In a programme of Mozart: Sonata in E minor K 304, Prokofiev: Sonata No. 1 in F minor Op. 80, A. Firsova: Algarvia Op. 42, Tchaikovsky: Meditation Op. 42 No. 1 and Brahms: Sonata No. 3 Op. 108
Supported by Forbes Marshall
Alissa Firsova, together with her composer parents, fled Moscow to London in 1991, where she enjoyed her musical studies at the Purcell School and Royal Academy of Music. As a solo pianist she made her Wigmore Hall and Proms debuts in 2009 and as a chamber musician works regularly with David Cohen, Daniel Rowland, Camerata RCO, Tim Hugh, Andrew Marriner, Mark Padmore and many others.
Since winning the BBC Proms Young Composer Competition in 2001, she received three commissions for the Proms, writing for the Royal Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic and Southbank Sinfonia together with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Her music was also performed by the NTO Mannheim, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona, Houston and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras, Britten Sinfonia, Netherlands Blazer Ensemble, Dante, Tippett and Navarra quartets, Henning Kraggerud, Imogen Cooper and conductors, Andrew Litton, Mark Wigglesworth, Alexander Soddy, Leo McFall, Jessica Cottis and Gemma New, to name a few.
Alissa recorded her debut solo piano (Russian Émigrés) and composer portrait (Fantasy) CD’s on Vivat and her Stabat Mater, recorded by The Sixteen, was featured in Gramophone’s Top 10 Compositions by Women. Her recital for the Amsterdam Piano Series, including her transcription of Mahler’s Adagietto, was released on Vinyl by Gutman Records in 2020. She enjoyed her triple debut with the English Chamber Orchestra as conductor, composer and pianist in 2013 in the Cadogan Hall and became Artistic Director of the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival in 2019. In July 2023, Alissa’s symphony, Spell of Creation, was commissioned and premiered at Manchester Festival by BBC Phil with contralto, Jess Dandy.
In Oct 2025 Alissa returned to the Amsterdam Piano Series at the Concertgebouw with a Rachmaninoff Feast, including the Op. 23 Preludes and the Rachmaninoff Cello Sonata with David Cohen, which will be released live for Gutman Records. In April 2026, her Stages for trumpet and strings had its Paris premiere in Salle Cortot by Ilyich Rivas and his Ensemble Atmosphères. In May 2026, her album release with violinist, Ludmila Pavlová, encompassing the complete violin and piano works by romantic composer, Joseph Haas on ARS, received rave reviews. In June 2026, her Bergen’s Bonfire had its German premiere in Brandenburg, conducted by Wagnerian conductor, Sebastian Weigle.
Dutch/English violinist Daniel Rowland is a musician of great intensity and imagination, whose work moves seamlessly between soloist, director and chamber musician. Known for performances of striking emotional directness and communicative power, his playing has been described as “ravishing in its finesse” (The Guardian), while Gramophone observed that he “truly sounds like nobody else”, and The Herald praised his “astonishing sound and uniquely single-minded intensity”.
Rowland appears internationally as soloist and director with orchestras across Europe and beyond, collaborating with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Jaap van Zweden, François-Xavier Roth, Lawrence Foster and Andrey Boreyko. His repertoire ranges from Vivaldi, Beethoven, Brahms and Elgar through Berg and Korngold to Schnittke, Glass, Kancheli and Ferneyhough. A defining aspect of his artistry is his ability to shape performances from within — directing from the violin and curating programmes that bring together tradition and innovation.
A passionate advocate of music of our time, he has premiered numerous works by composers including Pēteris Vasks, Olli Mustonen, Osvaldo Golijov, Roxanna Panufnik, Isidora Žebeljan, Aftab Darvishi and Rembrandt Frerichs. His discography comprises more than 35 highly acclaimed recordings, including Distant Light (Vasks Concertos) and Max Richter’s Seasons Recomposed.
