Author: ersosite

We are SO excited to be working with the hugely talented young violinist Basil Alter, performing Korngold’s wonderful Violin Concerto!

In the 2025–2026 season, violinist Basil Alter enjoys a busy schedule between the US and Europe. In the UK, highlights include concerto appearances of Bruch, Korngold, and Tchaikovsky with orchestras in greater London with conductors Christopher Stark, Christopher Braime, and Darrell Davison, and regular recital appearances across the country with collaborators including pianists Julian Chan, Jamie Cochrane, and Ariel Lanyi. In the US, upcoming performances include appearances in New York City at the Frick Collection and on the Memphis Chamber Music Society with Evan Solomon. He is a prizewinner at several international competitions, including most recently 2nd prize at the Julio Cardona competition in Portugal.

He is a recent graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he enjoyed working alongside figureheads of the UK music scene including Ed Gardner and Tasmin Little, as well as pursuing a highly-commended academic project related to the violin works of Stravinsky. He was selected for many engagements and led the Academy orchestra in their appearance at the Aldeburgh Festival, as well as working on a project involving Ravel’s Duo and long-distance performance. Before living in London, he studied in New York at Manhattan School of Music, where he led the orchestra on several occasions and won the school’s chamber music prize.

A US native, he comes from a musical family in Tennessee. Outside of music, he enjoys crossword puzzles and walks through Regent’s Park. He is supported in part by the Craxton Memorial Trust.

Last weekend we worked with four amazing young soloists in the final of our ERSO Soloist of the Year competition. We had to make the hardest decision in all of the years of the competition as all four Finalists were fabulous and worthy of performing their concerti. In the end we decided we simply couldn’t have only one winner – so students Emily Ambrose (bassoon) and Basil Alter (violin) are our joint winners of the 2025 Soloist of the Year!

We are so excited to work with Basil on Korngold’s Violin Concerto for our October 19 2025 concert and with Emily on Hummel’s bassoon concerto for our June 21 2026 concert. Save the dates in your diaries!

Bassoonist Emily is one of our amazing Finalists in the ERSO Soloist of the Year competition. Find out more…

What is your main occupation at the moment?

3rd year student at the Royal College of Music, freelance bassoonist and teacher 

What made you choose to play your instrument and how old were you when you started?

I started playing the mini bassoon at 7 years old after trying lots of instruments out at a music service open day.

What made you choose the concerto that you will be playing?

I absolutely love the character of the piece and how operatic it is. The bassoon can be quite a humorous instrument and I think the third movement really captures this. 

What do you feel you would gain from the experience of winning this competition and playing your concerto with ERSO and Chris Stark?

I think it would be so much fun, having worked on the piece for a while it would be great to experience it with orchestra. 

What is your main occupation at the moment?

I’m currently a postgraduate student at the Royal Academy of Music, studying horn with Mike Thompson, Richard Watkins, and Kira Doherty, and conducting with Sian Edwards. 

What made you choose to play your instrument and how old were you when you started?

I started playing the horn when I was 8 through a first access scheme in my primary school – it was a choice between horn and trombone and for some reason the horn just seemed to speak to me!

What made you choose the concerto that your will be playing?

The four Mozart horn concertos really are at the core of every horn player’s musical life – so often, they become exam and audition pieces for us, but what they make me think of more than anything is my memories of listening to Dennis Brain’s recordings on a CD I had growing up. I think the 2nd concerto has a particular vibrancy and cheekiness to it that reminds me so much of Mozart’s operas, so I’m really excited to bring that side of horn playing to life alongside ERSO in the final round.

What do you feel you would gain from the experience of winning this competition and playing your concerto with ERSO and Chris Stark?

Working with ERSO since September as Assistant Conductor has been such a brilliant experience both musically and personally for me – I’ve learnt so much and really enjoyed all of the projects I’ve participated in so far, from children’s orchestral workshops to full symphonic concerts. Having the opportunity to perform as a concerto soloist with ERSO would be such a privilege and make my time working alongside Chris and the orchestra even more special – I’d love the opportunity to continue my musical development with ERSO in this way! 

We chatted to Mio, one of our amazing finalists, to find out more….

What is your main occupation at the moment?

I am a student at the Royal Academy of Music (masters 2nd year, graduating this summer). Occasional freelancer and the 1st violinist of Isla String Quartet  

What made you choose to play your instrument and how old were you when you started?

I was 4 years old when I started the violin. My older sister was already playing the violin so I copied her! 

What do you feel you would gain from the experience of winning this competition and playing your concerto with ERSO and Chris Stark?

Prokofiev’s 1st violin concerto is one of my favourite concertos. I remember when I was 18, I heard it live at the Barbican for the first time- I wasn’t so familiar with it back then but it left such a strong emotional impression on me that I wanted to learn it. The opening of the concerto is so magical, and when this opening theme comes back at the end of the 3rd mvt it is even more ethereal, and extremely moving. I love the contrasts between these beautiful entrancing moments and the more mischievous, menacing and threatening characters that are both so unique to Prokofiev.  Having played in the ERSO before I can really feel the passion that both Chris and the orchestra have to create something special together. I would love to work with Chris to make the Prokofiev come to life and it would be an amazing experience for me as I have never played a full concerto with orchestra before

We caught up with Basil Alter to find out more about him…

What is your main occupation at the moment?

I am currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, so a student!

What made you choose to play your instrument and how old were you when you started?

My mother is a violinist and she started my sister and I when we were three. I didn’t consistently play all that time – I was interested in many things as a child and my parents never pushed me into violin, but no matter what I would do I would always end up back with the violin. I think I found it the most rewarding out of all the instruments and other music things I was doing, even though it was also the most challenging.

What made you choose the concerto that your will be playing?

The Korngold is a really brilliant piece that captures a specific moment in history. For those unfamiliar, Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austrian composer that sought refuge in the late 1930s in America. He found success writing film music, and some say his unique style essentially created the genre of Hollywood cinematic composition as we know it today. The Violin Concerto incorporates themes from many of his classic film scores, titles which you may recognise: Juarez, Anthony Adverse, and The Prince and the Pauper, to name a few. The piece was dedicated to Alma Mahler (Korngold studied with Gustav Mahler as a child) and was premiered by Jascha Heifetz and the St Louis Symphony in 1947.
To me, the concerto says so much about the human experience – the original themes and motifs from the music that Korngold wrote for the movies were crafted to enhance specific storylines, tropes, and the emotions that came with those ideas. Many of these emotions resonate with me these days, and so in that way, the piece allows me a special opportunity to express myself truly and fully. I do this best with violin in-hand anyway, but in every piece it could be said the interpreter’s job is to express the composer’s intentions – with Korngold’s concerto, it is just lucky that he and I want to say the same things.

What do you feel you would gain from the experience of winning this competition and playing your concerto with ERSO and Chris Stark?

I’m very grateful to have made it to the finals! I would be so honoured to play with the ERSO because it would be my first time performing the Korngold with an orchestra, and the opportunity to work in-depth on the piece with Chris Stark would be invaluable.

After a day of auditions, when we had listened to 13 amazing players, we found ourselves having to pick only 4 for the big Final day on April 13th. We are so excited to be working 4 fabulously talented young soloists:

Basil Alter playing the Korngold Violin Concerto

Mio Takahashi playing Prokofiev 1^st Violin Concerto

Emily Ambrose playing the Hummel Bassoon Concerto

Alice Knight playing Mozart’s 2^nd Horn Concerto

After 30 fantastic submissions for our competition for emerging composers, and a great workshop final with three composers who all brought something special and very different, it was time for a very difficult decision.

Following much consideration, we are thrilled to announce the winner – Nicholas Gawley’s Vienna c. 1825, colourised. We can’t wait to work with Nicholas on the piece which will be performed in our concert on 22 June, 2025.

The three finalists – Pierre Fontaine, Eric Davis and Nicholas Gawley