Maxim Calver (cello) & Kumi Matsuo (piano)

Please note: Programme & Lineup Change

Due to an unforeseen family emergency, Geirthrudur Gudmundsdottir and Antoine Preat are no longer able to perform. Assembly House Classical is delighted to present Maxim Calver (cello) and Kumi Matsuo (piano) for this performance.

Assembly House Classical presents:

Maxim Calver (cello) & Kumi Matsuo (piano)

Programme:

• Debussy – Cello Sonata in D minor, L. 135

• Schumann – Drei Fantasiestücke, Op. 73

• Beethoven – Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 69

While it differs slightly from our original listing, this revised programme features three defining masterpieces of the cello repertoire, spanning Impressionist brilliance, Romantic lyricism, and Classical grandeur.

Date & Time: Thursday 12 November 2026 | 1.00pm (doors open 12.30pm)

Venue: The Assembly House, Norwich

Maxim Calver

Maxim Calver first gained public recognition as a Grand Finalist and Strings Category winner of BBC Young Musician 2018. Since then he has been in high demand across the UK and Europe, appearing in many of Europe’s leading venues including Wigmore Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zürich, and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. In recent seasons, he has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Bath, Plymouth, Stockport, Ipswich, Maidstone, and Young Musicians Symphony Orchestras, and performed debut recitals at the King's Lynn Festival, Hay Festival, Oranjewoud Festival, Cambridge Summer Music Festival, and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, amongst others.

A passionate chamber musician, Maxim has recently appeared at the Verbier Festival, Pau Casals International Music Festival, Edinburgh International Festival, and the IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music Seminar, as well as giving live radio broadcasts from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Berlin Konzerthaus, and Royal Holloway Chapel. In May 2024, he was invited to the prestigious Kronberg Academy for their ‘Chamber Music Connects the World’ Festival,performing alongside Lawrence Power, Gidon Kremer, and Antje Weithaas.

Originally from Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk, Maxim started the cello at the age of 4 before moving to the Yehudi Menuhin School aged just 8 years old. He is currently an Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel studying with Gary Hoffman and Jeroen Reuling. He has also received guidance from many of the world's leading musicians, including Steven Isserlis, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Nicolas Altstaedt, Frans Helmerson, and Ilya Gringolts.

Maxim is very grateful to have received support from the Amaryllis Fleming Foundation, Geoff and Val Richards,Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Drake Calleja Trust, and the Hattori Foundation.

Kumi Matsuo

Kumi Matsuo is a versatile solo pianist, chamber musician, and accompanist. She has won numerous competitions,including First Prize in the 6th Isidor Bajić Memorial Piano Competition in Serbia and First Prize in the 5th Louisiana International Piano Competition, USA. She is now on the staff at the Royal College of Music (RCM), working as Duo Coach to the String Faculty as well as accompanying other instruments.

Kumi studied at the Toho Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo, and then at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London,studying with John Blakely and Ashley Wass, completing her studies there with an Artist Diploma and Master of Music in Performance with Distinction. She also completed the Anthony Saltmarsh Junior Fellowship in Accompaniment. Her studies were generously supported by the Charles Napper Award, the Russell Gander Award, and the Rohm Music Foundation.

During her time at the RCM, Kumi won the RCM Concerto Competition twice, performing Ravel's Piano Concerto for Left Hand in Cadogan Hall with the RCM Sinfonietta conducted by Peter Stark, and Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto with the RCM Symphony Orchestra under Martin André in the Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall. She also played Schnittke's Concerto Grosso No. 1 with the RCM Chamber Orchestra under Vladimir Jurowski at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Kumi has played extensively across the UK, as well as in the USA, France, Italy,Holland, Poland, Romania, UAE, India, Korea, and Japan. She made her New York debut at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall and gave an extended concerto and recital tour in Louisiana.