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Join Risa Sekine (violin) and Hamish Jacob Brown (piano) as they celebrate the music of some of the most iconic working class composers in history. This event will bring different cultures, histories and genres together as part of the Mary Wollstonecraft's Music Cafe series.

Hamish Jacob Brown biography:

Hamish Jacob Brown started learning the trumpet at six years old and the guitar at eight, although he eventually became most interested in the piano which he began lessons with at eleven years old. He studied a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree in Performance and Related Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London where he participated in the Goldsmiths Sinfonia, Keyboard Collective, Jazz Ensemble, Contemporary Music Ensemble, and multiple Opera productions.

Hamish is currently undertaking a Master of Performance degree in Collaborative Piano at the Royal College of Music where he has taken part in the New Perspectives Orchestra, the 2021 Keyboard Festival, as well as numerous recitals and competitions with singers and instrumentalists.

Risa Michelle Sekine biography:

Risa Michelle Sekine is currently in her first year of her Master of Music degree at the Royal College of Music, where she studies with Jan Repko. She recently graduated with a First Class Honours degree from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, studying on a full scholarship under the tutelage of Nathaniel Vallois and Oliver Wille.

Risa had her concerto debut with the Ripieno Players playing Brahms’ Double Concerto in February 2020. During her time in Birmingham, besides various Conservatoire projects, Risa has led the orchestra playing in the Birmingham Hippodrome's home grown youth production of West Side Story, as well as played in the "Swan Lake Dreams" project alongside dancers and musicians of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She has also played in the CBSO Youth Orchestra- leading the 2nd Violin section in the 2018 course- as well as led the Orchestra of Solihull Schools in Concert as part of one of the many outreach projects she has participated in. She recently played in the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Strings Orchestra led by violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky. In 2018, Risa was accepted onto the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Training Scheme, in which she attended eight rehearsals with the CBSO as a Tutti Second Violin member. Risa has also played in masterclasses with Alina Ibragimova, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Daniele Gaede, Bin Huang and Linus Roth.

Having been brought up in a musical family in Tokyo, she started playing the violin when she was three years old. She has previously won the Kamakura Music Club prize and has been a finalist in multiple competitions including the Japan Player’s Competition, Kanagawa Music Concour and Japan Classical Music Competition. In 2012, she joined the Senzoku College of Music Junior Department where she studied with Sugino Kobayashi, and completed the course in 2016. She has been a part of various chamber ensembles and orchestras in both Tokyo and Birmingham, which has shaped her love of ensemble playing.

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Risa Michelle Sekine

Website: https://www.risamsviolin.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/rmsekineviolin/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risamsviolin/

Hamish Jacob Brown

Instagram: @jackbrownpiano