Brandon Chui

Viola

Equally at home in the world of historical performance practice and modern viola, Brandon Chui joined Tafelmusik in September 2018. He has been a member of the Hamilton Philharmonic since 2007 and held the position of assistant principal viola with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony from 2015 to 2017. He has performed extensively with Aradia Ensemble, Opera Atelier, Nota Bene Baroque Players, Canadian Opera Company, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Having previously held leading roles at Italy’s Centre for Operatic Studies, Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival in Germany, and guest principal viola at Orchestra London, Brandon is a regular mentor/principal at Boris Brott Music Festival’s National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton.

A native Torontonian, he has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, and Asia, appearing on such stages as Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, New York’s David Geffen Hall (Lincoln Center), Berlin’s Konzerthaus, Lucerne’s KKL, Zurich’s Tonhalle, and the opera houses of Genova, Lyon, and Versailles. Working with many of today’s most celebrated conductors, including Semyon Bychkov, Valery Gergiev, Manfred Honeck, Gianandrea Noseda, and Jaap van Zweden, he has been heard on the CBC (Canada), DRS2 (Switzerland), NDR (Germany), RAI3 (Italy), and RSR (Switzerland) radio networks.

An all-around music nerd, Brandon received his first violin lessons at the age of thirteen. He started piano at a young age and took up a keen interest in the trombone, an instrument he started in elementary school and faithfully continued with nerdy love until the end of high school, by which time he had added trumpet, tuba, and timpani to the home cacophony. Brandon lives in Toronto with his wife, photographer Melissa Sung.

Keiran Campbell

Cello

Keiran Campbell was drawn to the cello after he stumbled across one in his grandmother’s basement and was baffled by its size. Once he turned 8, he began taking lessons—on a much smaller cello—in his native Greensboro, North Carolina. After studying extensively with Leonid Zilper, former solo cellist of the Bolshoi Ballet, he received his Bachelors and Masters at the Juilliard School, working with Darrett Adkins, Timothy Eddy, and Phoebe Carrai. Keiran also spent several springs in Cornwall, England, studying with Steven Isserlis and Ralph Kirshbaum at Prussia Cove.

Keiran has performed with ensembles including The English Concert, NYBI, Philharmonia Baroque, The Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Four Nations Ensemble, and Les Violons du Roy. He recently performed with Le Concert Des Nations under Jordi Savall, touring Europe performing Beethoven Symphonies before recording them on Savall’s new Beethoven CD. During the summers, Keiran has performed with Teatro Nuovo, Lakes Area Music Festival, and The Carmel Bach Festival. He is also on faculty at the recently formed, UC Berkeley-based, Chamber Music Collective, which focuses primarily on post-1750 performance practice. Recent performance highlights include concerto appearances with Tafelmusik and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, a concert of Monteverdi Madrigals with Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations in Carnegie Hall, a solo recital with fortepianist Sezi Seskir at the Berkeley Early Music festival, and performances of Handel’s Saul and Solomon with English Concert at the BBC Proms and Edinburgh Festival.

Keiran is also fascinated by instrument making, which he studies with the maker of his cello, Timothy Johnson.

keirancampbellcellist.com

Pippa Macmillan

Double bass

Pippa Macmillan is a renowned specialist of historical bass instruments. She is a core member of Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, though she is currently on leave of absence and is exploring performing opportunities in Australia, including with Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, and Australian Haydn Ensemble. The first undergraduate of the Royal Academy of Music to specialize in Baroque Bass, she has since completed a Masters in Historical Performance at The Juilliard School. Between 2015 and 2019 she was Professor of Baroque Double Bass at the Royal College of Music.

Pippa performs regularly with the English Concert, including at Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. She has played at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the BBC Proms with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and she performs with Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, English Baroque Soloists, Academy of Ancient Music, and Florilegium. She has also appeared as guest principal with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston. In 2015 she appeared in London’s West End in the Globe Theatre’s production of Farinelli and the King, and also in the play’s Broadway transfer in 2017.

Pippa is a fully qualified Suzuki cello teacher, as well as a trained Suzuki double bass and piano teacher, and throughly enjoys teaching and watching students develop.