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| Violetta Suvini (Photo: Marleen Annema) |
On 10 July 2026 at Pittville Pump Room in Cheltenham, violinist Violetta Suvini is joined by friends, Hana Mizuta-Spencer (violin), Dominic Stokes (viola) and Nina Kiva (cello) for Violetta Suvini and Friends as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival. The concert features the premieres of works commissioned from Jasmine Morris, Ben Nobuto and Imogen Davey, along with a performance of Britten's String Quartet No. 2. New York-based Jasmine Morris won BBC Young Composer in 2020 and has since written for the Viktoria Mullova Ensemble and Solem Quartet. Ben Nobuto made waves when his Hallelujah Sim, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and BBC Singers, opened the 2024 BBC Proms [see my review of National Youth Choir's Young Composers 4 disc on NMC which features Nobuto's Sol and The nearness of things]. Imogen Davey’s compositions have been premiered as far afield as Seoul, Berlin, Barcelona, Helsinki and Melbourne, often using electronic, acoustic and visual elements in her work.
The Cheltenham project is the brainchild of Violetta, a violinist whose practice covers a remarkably wide range. Violetta met viola player Dominic Stokes whilst they were both at the Guildhall School, and they worked together including playing in Serenity 2.0, Ben Nobuto's work for string quartet, percussion and electronics that won a Royal Philharmonic Society award in 2023, as well as playing Jasmine Morris's SO-ŌN for string quartet, field recordings and found sounds at the Venice Biennale in 2025. Violetta had commissioned a work from Imogen Davey, Naegleria Fowleri for violin and electronics which premiered in 2023 [The name refers to a pathogenic microorganism, commonly referred to as the ‘brain-eating amoeba’, that can cause fatal brain infection!]
There is only a sparse repertoire for violin and viola, so the idea developed to commission new works. These would be able to include electronics because, as Violetta comments, this both reflects the time we are in and speaks to the younger generation. The three commissions in the concert provide a rich showcase for the combination of violin and viola, showing what it can do. When I spoke to Violetta she had recently spoken to all three composers and been reassured that their pieces were on track.
Whilst Ben Nobuto commonly uses electronics in his works, his commission for Violetta and Dominic will not be doing so and Violetta comments that it will be interesting to see his writing pared back. His piece is about trying to recapture a moment of wonder, and it will include speaking. Jasmine Morris's piece will examine the multiplicity of the same identity involving transformations. All three pieces will, in different ways, speak of being present in a moment which Violetta sees as being very topical, how fleeting everything is.
For Violetta, Cheltenham Music Festival has a rich history of commissioning British music [the 2025 Festival concluded with a concert featuring music by Britten and Arnold premiered at the first Festival in 1945, along with a new piece by Anna Semple, see my review]. As such, Violetta sees Cheltenham as one of the best festivals for artists to take a risk. When she suggested the idea of three violin and viola duo commissions to artistic director Jack Bazalgette he was enthusiastic and suggested pairing the pieces with a work of more core repertoire. Britten's String Quartet No. 2 was commissioned by the arts patron Mary Behrend in 1945 (the year of that first Cheltenham Festival) and premiered at Wigmore Hall. Violetta loves the idea that what was a new work in 1945 has now become core repertoire.
Violetta also has funding to make master recordings of the three new pieces alongside new works by Toby Anderson (who is one of Britten Sinfonia's Magnum Opus composers) and Allan Posner, to create a disc which will demonstrate the great variety of new music for this particular combination of instruments. She is hoping for further performances after the Cheltenham premiere including in the Autumn.
All four of the players at the Cheltenham concert have known each other for years. Violetta and violinist Hana Mizuta-Spencer have played chamber music together, and both played in Fantasia Orchestra. Likewise with cellist Nina Kiva who was also in the National Youth Orchestra with Violetta. The quartet will also be playing at the Festival's Mixtape event.
Chamber music is the heart and soul of everything Violetta wants to do. For her, it is a spirit of music making that is collaborative, and communicating with an audience in a way that is special. The repertoire is endless and exploring it could take a lifetime. Violetta enjoys stylistic versatility and everything she does is in a spirit of open-mindedness, and she returns to the idea of communication with both colleagues and audiences.
Contemporary music is important to her, it is how she found her way into all the other things she is involved in. For Violetta, contemporary music is a portal into how we reflect the world around us now. Contemporary music was also her portal into other genres, and she refers to being influence by such things as the playfulness of Schnittke's music, providing a dialogue between different practices. It has also proved a way into core repertoire as well as encouraging her to take risks.
.jpeg "Dominic Stokes") |
| Dominic Stokes |
Violetta recently joined the Royal Northern Sinfonia as a sub-principal. She calls them a fantastic group of chamber musicians and points out that they are the only full-time chamber orchestra in the UK! Violinist Maria Włoszczowska has directed a number of these concerts and Violetta mentions Włoszczowska directing Brahms' Violin Concerto from the violin, and performing Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. The Royal Northern Sinfonia is currently Violetta's base, and it is a wonderful place to get to know core repertoire. Violetta sees it as important for a young chamber musician to work in that scale of ensemble. She commends the spontaneity of the players, commenting on a recent performance of Mozart with Riccardo Minasi which was notable for the spontaneousness of the instrumental playing.
She would love to play more chamber music, notably more string quartet repertoire, and she feels that she could go deeper into this repertoire. Violetta enjoys that performances need to be collaborative and creative, taking risks with the material whilst trusting the audience to make what they want of it. The ability to take these risks is important to players' practice as musicians.
She also feels that concert formats and the way of playing are changing. This is reflected in her commissions for Cheltenham for violin, viola and electronics which are intended to create the types of listening experiences that can young people in as they already have a level of familiarity with electronics. And this familiarity helps the young audience gain more insight into the music. Violetta wanted to work with contemporary musicians who have a similar perspective, so that they can push the direction the music is going.
The idea of young people playing young music is central to her projects.
Violetta Suvini & Friends - Cheltenham Music Festival - Pittville Pump Room, 10 July 2026. Further details.
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