Margarita Balanas joined the Musicians' Company Young Artists' Programme after winning our Concordia Young Artists' Fund award in 2017 with the Argenta Trio, and the Royal Academy of Music Silver Medal in the same year. Here she performs Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, Op.70. Margarita says: "Hi everybody, my name is Margarita Balanas and I’m a Latvian cellist based in London. I would like to thank the Musicians’ Company for organising the Young Artist Midday Music concert series that I am confident with the power of music will bring some hope, peace and love to you in these unpredictable times. I will be performing Schumann’ s Adagio and Allegro for you together with Daria Tudor. Year 1849 was a very productive year for Schumann in which he not only composed the largest amount of compositions but it was also extremely rich in terms of the variety of works he produced. Adagio and Allegro was originally written for the horn, though it is often performed on the cello, viola or the violin. I wanted to mention that Schumann composed Adagio and Allegro in 1849 which is the exact year my cello on which I will perform it for you was made by Charles Adolphe Gand in France. Schumann is one of my favourite composers. His music is extremely rich and complex in emotions yet it can be very simple. His music is a reflection of life and it always tells a story. I hope that I can take you to this journey with me! Thank you for joining us or The Musicians’ Company Young Artists’ #MiddayMusic! I grew up singing Rock’n’roll with my family since I was 2 years old. Music has always been important to me. At the age of 15 I moved to London for studies and at the age of 17 made my solo debut at #WigmoreHall and have since then performed for dignitaries and royalty, including HRH Prince Charles at venues such as Royal Festival Hall, Berliner Philharmonie, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Foundation Louis Vuitton, #SouthbankCentre, Walt Disney Hall, Casa da Musica and Le Corum. I have performed in festivals such as Piatigorsky International Cello Festival in Los Angeles, the Adelaide International Cello Festival in Australia, the International Cello Festival Shanghai, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, and International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove and performed with the Israel Camerata, Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Saarbrucken Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana, Orchestra of St Johns, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Lithuanian National Orchestra, IASI Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto and Cyprus Symphony Orchestra. Most recently I was extended a personal invitation by Anne-Sophie Mutter to tour with the Mutter Virtuosi across South America. I regularly perform with my violinist sister Kristine, together we have performed the Brahms Double Concerto at the Berliner Philharmonie and at Emergents Barcelona Music Festival with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, as well as Philip Glass Double Concerto at the International Cello Festival in Latvia amongst others. With my sister, we were most recently appointed as Honorary Patrons of BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation. Together with my my siblings, sister Kristīne and brother Roberts (both violinists), we are regular guest artists for Scala Radio, BBC Radio 3 In-Tune, Classic FM and Latvian Radio 3." -------------------------------------------------- Musicians' Company Profile - http://www.wcom.org.uk/yeoman/margarita-balanas Musicians' Company Interview (2017) - http://www.wcom.org.uk/news/yeoman-interview-margarita-balanas About our Concordia Young Artists' Fund - http://www.wcom.org.uk/awards/maisie-lewis-young-artists-fund-and-concordia-foundation-artists-fund About our Silver Medals - http://www.wcomarchive.org.uk/--ramrcmgsmd-silvers Margarita's Website - http://www.margaritabalanas.com Margarita's Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/margaritabalanas Margarita's Twitter - http://twitter.com/MBalanas Margarita's Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/CelloBalanas Margarita's YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCultO35gS7Ve3WHFCt2587w -------------------------------------------------- Join our weekly #MiddayMusic e-news at http://eepurl.com/dv0ccr #MiddayMusic is supported by funds from the Musicians' Company’s Prince’s Prize which received a generous endowment in 2015 from The Eranda Rothschild Foundation and Rothschilds Bank, in memory of Leopold de Rothschild, a Liveryman of the Musicians’ Company for over 50 years. Donate to support The Musicians' Company Young Artists - http://www.justgiving.com/musicianscompanyfund