About the players

Kristiana Ignatjeva

Kristiana Ignatjeva has obtained degrees with distinction from Royal College of Music, London in Master of Performance and Artist Diploma. In 2010 she joined the Purcell School of Music where she studied with professor Robert Cohen. She is currently under mentorship of Zuill Bailey in the United States where she is also a teaching assistant at the University of Texas at El Paso. Kristiana has won many international and national competitions, recently being awarded the Muriel Taylor Scholarship. She has participated in many masterclasses with many tutors, including Raphael Wallfisch.  She has given recitals across Europe and North America in major concert halls, including the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall.

Kumi Matsuo

Kumi Matsuo studied at the Toho Gakuen College of Music, Tokyo, and then at the Royal College of Music, London studying with John Blakely and Ashley Wass. She completed her studies there with the award of the prestigious Artist Diploma with Distinction. Kumi made her London debut in 2008 playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto for Left Hand in Cadogan Hall, the following year she played Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No1 in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and in 2012 she played Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto at the Royal College of Music.