Tristan Gurney
Name your favourite Scottish Ensemble collaboration and why?
Working with world renowned bassist Edgar Meyer was amazing. A great blend of original, innovative music alongside familiar classics, touring university towns in USA with stunning venues that were a perfect match for Scottish Ensemble in terms of following, acoustic and scale.
Where’s your favourite place to perform with Scottish Ensemble?
There are so many to choose between…St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen crackles with winter time atmosphere for our candlelight concerts, or perhaps the polished and warm acoustic of The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh. Particularly rewarding are our concerts to the warm, welcoming and high spirited audience at Eden Court. Closer to home, The Engine Works in Glasgow is one of many Glaswegian venues that delivers the cool and hip atmosphere that Glasgow does so well!
If you could see Scottish Ensemble collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Acrobatics with circus company anyone?! Taking our music and movement to the next level and beyond!
Biography
Tristan Gurney enjoys a wide-ranging career as a director, soloist, chamber and orchestral violinist. He established himself on the British chamber music scene as leader of the Edinburgh Quartet (2007-2016). During his time with the quartet, Tristan collaborated with many esteemed artists such as harpist Isobelle Moretti, tenor Andrew Staples, clarinetist Maximilliano Martin and flautist Juliette Bausor and worked closely with composers such as Sir James MacMillan, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Helen Grime, Tom Harrold and Howard Blake. The Edinburgh Quartet released several CDs with Tristan, including recordings of Matyas Seiber Quartets, Robert Crawford Quartets and Haydn, Shostakovich and Prokofiev
Quartets all to great acclaim. Their disc of Sir James MacMillan String Quartets was awarded a ‘Critics Choice’ in Gramophone Magazine.
Tristan is currently the Artistic Director of RNS Moves, Royal Northern Sinfonia’s inclusive ensemble, featuring professional disabled musicians and non-disabled members of Royal Northern Sinfonia. It is a role that draws on his chamber music expertise as curator, director, and chamber player. Tristan combines this role with a flourishing freelance career, regularly collaborating with chamber music colleagues at chamber festivals and music clubs and venues worldwide, as well as guesting as a Principal player with orchestras such as the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Aurora, London Mozart Players, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Tristan joined Scottish Ensemble in 2010 and is also principal second violin.
Tristan studied the violin at the Royal Nothern College of Music with Yossi Zivoni and then at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto with Lorand Fenyves and plays on a Ferdinand Gagliano Violin.
