Naoko Keatley

violin

Naoko Keatley made her debut performance as soloist with the Sydney Youth Orchestra at the age of eight, and has since performed in venues around the world, including Wigmore Hall, Sydney Opera House and Queen Elizabeth Hall. She joined the LSO in 2014, having been in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for five years before that, and also has a busy freelance career in London. Naoko lives with her husband Niall and their two children.

Anna Bastow

viola

Anna Bastow grew up in East Yorkshire where she started learning the violin aged seven. She concurrently studied music at Manchester University, and violin and viola at the Royal Northern College of Music. She then continued her viola studies with Predrag Katanic in Linz, Austria. Soon after graduating, she spent five years as Co-Principal Viola of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra before joining the LSO in 2011.

Peteris Sokolovskis

cello

Latvian cellist Peteris Sokolovskis combines a career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and occasional soloist. Before the pandemic he performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Barnet Symphony Orchestra and Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante with the Corinthian Chamber Orchestra.

As guest principal he has played with the Netherlands Philharmonic and Trondheim Symphony orchestras, and is a regular guest with the LSO and Aurora Orchestra. He was a member of Kremerata Baltica for four years, touring extensively throughout Europe, North and South America, and Asia. As a chamber musician he has performed at festivals in Europe and South America.

He teaches at the Oxford Cello School and La Mariette Junior Course in France, and regularly works with LSO Discovery and Multi-Story Orchestra. During lockdown he occupied himself with carpentry and bicycle repair.

Rachel Leach

presenter

Rachel Leach was born in Sheffield. She studied composition, and her music has been recorded by NMC and published by Faber. She has won several awards, including the RPS award for best education project 2009 for One Day, Two Dawns, with English Touring Opera (ETO).

Rachel has worked within the education departments of most of the UK’s orchestras and opera companies. The majority of her work is for the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Rachel has written well over 20 pieces for LSO Discovery and 15 community operas, including seven for English Touring Opera.

Increasingly in-demand as a concert presenter, as well as presenting the LSO Discovery Free Friday Lunchtime Concert series, she regularly presents children’s concerts and pre-concert events for the LSO, LPO, Philharmonia Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal College of Music and Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Angie Newman
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Angie Newman has worked extensively across music and deaf education for many years. Her knowledge and expertise in these areas, combined with her skills as both a British Sign Language interpreter and a musician, enable her to make music more accessible to young deaf people and adults, bridging the worlds of deafness and music, something she feels passionate about.

She has worked for six successive years with the BBC, interpreting family Proms, including CBeebies Proms. She works with a variety of leading orchestras in the UK, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and many others, interpreting for their education and community programmes. Angie loves to relax by walking, cycling, playing the piano and violin, and practising yoga.