About

Joana Ly 

Portuguese violinist Joana started playing violin aged 4 and soon joined the Aveiro Conservatoire of Music where she studied with Ana Sofia Mota until she finished school.Continuing her studies, her main teachers were Radu Blidar(Royal College of Music, London), Gordan Nikolic (Codarts, Rotterdam) and Paul Wakabayashi (chamber music – ANSO, Lisbon). 
She also participated in Masterclasses for solo and chamber music, given by distinguished Professors including Daniel Rowland, Leonid Kerbel, Zoltan Santa and the Chilingirian Quartet. As chamber music is one of her main passions, Joana was a member of the Sattler Quartet and now co-manages Artisti con Brio. She attended many festivals such as Harmus Festival, Stift International Festival, Aurora Chamber Music and Lake District Chamber Music.
Joana has been a member and guest in several orchestras including Garsington Opera, London Mozart Players, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, Britten Sinfonia, Opera North, Orpheus Sinfonia, Philharmonia Amsterdam, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Chipping Campden Festival Academy Orchestra. Her interest for historical performance has led her to some festivals such as Dartington, EUBO Mobile Academy and Freiburg Barockorchester Academy where she had the opportunity of studying with wonderful violinists such as with Petra Müllejans, Margaret Faultless and Adrian Butterfield. She also plays regularly with period ensembles such as Brandenburg Sinfonia and Feuersinfonie(Utrecht Oude Muziek Fringe Festival). In 2016 she received a Career development bursary from Help Musicians UK and performed complete Beethoven Sonatas in a four-concert cycle in London.
Whilst studying in London, Joana was a recipient of the Gulbenkian Scholarship and was grateful to have the support of the Harrison Frank Foundation, for the loan of a Maurizi violin.

Kirsty MacLeod


​Kirsty is a Scottish violinist that has a passion for chamber music. After two years of music tuition at the Music School of Douglas Academy, Kirsty went on to receive a First Class Bachelor of Music from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. During her time there, she won numerous prizes as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as being invited to partake in festivals including Mendelssohn on Mull and Festival MusicAlpe.
Kirsty went on to receive a Master of Arts with Distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in London under the tutelage of Maureen Smith.
She has freelanced with numerous Scottish and English Orchestras and has been awarded Scholarships from Thomas and Margaret Roddan, Dewar Trust and the Wolfson Scholarship for which she is extremely grateful.
Kirsty enjoys playing on a Silvestre violin kindly on loan from the Harrison Frank Foundation.

Edward Keenan
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​​Edward Keenan stumbled upon the music of Ludwig van Beethoven during a walk along the River Tweed. After surmising that Beethoven’s ninth symphony wasn’t too bad, his obsession with the composer’s output began, which led to his discovering the momentous string quartets. Edward has been a busy chamber musician ever since, and has set about building his life around this genre. 
He is a founding member of the Broen Ensemble, a string ensemble based in Glasgow. As recipients of a Tunnel Trust Award, they will be giving concerts throughout the north of Scotland during the 2020/21 season.
Edward is also a founder member of the Corràn Quartet. Formed in 2019, they quickly set about discovering the wonders of Beethoven’s quartets. During 2020 they shall undertake a complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets, marking the 250th anniversary of the great composer’s birth. 

Alongside his busy chamber music schedule, Edward is a passionate and experienced orchestral player. He was principal viola of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra. He also freelances with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of Scottish Opera. 
Edward was born in Edinburgh. Having initially started out as a violin player, he switched to the viola at the age of 16 to play in his school’s string quartet. He studied his undergraduate degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, learning with Duncan Ferguson and Jane Atkins. In 2018, Edward began his postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Martin Outram. 
Edward is very grateful to have had the opportunity to study at the Royal Academy of Music. He would like to thank the Craxton Memorial Trust, The Robertson Trust, The Caird Trust, The Cross Trust and the Henfrey Charitable Trust for making his studies financially possible.

Molly McWhirter
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Molly McWhirter is a Scottish cellist born in Linlithgow. She recently obtained her Masters in Performance with Distinction at the Guildhall School of Music, having previously studied as an Undergraduate at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Robert Irvine and Martin Storey. Molly recently performed the Schumann Cello Concerto as soloist with the Antonine Ensemble, and was a finalist in the Governors’ Recital Prize for Strings in 2016. She feels fortunate to have received master classes from some of the world’s top musicians such as Rebecca Gilliver, Pieter Wispelwey and Robert De-Maine. Molly’s love of chamber music has led her to study with members of the London Haydn, Dante, Heath, Chilingirian and Endellion Quartets. With her quartet in Glasgow she won second place in the Mabel Glover String Quartet Prize in 2015. She is also a member of Joana's collective 'Artisti Con Brio'. Orchestral highlights include work with Isobel Griffiths Ltd., Scottish Ballet, Heritage Orchestra, London Concertante, Ensemble Cymru and Sinfonia Cymru. She has enjoyed playing alongside other professional ensembles such as LSO, BBCSSO & Academy of St Martin in the Fields. When she's not playing cello Molly spends her time running, kickboxing, escaping to the countryside, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.