Natalia Lomeiko with Yuri Zhislin

World famous Violinist, Natalia Lomeiko is returning, with her husband, Violinist/Violist Yuri Zhislin.     What a treat to have two Violin/Violin Viola Professors at the Royal College of Music in London entertain us!     Pianist Sarah Watkins is a frequent visitor to Queenstown Lakes. She was accompanist for 2022 AWE Festival and several Wanaka Concert Society concerts over the years. That Natalia and other superb performers choose her to accompany them, says it all.   

Natalia Lomeiko Violin 

  Natalia Lomeiko launched her solo career at the age of seven with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic. A few years later she was invited to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School, hailed by Menuhin as ‘one of the most brilliant of our younger violinists’.     After completing her studies at the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music she won several prestigious international competitions, including first prize in the Premio Paganini in Italy and The Michael Hill in New Zealand.    She has appeared with major orchestras around the world, including St Petersburg Radio Symphony, Tokyo Royal Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Melbourne Symphony, Royal Philharmonic and many other orchestras.     Natalia has performed chamber music with such renowned musicians as Gidon Kremer, Tabea Zimmermann, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Shlomo Mintz, Boris Pergamenschikov, Isabelle Faust and Yuri Bashmet.     She has recorded for Dynamic, Foné and Trust Records with pianist Olga Sitkovetsky. In 2010 she was appointed Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London.   

Yuri Zhislin Violin/Viola 

  Yuri Zhislin became the BBC Radio Two Young Musician of the Year in 1993 and has performed throughout Europe, America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.     He regularly appears both on the violin and the viola at festivals around the world. His chamber music partners have included María João Pires, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Natalie Clein.     Zhislin is the founder and Artistic Director of the Russian Virtuosi of Europe, an ensemble that brings together some of the finest young Russian musicians based in Western Europe.     He is currently a Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London and gives master-classes throughout Europe. His début recital CD for the Somm label in 2005 was received with great critical acclaim.   

Sarah Watkins Piano 

  Sarah’s passion for accompanying and chamber music has led to an impressive career as a performer and recording artist.     She is perhaps best known to New Zealand audiences as a founding member of NZTrio. After 16 years in that role, Sarah now enjoys a wide variety of collaborations with musicians all over Aotearoa.    Sarah has been an official pianist for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition since its inception in 2001.     She regularly appears as a freelance player in the APO, and has also performed as concerto soloist with the APO, ACO and St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra.     In 2014 Sarah recorded Chris Watson's "sing songs self" for solo piano and orchestra with the NZSO, a composition which was awarded the prestigious 2015 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.    An award-winning recording artist, she was named Classical Artist of the Year with violinist Andrew Beer at the 2020 Aotearoa Music Awards, for their CD “11 Frames”; ‘Sway’ (NZTrio, 2017) and ‘Gung-ho’ (2009, with NZSO principal trombonist David Bremner).     Sarah and Andrew were both previous winners of the Vodafone NZ Music Award for best Classical album.    Sarah is a graduate of the University of Canterbury (NZ) and the Juilliard School (NY), where she earned both MM and DMA degrees in collaborative piano. She maintains an active private teaching practice, and is on staff at the University of Auckland.