Duo Macleod/Sturfält

Marie Macleod and Martin Sturfält started working together as a duo in 2003 when both were still students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. Whilst both players enjoy busy individual careers performing as soloists with orchestras and in various chamber ensembles, working regularly as a duo enables them to explore their common interest for less well-known repertoire. This is reflected in their choice of recital programmes, in which they aim to feature works from the vast and much loved standard repertoire for cello and piano, combined with new music and previously neglected pieces from earlier periods. It is also their aim to commission and premiere one work each year and to present it to new audiences. In 2004 Swedish composer Gunnar Valkare composed Corso for Marie and Martin and it received its first performance in the Åkerö Chamber Music Festival in Sweden during the summer of 2005. In December 2005 Marie and Martin recorded the same work along with music by Webern for the Swedish Radio, due for broadcast during 2006. In the three years since the forming of the Macleod/Sturfält Duo they have performed some 50 concerts together throughout the UK, Holland and Sweden. 2005 highlights include performances in venues such as London’s Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall and Festivals in Sweden. 2006 sees them return to the Wigmore Hall as well as taking part in the BBC Elliot Carter festival and playing more concerts in the UK and in Sweden. In 2005 Marie and Martin were one of the recipients of the Tunnell Trust Award, and as a result they will tour in Scotland during the spring of 2007. They have previously been awarded engagements by among others the Park Lane Group and the Kirckman Society.