Sébastien van Kuijk
Co-Principal Cello
Prize winner of the Prague Spring, Rostropovich and Casals competitions, Sébastien Van Kuijk has performed around the world in venues including the Rudolfinum in Prague, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Teatro Real de Madrid, Tokyo’s Bunka-Kaykan Hall, the Concertgebow in Amsterdam and London’s Wigmore Hall. He has worked with composers such as Nicolas Bacri, Henri Dutilleux, György Kurtág and Thierry Escaich, and artists including Gary Hoffman, the Ebène Quartet, Augustin Dumay, Cédric Tiberghien, Renaud Capuçon and Daishin Hashimoto. As a soloist, he has appeared with Orchestre lamoureux, Paris Chamber Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recordings include Mendelssohn’s works for cello and piano and Nicolas Bacri’s ‘Four Seasons’ concertos with François Leleux, Valeryi Sokolov, Adrien Lamarca and Besançon Orchestra.
Aurora Memory
Difficult to choose, because each Aurora project is a very special experience! But I have two favourites. The first is when we appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival for the Illuminations project, because we had the opportunity to work with an incredible group of circus artists and the amazing singer Sarah Tynan. This collaboration was really unique – it was my first collaboration with circus performers, and the staging created by Struan Leslie was incredible! The second strong memory is a concert I did with other principal players as a string trio at Wigmore Hall, performing the Mozart Divertimento. The sense of collaboration and osmosis we experienced during the concert was really wonderful, and sharing this repertoire together in this legendary hall was a very fulfilling moment for me. Both memories made me realise I had found my artistic family with Aurora!