The East Midlands is home to both cellist John Parsons and Anglo-German pianist Beate Toyka. John was an outstanding student at the Royal Northern College of Music where he won the Hirsch prize for Chamber music. He took masterclasses with cellists Ralph Kirshbaum, Steven Isserlis and Wolfgang Boettcher, before graduating and taking his Performance Diploma.   

Beate studied first at Cologne Conservatoire, then took postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Hamish Milne. Here she won the Leslie England prize for interpretation. Both have since been active as concerto artists, performers and innovative teachers. John has been soloist in the Elgar cello concerto as well as preparing for the Shostakovich cello concerto. Beate has performed all of Beethoven’s piano concertos as well as Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Brahms concertos here and abroad. In the crazy year of 2020 both have successfully taken their concerts from live performances to Zoom screens! Their concerts combine impeccable music standards with a friendly and approachable presentation

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