RPS Philip Jones Brass Prize | £2,500
Quartet Menine is the winner of the 2023 Philip Jones Brass Prize; a prize intended to draw profile to a brass player or ensemble of exceptional promise and to help them to progress professionally. The prize takes its name from the renowned and much-loved trumpeter Philip Jones CBE (1928 – 2000) and is made possible thanks to our close association with Philip’s wife Ursula Jones, a dear friend and supporter of the RPS.
A comment from Quartet Menine:
‘We are so grateful to the RPS for awarding us this year’s Philip Jones Brass Prize, and to Ursula Jones for sponsoring the prize. We are planning to use this award to record and release new repertoire which we have been busy arranging and rehearsing, and we have plans to commission a number of new works from some of our favourite composers. As brass musicians it is important for us to appreciate what Philip Jones did to pioneer the world of brass chamber music, and we feel strongly about continuing his legacy and working with the same ethos to expand the repertoire and to reach new audiences.'
Biography
Quartet Menine is a dynamic brass ensemble which features some of London’s finest young brass players. Formed in 2015 by close friends with a collective vision to refresh the brass chamber music repertoire, Quartet Menine has gone on to perform their own arrangements and new commissions in recitals around the UK to much acclaim, including at Wigmore Hall and the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition.
Individually, the members of the quartet regularly work with some of the leading orchestras and ensembles in the country, including the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Alongside recital performances, the members of Quartet Menine are dedicated to education and community music-making, having delivered brass masterclasses and composition workshops in a number of schools. Above all else, the members of Quartet Menine always aspire to provide audiences with excitement, energy, and humour in equal measure.
The members of Quartet Menine are Kaitlin Wild and Adam Wood (trumpets), Zoë Tweed (horn) and Adam Collins (tuba).