LEO PATSALIDES  |  Artistic Director

Leo was an Exhibitioner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (Department of Initial Studies) between 1994-99 where he specialised in piano, violin, viola, and began formal conducting studies. Under the guidance of his late mentor, Frederick Applewhite, Leo conducted all the major college symphony orchestras.

While still at school, and early in his career, Leo was soloist with orchestra in concert performances of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, the Grieg Piano Concerto, and the Bach D minor Piano Concerto.

Leo studied viola and conducting at Trinity College of Music, London, graduating with the Conducting Prize.

He made his professional conducting debut in 2000. In the same year he became one of the youngest conductors ever to be admitted to the Dartington International Summer School Advanced Conducting Course.

A Guest Conductor and Music Director throughout the 2000’s, Leo’s conducting has taken him to Finland and Greece.

Leo is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Amati Orchestra.

Photo Credit: Kate Mount

OI CHING CHAN | Guest Conductor

London-based Hong Kong conductor Oi Ching CHAN is a promising conductor known for her compelling presence and calm authority on the podium. Her recent performance with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra garnered acclaim from both the orchestra members and the panel of examiners at the Conductors Showcase 2023.

Recent highlights include participating in the Conducting Programme with Yannick Nézet-Séguin at the Académie du Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, and Conducting Workshop at the Peter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation. During the summer of 2022, Oi Ching assisted Ryan Bancroft with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the BBC Proms. She was also invited to partake in the prestigious Dartington Music Summer School, supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Women Conductors Programme.

Over the years, Oi Ching has collaborated with orchestras from around the world, including the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre Métropolitain, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Cambrica, and Radom Chamber Orchestra, among many others. She has had the privilege of being mentored by esteemed conductors such as Jac van Steen, Colin Metters, Sian Edwards, and Jonathan Mann.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Oi Ching earned her bachelor’s degree in Music from the Hong Kong Baptist University and completed her Master of Performance in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama under the guidance of David Jones. She is also a student of the world-renowned conductor Jorma Panula at the Panula Academy. In her leisure time, she enjoys relaxing hobbies such as cooking and camping.

ANTONINA SUHANOVA  |  Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto No 3

Pianist Antonina Suhanova has performed on international stages since 2000. After studies with Ludmila Kiselenko, Gunta Boža and Professor Juris Kalnciems in her native Latvia, she was admitted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD, London) where from 2012 to 2018 she acquired First Class Bachelor of Music and Master of Performance degrees, both with distinction, under the tutelage of the distinguished British pianist Ronan O’Hora. During her studies, Antonina participated in numerous masterclasses of such world-renowned pianists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Idil Biret, Pavel Gililov, Jaques Rouvier, Steven Osborne, Matti Raekallio, Richard Goode, Robert Levin and Yefim Bronfman.

Antonina Suhanova has performed at the Steinway Hall in New York, the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’s Piccadilly, Milton Court Concert Hall and Barbican Hall in London, the Riga Great Guild Hall, the Moscow International House of Music, and the Erin Arts Centre. She has appeared as a soloist with the “Moscow Virtuosi” Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, “Sinfonia Concertante” Chamber Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, and other collectives, collaborating with such distinguished conductors as Andris Nelsons and Vladimir Spivakov. Antonina has performed at renowned festivals in the United Kingdom, USA, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Switzerland, Austria and Russia. She made her debut performance at the Barbican Hall with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Adrian Leaper as a finalist of the Guildhall Gold Medal Prize in 2016. In 2018, her solo debut at the Wigmore Hall was broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3. In 2020 as the Musicians’ Company prize winner Antonina made her solo debut at the Southbank Centre Purcell Room. Performances of Antonina Suhanova have also been broadcasted by Latvian Radio 3 “Klasika”, Russian TV Channel One and Switzerland radio Espace 2.

Antonina is a recipient of the Hattori Foundation Senior Award, the Kenneth Loveland Gift, Help Musicians UK awards, the Drake Calleja Trust award, Making Music UK, the Musicians’ Company award, the William Brown prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition (2017) and a nominee for the International German Piano Award 2018. After completing the Artist Diploma course at the GSMD with distinction, Antonina was appointed junior fellow of the school. In 2019, she became a winner of the Help Musicians UK Transmission Fund award, the Making Music UK Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists award, and the Musicians’ Company award.

Since September 2022 Antonina joined the faculty of the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Antonina’s artistic schedule in 2023 / 2024 includes appearances with the Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra, the Amati Orchestra, as well as solo and chamber music recitals across the UK.

EDOUARD ALEXANDRE WOOD | Soloist & Leader (retired)

Edouard is a professional violinist and teacher based in London, and Leader of the Amati Orchestra, with whom he was soloist in the Bruch Violin Concerto No 1 in July 2016, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto in March 2015. Having started his musical journey as a chorister with the Metropolitan Cathedral Choir, he was inspired to play the violin at age 6 after hearing the Merseyside Youth Orchestra in Holst ‘The Planets’.

He entered Trinity College of Music London in 1989, completing graduate and postgraduate diplomas in violin performance under Hu Kun.

Edouard was awarded two scholarships to study chamber music with the world-renowned Brodsky and Smith quartet. As 1st Violin of the Marcucci String Quartet, Edouard toured Great Britain, Jersey and Northern France. He has also tutored and performed as a chamber music coach at the Dartington International Summer School and the Bath Guitar Festival.

Edouard has played with professional and amateur orchestras including the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, on tour with Sir Yehudi Menuhin, with the British Youth Opera Orchestra, Concilium, and on tour with Opera of the South.