These days Louise doesn’t get to perform publicly quite as much as she would like, but, when the opportunity arises its always chamber music, solo or very fun crazy viola repertoire with wonderful friends and colleagues.
For years and years Louise has been practicing very early in the mornings and still manages to keep this regime up some days – Much to the horror of her neighbours! When she is not having to work like crazy running the Strings Department at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, ARCO and all sorts of other mischief she can be found playing her beautiful violas for hours and hours throughout the weekends (this includes Cecil Aronowitz's c.1750 French viola and a more recent acquisition made by Antoine Gourdon). Louise loves playing music with her colleagues at RBC, students and friends around the UK. Anything from concerts of Hindemith’s music, commissions, viola ensemble, sonatas and daring arrangements she is game.
She is a member of the all South African ‘Ubuntu” Ensemble with Pieter Schoemann (violin), Rudi de Groote (cello), Leon Bosch (double bass) and Tessa Uys (piano). The Ubuntu Ensemble have recently given world premieres of works by the late Peter Klatzow, David Earl and the "African Suite" by Fela Sowande (arr. Robert Matthew Walker for quintet).
Performance projects include an all Hindemith concert in the composers' Kurhirtenturm in Frankfurt, and more recently as presenter and guest artist alongside Nobuko Imai at the 8th National Viola Festival featuring Paul Hindemith in Amsterdam in November 2021.
In 2020 Louise commissioned a series of 10 pieces from the South African composer Monthati Masebe - a tribute to each of the 10 Rivonia Trialists (1963-4). “Trials that Trail” remembers these men that sacrificed their freedom in the struggle against “apartheid” in South Africa. On 23 July 2020 the last of the Rivonia Trialists, Andrew Mlangeni passed away at the age of 95.
Louise is planning to record a solo CD of South African Viola Music by John Joubert, Hendrik Hofmeyr, Monthati Masebe and Bongani Ndodana-Breen.
Before moving to Birmingham Louise was a long-term member of the Pleyel Ensemble, Yeomans String Quartet and was busy free-lancing.
Here is my article about “Trials that Trail" or click here to download
Monthati and Louise Article
