Violin and Viola Masterclass with Natalia Lomeiko and Yuri Zhislin

It is a tremendous honour to have Natalia Lomeiko and Yuri Zhislin join us during their return tour to New Zealand. In this special double-masterclass, Natalia and Lomeiko will work with invited students from the Chiron Music Academy – a once in a lifetime experience for these young musicians and an incredible learning opportunity for audience members too.

Two of the best musicians of their generation on the international scene, Natalia Lomeiko and Yuri Zhislin, soloists and chamber musicians, return to perform and teach in New Zealand this month. Natalia, winner of many international awards, including the Paganini Prize in Italy and Yuri, founder of the "Russian Virtuosi of Europe Chamber Orchestra" and director of the Evaristo Valle International Chamber Music Festival, among others. Both are professors at the Royal College of Music in London; for full biographies see below.

Attendance at this session is highly recommended for any aspiring young string players and their parents, enthusiastic adult amateurs and all teaching professionals. Tickets purchased allow entry to both masterclasses on the day - taking place in Rooms 5 and 8 at the Chiron Music Academy (311 Manukau Road). For more information, email events@chirongroup.nz.

Natalia Lomeiko

Born into a family of musicians in Novosibirsk, Russia, Natalia has established herself internationally as a versatile performing artist. Having won numerous prizes in Tibor Varga, Tchaikovsky, Menuhin, Stradivari International Violin competitions; in the year 2000 she received the Gold Medal and the 1st Prize in the Premio Paganini International Violin Competition (Genoa, Italy) and the 1st prize in the Michael Hill International Violin Competition (Auckland, New Zealand) in 2003.

Natalia studied at the Specialist Music School in Novosibirsk with Prof. A. Gvozdev, at the Yehudi Menuhin School in England with Lord Menuhin and Prof. N. Boyarskaya, at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music with Prof. Hu Kun and currently lives in London.

Natalia Lomeiko has been appointed a Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London in 2010 and at Eton College in 2017. Natalia appeared as Guest Concertmaster of Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Radio Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and was Concertmaster of Oxford Philharmonic from 2011-2022 at the University of Oxford.

Yuri Zhislin

Described by The Strad as a "virtuoso with a truly Romantic temperament", a violinist and violist Yuri Zhislin enjoys an active and illustrious career as soloist and chamber musician. His performances have taken him to nearly 60 countries around the globe.

A major prize-winner in the 1991 Sarasate International Violin Competition in Spain, Yuri entered the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with his father and later Dr Andrievsky. In 1993, Yuri became the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year.

Yuri is a professor of violin and viola at the Royal College of Music in London and is in high demand as a visiting professor at the Mozart Italia Terni Summer Academy, the Allegro-Vivo Academy in Austria and the Gijon Summer Academy in Spain. He also gives master classes in Russia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Madeira, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.