Daniel Chappell

Piano TEACHER

Daniel Lee Chappell is a pianist and composer, who has worked across the UK, US, and Europe including at Mariinsky II Theatre, Cadogan Hall, St Petersburg Philharmonia Hall, Three Choirs Festival, and ENO Lillian Baylis House. He was mentored by acclaimed pianist Andrew Wilde through the sponsorship of the North West Arts Trust, before moving to London in 2015 to take up a Robert McFadzean Whyte scholarship at the Royal College of Music.

A passionate performer of contemporary music, and alumnus of the London Sinfonietta Academy, he has performed with ensembles including Asyla Ensemble, Melos Sinfonia and Illini Modern Ensemble, and worked as an accompanist and repetiteur with Opera Holland Park, Helios Collective, and Bloomsbury Opera.

Recent engagements have included performing the Schoenberg Piano Concerto at the Waterloo Festival, a residency with the Cohan Collective writing new music for dance, and talking about his work with interdisciplinary collective Spectra Ensemble at the Tate Modern.

He is also a teacher and animateur, and previously lectured on Creative Learning through the Arts at Reading University.

Matthew Duncan

Piano and singing teacher

Matthew trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Associated Studios, London. Recent roles include Bourgeois (Fortunio) with Grange Park Opera and Buxton Opera Festival, Schaunard (La Boheme) with Opera Up Close, Hobson (Peter Grimes) with the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra, Gerald (La belle de la Bete) at Tete a Tete Opera Festival, Baron (La Traviata) with Opera UK and Petaling Jaya Arts Theatre in Kuala Lumpur, Gugliemo (Cosi fan Tutte) with European Chamber Opera and Jackdaws Opera.

He recently performed in Iris, La Boheme and The Queen of Spades with Opera Holland Park and also sang in Northern Ireland Opera’s critically acclaimed production of Turandot. Other credits have included Peter Grimes, Queen of Spades, Fortunio, Madama Butterfly, Idomeneo, Tosca, Love for Three Oranges and Tristan und Isolde at Grange Park Opera.

On the solo concert platform he has sung at numerous venues across the UK, performing recently at the London Handel Festival with the Amade Players and also in the title role in Elijah at the Cadogan Hall with the LGMC.

Matthew also sings with the Blossom Street Singers and the J-Tones Quartet who perform regularly across the UK. He is also a member of Eschoir who recently performed for the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.

In addition to performing Matthew enjoys a busy schedule of private piano and singing teaching. He co-conducts the St. Giles Choir in Camberwell (South London) and also the Camberwell Community Choir in London which enjoys regular performances across London including recent performances at Young-Vic Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall.

Lisa Sumner

Cello and Piano teacher

Lisa grew up in a musical family. Her mother was a piano teacher and she and her siblings all learnt instruments. She started the piano when she was 6 and cello when she was 10. Playing music together helped to foster a real love of chamber music. During these early years she discovered how much fun it can be to play music with family, friends and other musicians.

She joined the Merseyside Youth Orchestra at 15. After leaving school she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study cello with Derek Simpson and piano with Graeme Humphrey. As a student she took part in masterclasses with the renowned cellist Lynn Harrell - both as a cellist and also as an accompanist. She was awarded LRAM teaching Diplomas on both instruments, an Honours Degree and a Certificate of Advanced Studies for a 4th year on the cello. She was also awarded the John Booth Prize.

After leaving the RAM Lisa embarked on an extensive teaching career, initially in West London. She coached chamber groups and orchestras and taught in various schools -  Bute House Preparatory School, St Paul’s Girls’ School, Putney High and Lady Eleanor Holles in Hampton.

It was always her passion to get children to play music together from an early age. She directed her own Orchestral Courses primarily for juniors. She formed a Saturday Music School and these both became very popular.  During this period she was also asked to coach on the Oxford Cello School and in time became Junior Course Director from 1997 - 2002.

Her first son was born in London in 2003.  Two years later she relocated with her family to the North West and her second son was born soon after. In 2009 she was employed by St Mary’s College, Crosby to teach cello and piano and she combined this with a private teaching practice at home.

Lisa and her family moved back to London in April 2017 and began working for Pelican in September 2017.

James Bester

Piano Teacher

James Bester received his Masters Degree in Music from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied under Carole Presland. He also studied there as an undergraduate, obtaining his Bachelors Degree under the acclaimed French pedagogue Pascal Nemirovski.

He started his training in South Africa, and has since his teen years been involved in performances and competitions both nationally and on international stage. Memorable concerts include a solo recital at St. Martin in the Fields in 2011, and collaborations and performances with young composers in New York. Working hard towards his goals as a young pianist, he set out to inspire the same feelings in his pupils, whom he has been teaching since 2006 in and around London.

As an enthusiastic teacher, James has worked with learners ranging from beginners (both children and adults), in preparing them for their music exams, be it at school or as part of the ABRSM examination system.

Having studied at such a highly acclaimed school such as the Royal Academy of Music, James sets out in teaching his pupils that music is a language, and an extraordinary means of communication, whether in an exam or a performance environment. He aims to teach his learners to be forward thinking musicians who are able to communicate their performances through thoughtful expression and sound technical training.

James is also an active performer, with recent concerts given at Burgh House, St. Martin-in-the Fields, and a contemporary music performance in Brooklyn (Galapagos Art Space), and Manhattan (The Cell), New Yorkas part of the DETOUR New Music Ensemble, premiering both ensemble as well as solo works by upcoming American Composers based in New York (Juilliard), and Los Angeles (University of Southern California), as well as recent recitals in Boston and Cape Cod, Massachusetts with American cellist Diana Golden.