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Romanian-British violinist Adriana Cristea brings an expressive, deeply collaborative voice to chamber music. A Royal Northern College of Music graduate (ABRSM scholar), she has appeared at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall, and St Martin-in-the-Fields in London, as well as in chamber music performances at the George Enescu Festival in Romania and Musique Cordiale in France.
Her career—shaped by top prizes at Remember Enescu International Violin Competition, Grand Prize Virtuoso International Competition, Premio Città di Filadelfia, and New Stars Competition—has led to solo debuts and tours across Europe and the Middle East.
She has performed concertos with Enescu Camerata, Beirut Chamber Orchestra, Paul Constantinescu Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Young Musicians European Orchestra, forging cross-cultural connections through music. When she is not soloing, Adriana curates thematic recitals such as Romania With Love, reviving forgotten Romanian composers. As the violinist of Veles Ensemble, she collaborates with award-winning colleagues Evva Mizerska (cello) and Ralitsa Naydenova (viola), exploring both traditional repertoire and new programming. She performs on a 2012 Ole Bull violin by Ladislav Prokop (London).
Born in Bulgaria, Ralitsa began her musical education at the age of six, studying the violin at the National Academy of Music in Bulgaria before moving to London to complete her master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM).
During her studies at RAM, Ralitsa discovered her passion for the viola and began studying with Rivka Golani and Emanuella Reiter. Ralitsa was awarded a full scholarship for three years and continued with postgraduate studies in performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, gaining postgraduate diplomas on both the violin and viola.
Alongside orchestral playing, Ralitsa is passionate about chamber music and has been a member of prizewinning ensembles, giving many performances with string quartets, trios and sonata ensembles.
Ralitsa has participated in master classes with renowned quartets such as the Chilingirian Quartet and Brodsky Quartet, and has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras in England, Italy and Bulgaria.
Ralitsa has also been accepted onto the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Foyle Future Firsts Development Programme, parallel to her year in Southbank Sinfonia. Currently Ralitsa works as a substitute for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Oslo National Opera and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
Renowned for her expressive artistry and commanding presence, Evva Mizerska is an award-winning cellist celebrated for her versatility as a recitalist, chamber musician, and soloist. Hailed as a “rising star” by The Strad, she has performed in prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room (Queen Elizabeth Hall), St George’s Bristol, Conway Hall, and Fairfield Halls, as well as festivals such as Cheltenham, Plymouth, Hexham Abbey, and Chester. Internationally, she has given duo and trio recitals in Austria, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Germany, Italy, and Poland. Her solo appearances have featured concertos by Elgar, Schumann, and Saint-Saëns, alongside Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Duruflé’s Requiem. She has also performed for BBC Radio 3 and Polish Radio.
Born in Poland, Evva graduated from the Frédéric Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, studying with Professors Andrzej Zielinski and Piotr Hausenplas. She later completed postgraduate studies at Trinity College of Music in London under Richard Markson, with further guidance from Yonty Solomon, Bernard Greenhouse, Raphael Sommer, and Erling Blöndal Bengtsson. Her accolades include First Prize at the Seventh International Leoš Janáček Competition in Brno, the Vivian Joseph Cello Prize, and the Leonard Smith Duo Prize, alongside scholarships and grants from institutions across the UK, Germany, and the USA.
Now based in London, Evva collaborates with pianist Emma Abbate, the Veles Ensemble (a string trio she co-founded), and clarinettist Peter Cigleris. Passionate about Polish and contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered works by leading Polish composers, as well as Stephen Dodgson and Piotr Grella Mozejko. During her Junior Fellowship at Trinity College of Music, she curated a concert series spotlighting young Polish and contemporary composers.
Her most recent chamber recording with the Veles Ensemble, featuring premiere works by Egon Wellesz, was selected as a “Pick of the Week” by The Guardian and praised for its “exceptional sensitivity” by BBC Music Magazine. Other recordings include complete cello and piano works by Stephen Dodgson, Krzysztof Meyer, and Algernon Ashton (Vol. 1), as well as chamber music by Steve Elcock and Egon Wellesz — all released on Toccata Classics. She has also recorded for Naxos and the Polish label DUX.
Evva’s playing has earned widespread acclaim, with The Strad praising her “great expressive range and impressive authority,” and International Record Review noting that “Evva Mizerska produces a beautiful sound, no matter what the composer asks of her.” With a commitment to artistic exploration and a deep sensitivity to musical storytelling, she continues to bring compelling performances and imaginative collaborations to audiences worldwide.
German-born violinist Hartmut Richter is a soloist and chamber musician, giving regular concerts in Europe and North America. Recent performances and tours have taken him around England and Scotland, France, Slovakia, Canada and Germany. He is active in several ensembles including the Veles Ensemble string trio, the Richter-Housden Duo (violin/guitar) and the Richter-Ardelean Piano Duo. Hartmut has recorded CDs on NAXOS with music by Stephen Dodgson, released in August 2017, and on Toccata Classics: Egon Wellesz – Chamber Music (February 2023) and Steve Elcock (December 2018) with the Veles Ensemble.
Hartmut studied at the Hanover Academy of Music, Germany, under Krzysztof Wegrzyn, Atila Aydintan and Ina Kertscher, before completing his studies with a soloist diploma at the Nuremberg Academy of Music under Lydia Dubrovskaya. Richter won several first prizes in German national competitions including Jugend Musiziert and the Mozart Competition Hildesheim, and has received scholarships for international masterclasses working with renowned professors including Herman Krebbers, Robert Szreder, Rosa Fain, Kurt Sassmannshaus and Christian Altenburger.
Apart from his performing career, Hartmut is a composer, producer and sound engineer and a dedicated violin teacher and frequently holds music workshops internationally. Hartmut plays a copy of the Hart (Ex-Francescatti) Stradivarius violin (1727), made by Christian Erichson, Hanover.