Kosta Popović (Cello) & Valentina Wang (Piano)

Programme

Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G Minor BWV 1029	J S Bach
Silent Woods opus 68/5	A Dvorak
Sonata for Cello and Piano	George Walker
Interval
Sept Papillons	K. Saariaho
Sonata for Cello and Piano Opus 102 No 2 in D Major	L. van Beethoven

The Beethoven Sonata to be played in the concert is different from the one printed in the Brochure.

Montenegrin Cellist Kosta Popović Is currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. For four years Kosta was the Cellist of the Fibonacci Quartet.  With his colleagues, he regularly performed at music festivals in the UK and abroad.  Notable appearances include performances on BBC Radio 3 on In Tune and for Dutch TV in Podium Witteman, the Schiermonnikoog Chamber Music Festival as well as Art Amanti Chamber Music Festival. Most recently Kosta won the 71st Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition (Chamber Music) and The CAVATINA Chamber Music Competition.

He studied at the International Chamber Music Institute at Reina Sofia School of Music as well as the Dutch String Quartet Academy (NSKA).

This Summer Kosta took part in Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander. He attended the International Summer Academy in Vienna where he performed with Laura Aikin.  Kosta is the 2023/24 LSO String Experience player and will make a number of appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra in the coming months.

Kosta’s Postgraduate studies are supported by the Ian Fleming Award and Countess of Munster Musical Trust Study Grant as well as the Derek Butler Trust.

Unfortunately, Luke Lally Maguire is no longer able to fulfil this engagement.  In his place we welcome Valentina Wang who is an Italian pianist based in London, currently in demand as a versatile collaborative pianist, chamber musician and song accompanist. She is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she completed an Artist Diploma course in Piano Accompaniment under the guidance of Caroline Palmer.

She previously obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Solo Piano Performance at Conservatorio Peri in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where she was awarded the “Giovanna and Fabrizia Magnani” scholarship for outstanding academic achievement.  She is a prizewinner of several national and international competitions. Among them are J.S Bach Competition, Castiglion Fiorentino Competition, G.Rospigliosi Competition, and Steinway Piano Competition. Together with Lycos Trio, founded in 2019, she won First Prize at Palmanova International Competition, Piove di Sacco Competition and Sarzana International Competition.  Most recently, she was awarded first prize at the 2025 Jubilee Accompaniment Prize at Guildhall.

Recent appearances include performances at St. James Piccadilly, St. Olaves Church, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Romolo Valli, Musica d’Estate Festival in Bardonecchia, “Dialoghi sul comporre” Festival in Reggio Emilia, Pistoia Musica Antica and Kalvia Baroque Festival in Finland.  She also appeared as an orchestral pianist, performing at Barbican Concert Hall with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra.

As a passionate collaborative pianist, she has been working with Conservatorio Peri and Conservatorio Monteverdi as a staff pianist. She was selected for an Erasmus internship at Conservatorio Segui in Castellon de la Plana, and is currently a freelance professional accompanist at Guidlhall.

Here is Kosta playing J S Bach