About the Composers and Performers

Matthew Burke is a composer and bass guitarist originally from Belfast, now living and working in Liverpool. Burke has played in numerous ensembles across the UK and Ireland, playing mainly heavy metal, jazz-fusion, experimental music, and more recently Irish folk. It was with his studies at The Queen’s University Belfast, under the tutelage of Professor Piers Hellawell and Dr. Simon Mawhinney, that he found a passion for contemporary classical composition and went on to achieve an MPhil in composition studies.

Since then, Burke has worked closely with several professional ensembles to perform his music; some of which include: The Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble, The Fidelio Trio, The Royal String Quartet, Red Note Ensemble, Quatuor Danel, and most recently Liverpool’s own Ensemble 10:10. Additionally, to his work as a contemporary composer, Burke is also an avid songwriter/composer of popular music. In 2015 he released his first solo album Opus de Trinitas. The album consisted of a mixture of original songs alongside a set of compositions and arrangements for solo six-string bass guitar.

Burke is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Liverpool under the supervision of Dr. Richard Worth and Dr. Ben Hackbarth. Matthew’s research is concerned with the incorporation of collaborative compositional practices as well as the aesthetic fusion of popular music with Western classical composition.

Mihkel Kerem embodies a tradition of famous violinists who are not only virtuosic soloists in their own rights but also prestigious orchestral leaders, versatile chamber musicians and renown composers as well. A musician first and foremost and an ardent believer that music, it’s form, and structure can transcend all cultural and political boundaries, there is nothing beyond the range a scope of Mr Kerem. Of Estonian descent, the music of Estonia and the Baltic’s is especially important to Mr Kerem and he often performs works of Estonian composers.

In addition to his orchestral playing Mr Kerem is in demand as a soloist worldwide and has played with, amongst others, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, the Estonian Opera Orchestra, and the Brandenburg Sinfonia. Mr Kerem has also performed at Chamber Music Festivals across Europe, featuring live on BBC Radio Three. Additionally, Mr Kerem received the LIFA 2021 Award for Best Original Score.

Hilary Browning has been the associate principal cello of the RLPO since 1991. Hilary has been very lucky to be able to work with some amazing musicians who are also wonderful colleagues, and many of the conductors have been inspirational. During her career she had the opportunity to work with most of the Uk’s professional symphony orchestras and is very happy to have settled in Liverpool. Over the years Hilary has worked with the education department on a number of projects, bringing music and its benefits to all areas of the community and using it to try to help children from challenging backgrounds to develop their skills in a non-pressurized environment.

In 1997 Hilary co-founded Ensemble 10:10, a contemporary music ensemble formed to promote the performance of new music in the Liverpool area, which recently celebrated its 25th birthday. She then undertook the most challenging (yet rewarding) project of her life which was having children, 2 boys, with her partner Ian. Now they are all grown up Hilary has had more time to explore other areas of musical life, In March 2018 Hilary spoke at the Women Leaders Association annual conference and also gave a talk at the Athenaeum in Liverpool on her career and life in an orchestra.

Hilary has been chair of the Rushworth composition prize for the past two years. Additionally, she is very much engaged with promoting diversity at the Phil and in helping them become a more forward thinking, including promoting the performance of works by women composers. Hence, Hilary started a group in 2019, Equilibrium, who perform music only by women composers, both past and present.

Dora Kmezic is a Liverpool-based Assistant Classical Producer and Orchestrator with a completed BA in Music Technology at the University of Liverpool. She has previously studied oboe performance at the Academy of Music, Zagreb where she performed with various orchestral and smaller ensembles. Her most recent works involve collaborations with some of the most renowned orchestras including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Budapest Art Orchestra, Wired Strings, AG Productions, and artists such as Timothy Chooi, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Dani Howard, Pablo Urbina and Peter Moore. She currently works closely with the Royal Liverpool Orchestra as an Assistant in Classical Production, for which she has supervised the recordings for the partnership with the Medici.tv, a leading classical music streaming platform. She also works for game, film, and TV productions as an orchestrator alongside composers, and performers based in the US, UK and Europe.

Joe Caulton is a guitarist from Leeds and is currently working towards a Master’s in composition here in Liverpool. He is interested in a broad range of musical styles and compositional techniques and their incorporation into the world of contemporary classical music. He is particularly focused on using graphic scores and opportunities for improvisation to explore different forms of communication between performers, and between performers and the audience.