Cat’s Cradle Collective >> playing in Das Tripas Coração
António Sá-Dantas is a composer, conductor and countertenor. In all the different sides of his creative output he finds one source — looking for novelty, wonder and expression through sound. He has composed works for orchestra, ensemble, choir, voice as well as performative works and installations.
During his artistic residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts (USA) in the summer of 2016, he composed the radio music play Eine Schwalbe falten on a text by Margret Kreidl, commissioned and broadcasted by the Austrian national radio Ö1. He has also had a long standing relationship with the Portuguese national radio Antena 2 leading up to this years broadcast of the Portuguese version of this music theatre for radio. Dobrar uma Andorinha was broadcast, with the renowned actress Rita Blanco playing the main role in Oct. and Nov. 2018. Antena 2 has also commissioned a new work in form a music theatre for radio for 2019. António was Casa da Música’s Young Composer in Residence 2016. For that position he was commissioned three works: perante sonora flor esta, Ferocidade and Désir t’a appris l’inanité du désir, all premiered in Casa da Música by leading ensembles. His earlier work Cantos for choir a cappella was awarded the 2nd prize in the Styria Cantat Choir Competition in 2015 and was subsequently recorded and published.
António is the co-creator and principal conductor of the Cat’s Cradle Collective (CCC), an ensemble dedicated to performing music across ages and genres; and the Voyage Ensemble, an ensemble that explores experimental film music. In December 2018 he will conduct the CCC with the UK premiere of his work Désir t’a appris in the Royal College of Music Concert Hall, including works by Bach, Lutoslawski, Pärt and the renaissance composer Brunet.
His work as a composer and performer merged into each other with the creation of the music+dance performance Suspensão. Co-created and performed by António, choreographer Clara Andermatt and improviser Jonas Runa, Suspensão has been touring ever since its premiere in 2016 through the most prominent concert halls in Portugal. He recently worked with visual artist Judith Deschamps on a work exploring artificial intelligence in recreating Farinelli’s voice.
He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Composition and in Orchestra Conducting from the Kunstuniversität Graz. His teachers included Beat Furrer and Martin Siegahrt, respectively. He was part of the Impuls Festival 2017, had a workshop with Emanuel Nunes in Gulbenkian Foundation (2010). António has a Masters in Composition (Hons) from the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Jonathan Cole.
He is currently working on a new radio sound theatre for Antena 2 (Portugal), based on Calvino’s works, and is creating new programmes for the Cat’s Cradle Collective to be premiered in 2020.
Dutch-American violinist Maren Bosma (1996) started playing the violin at age 7 and was accepted into the Conservatory of Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Academy for Young Talent aged 14, studying with Lex Korff de Gidts. She continued her studies in his class, and received her Bachelor’s degree from the CvA with a minor in Theory of Music in 2017. She went on to pursue her Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London, under the tutelage of Gabrielle Lester and Daniel Rowland. She graduated in 2019 with Distinction. Maren is a versatile violinist with an academic disposition. She presented her latest research on audience experience in July 2019 at the Audience Research in the Arts Conference at the University of Sheffield, where she was the youngest delegate and only master student to be invited to speak.
A musician with many interests, Maren is an accomplished orchestral musician as well as chamber musician and soloist. She has been a guest artist and participant in many international festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival and School (US), IMS Prussia Cove (UK), Stift International Music Festival (Netherlands), Thy Chamber Music festival (Denmark), and Pienza Music festival (Italy).
Maren has held various concertmaster positions for orchestras within the UK as well as outside, such as with the RCM Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Project, and the London Firebird Orchestra, under conductors such as Bernard Haitink, John Wilson, and Andrew Gourlay. She is currently a regular extra with the Netherlands Philharmonic and has recently been appointed concertmaster of the Bath Festival Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Maren was the leader of the Maconchy Quartet from 2018 to 2020 and has given performances with high-profile ensembles such as the Brodsky Quartet and the Bukolika Piano Trio. She is the co-founder and leader of the London-based Cat’s Cradle Collective, and is also part of the Amsterdam-based Arboris Duo with percussionist Niek Kleinjan.
Maren spends much of her time on questions regarding mental health among performing musicians (students as well as professionals), audience experience in musical performance, and the process of career building among music graduates – she generally avoids competitions and believes rather in creating a path through her own meaningful activities, inviting other musicians to be a part of these along the way, and finding and bringing out the unique strengths of every individual she works with.
Alex Temple-Heald, originally from Oldham Manchester, began studying music at Chetham’s School of Music in 2014. He then went on to win a scholarship at the Royal College of Music and graduated in 2020. There he studied with BBC Symphony Orchestra principal percussionist David Hockings, London session drummer Ralph Salmins, jazz vibraphonist Anthony Kerr and latin percussionist Hugh Wilkinson along with many other internationally recognised musicians.
During his time at college Alex has worked with Bernard Haitink, Antonio Pappano, John Wilson and Mark Anthony-Turnage amongst others. Playing in a wide variety of projects, including working with musicians internationally; mostly notably performances at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris with Phillipe Bernold and Olivier Stankiewicz has allowed him to explore and develop his understanding of a wide variety of orchestral styles as well as building an extensive repertoire of solo and chamber music.
Away from orchestral and contemporary music, Alex played regularly with The National Youth Jazz Orchestra during his time college and made appearances with the BBC Big Band along with various other jazz, pop and latin groups. This has led him to perform across the country at venues such as Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club and many more. Alex is also a keen composer and hopes to pursue his original music more prominently in the near future.
Daniel Tancredi is a 22 year old double bassist who has recently graduated from the Royal College of Music and is now a master’s student at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
Daniel started playing when he was 11 years old and has steadily continued playing since. He has played with the RCM Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the English National Opera and under the baton of conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Rafael Payare, and Antonio Pappano.
In his free time he enjoys playing video games, drinking coffee, and hiking.
Richard Lines-Davies studied at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester for two years before starting his studies at the Royal College of Music. In 2018, he graduated with a 1st Class Honours degree and over his time there, he was taught taught by John Anderson, Gareth Hulse and Jane Marshall.
Since graduating, Richard has had the honour of playing heckelphone alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra, the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra in Dublin and, most recently, the London Symphony Orchestra.
He has had the privilege of working with some of the world's finest conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Kazuki Yamada, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Maxim Vengerov, and Holly Mathieson.
Aside from teaching, Richard performs in musical theatre productions across London on oboe, saxophone, clarinet and flute, including alongside the London Musical Theatre Orchestra productions of Candide at the Cadogan Hall (2017) and Camelot at the London Palladium (2018).
Recent ensemble performances include The London Sinfonietta Academy (2018 - 19), 'Musica Mundi' Festival in Belgium (2017 - 19), 'Endelienta' Festival in Cornwall (2016 - 19).
Recent concerto performances include the Strauss Oboe Concerto in March 2018 and the Mozart Oboe Concerto in December 2017.
In his spare time, Richard is in to gaming, coffee, and trying out new recipes.
Will Roberts is in his 4th year Studying Tenor Trombone at the Royal College of music with Byron Fulcher and Lindsay Shilling. Previous to this, he studied at Junior Trinity Conservatoire with George Bartle and Euphonium with Sarah Leeves through Brighton and Hove Music Service.
Although Will has performed Euphonium Solos by Philip Sparke and Stephen Roberts with The East Sussex Brass Band, the highlight of his playing career on Euphonium is Touring the Horovitz Euphonium Concerto with the Brighton Youth Orchestra in 2016. On Trombone, he was the principal of the Brighton Youth Orchestra, East Sussex Youth Orchestra and the Junior Trinity Symphony Orchestra, with whom he performed the 1st movement of the Grondahl Trombone Concerto with in July 2017, after winning the concerto competition.
Also in 2017, he was awarded the Philip Jones brass prize at the junior trinity prize giving. More recently he has performed in a number of great projects at the RCM, including playing multiple solos with the RCM Big band and the Imperial College big band.