FOUNDERS
Mark Messenger
Anglo-Armenian violinist, Mark Messenger, has had a broad and varied career resulting in a global reputation as soloist, chamber musician, conductor, teacher, jury member, speaker and consultant.
His love of music and the human connection it offers has meant he has shared the concert platform with many remarkable musicians. For over four decades he performed on some of the most prestigious concert platforms in the world as a string quartet and chamber musician, recitalist, concerto soloist, orchestral leader and conductor. He is privileged to have appeared with great international artists such as Lord Yehudi
Menuhin, Ivy Gitlis, Maxim Vengerov, Bernard Greenhouse, Natalie Clein, Raphael Wallfisch, Yonty Solomon, Howard Shelley, John Lill, Michael Collins, David Campbell, Chris Garrick and Sir John Dankworth.
As a quartet player, for many decades Mark Messenger has toured and performed with the Bochmann String Quartet, immersing himself deeply in the spiritual and transformative world of great string quartet repertoire, unlocking the secrets of truly intuitive and spontaneous chamber music performance. Mark has appeared internationally as a soloist, and as a duo recitalist with his long-time musical and life partner, pianist Maria Tarasewicz.
He has led symphony and chamber orchestras, opera and ballet companies including the Bolshoi Ballet and the European Camber Opera. Other performing highlights have been as a studio musician and conductor, including recording soundtracks for Hollywood Films and rock and pop albums and conducting two of the iconic Ayoub Sisters albums. In the 1980s and 1990s he toured extensively with his own innovative jazz/rock group, Mercury Jazz.
He has appeared as a jury member for many international competitions in Europe, South East Asia, America and the UK. He is also much in demand as a speaker, mentor and consultant for educational projects.
However, it is teaching that is Mark Messenger’s main passion. His ability to build both technical assurance and artistic integrity has contributed to his students’ many and varied successful international careers as chamber musicians, soloists, principal players in major orchestras and innovators within the music industry. His unique and insightful guidance, and the demands he places on his students to continue searching and examining the repertoire have proved to be transformative. He has been invited to give masterclasses in great institutions throughout the world.
For over two decades he taught violin and chamber music at the Royal College of Music in London where he was also the head of department. Here he also founded and was the artistic director and conductor of the RCM String Band, an innovative ensemble whose alumni include some of the world’s most dynamic and original musicians. His educational philosophy underpins the ethos and impact of The Thinking Musician music programme of which he is a Co-founder and Artistic Director.
As long as his exploration of life and music continues to provide such human experiences, he will continue the journey with travelling companions from any walk of life and in any nation of the world.
Maria Tarasewicz
Maria Tarasewicz is a passionate chamber musician and duo pianist. She has had the privilege of working with and developing young artists, through the programs at many of the world's most renowned music conservatoires, international masterclasses as well as being a founder director of the unique project, The Thinking Musician.
She has been invited to perform and teach in Norway, France, Italy, Jersey, San Marino, Poland, China and UK. While living in London, Maria Tarasewicz developed and delivered a unique and innovative coaching programme for string players at the Royal College of Music.
Now based in Belgium, Maria Tarasewicz teaches piano within the Composition and Theory Departments as well as being the accompanist for numerous classes in the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles and at the Institute Royal Supérieur de Musique et de Pédagogie (IMEP) in Namur, where she is developing an innovative programme for strings.
Often the success of an artist is measured though diplomas, competitions, social media popularity and a busy diary. Despite having these attributes, for Maria Tarasewicz it is the joy and fulfilment of a sustainable life in music, and the transformative impact on those with whom she has worked that is the highest award she continuously receives.
