish Life
Rachmaninoff: Cello Sonata
Cellist Ellen Baumring-Gledhill was a 2020 BBC Young Musician Strings Category Finalist and won Junior Guildhall’s Lutine Prize the same year. Completing her undergraduate studies at The Royal Academy of Music in 2024 with a first-class degree, Ellen continues on the Masters Programme, studying with Felix Schmidt and Christoph Richter and has won a number of prizes for performance including The Jacob Barnes Award, Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize, Historical Women’s Composer Prize and Wolfe Wolfinsohn String Quartet Prize. Winner of the 2025 Westbourne Orchestra Concerto Competition, Recent concerto performances include Elgar, Lalo and Dvořák with orchestras in London and Scotland. In 2023, Ellen participated in a residency at the Lake District Summer Music Festival with Guy Johnston and in 2022, premièred and recorded John Cooney’s Tendril for solo cello.
Pianist Dafydd Chapman is a first year Masters student at the Royal Academy of Music,
studying Ensemble Piano under Mei-Ting Sun and James Baillieu. Originally from Cardiff, he previously studied at the Junior Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with Nicola
Meecham. He was the first recipient of the Junior Conservatoire ABRSM Scholarship and
won the Junior Conservatoire’s Solo Piano Prize, Chamber Prize and 2015 Junior Concerto Competition, performing Chopin's Concerto No.1 with orchestra. He was 3 times winner of the national Urdd Eisteddfod and semi-finalist in the Gregynog Young Musician Competition. At the Royal Academy of Music, Dafydd was pianist for Trio Arisonto and has performed a wide range of chamber and ensemble repertoire. He won the Jacob Barnes Award in 2024.
Sunday 20th July 5:00pm
Milda Daunoraite (piano)
Lithuanian-born pianist Milda Daunoraite studies at the Royal Academy of Music under Tessa Nicholson on a full-fee scholarship. She has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Laeiszhalle in the Elbphilharmonie, and the United Nations in Geneva. A prize-winner of numerous international competitions, she won 1st Prize at the V. Krainev Competition and received the Jury Prize at PIANALE. She has appeared as a soloist with the Lithuanian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, performing Bacevičius’s Concerto No. 4, broadcast by Euroradio. Her performances have been broadcast by Mezzo & TV5 Monde in 40+ countries. She debuts at Wigmore Hall in October 2025.
Sunday 16th November 5:00pm
Leora Cohen (violin) and Matthew Schellhorn (piano)
British-American violinist Leora Cohen has been described as “a brilliant player” (Suzi Klein), with a “natural feel for melody” (Nicola Benedetti) and “the sound of heavenly beauty” (Maxim Vengerov). Following her double-first degree from the University of Cambridge and postgraduate Diplomas from the Royal College of Music, she now enjoys a diverse career performing as a recitalist, soloist and ensemble musician around the world. She takes particular delight in creating and performing a range of recitals around innovative themes and topics and collaborating with a range of duo partners. Leora is represented by the Kenneth Carol Agency in the USA.
Matthew Schellhorn is a British pianist acclaimed for his distinctive artistry and commitment to new music. He has performed at major venues and festivals for over twenty years, releasing critically acclaimed albums, including Messiaen: Chamber Works and Howells: Piano Music, Vol. 1. Schellhorn has given over 140 premieres and collaborated with leading orchestras and quartets. He is also a passionate educator, giving masterclasses and workshops internationally. He serves on the faculty at the University of Cambridge and as Patron of the National Youth Arts Trust and The Sand House Charity, supporting access to arts education and heritage projects.
