The Pelléas Ensemble have made a name for themselves through their intimate, honest music-making and ambitious programming. Playing with “verve and polish” (The Times), they have won awards from the Royal Philharmonic Society, the Royal Overseas League and the Tillett Trust, and performed extensively across the UK and overseas. They were the winners of both the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize at the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition. They are regularly praised for their compelling performance and immediate connection with audiences.
Their critically acclaimed debut album, ‘Nature and the Imagination’, (Linn Records), presents a rich and expressive collection of repertoire spanning three centuries, and demonstrates the versatility of the ensemble. Their next album will be released in 2025 (Tactus Records) after being recorded in Italy. Last year, they were Ensemble in Residence as part of the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, during which time they worked and performed in Aldeburgh and at Snape Maltings.
They are persuasive advocates for their unusual combination of instruments and are constantly exploring ways to expand the group's repertoire. As well as arranging their own pieces, The Pelléas Ensemble have enjoyed many close collaborations with contemporary composers. These relationships have lead to various new commissions: Misha Mullov-Abbado’s ‘Three Meditation Songs’ was premiered at London’s Wigmore Hall, and the ensemble joined with the Park Lane Group to commission Benjamin Graves’ ‘Scherzo’, which features on their album. With each of these relationships, the ensemble have been closely involved in the compositional process throughout; they feel that creating an open dialogue between performers and composer leads to a very special and personal outcome.
Three dedicated teachers, the members of the Pelléas Ensemble are very interested in musical work outside the performance space. They have extensive experience giving workshops in schools, family concerts alongside animateurs, and have given masterclasses at universities and music colleges around the UK. Connecting with young people and finding ways to inspire creative music making is of the utmost importance to this ensemble.
Luba Tunnicliffe
Viola
Luba Tunnicliffe is a versatile performer and enjoys a varied musical career playing both viola and violin. She has performed solo recitals at London’s Royal Festival Hall and St John's Smith Square, and made her debut as concerto soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra in June 2016. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with David Takeno.
From April 2022-2024, Luba had a job as Principal Viola of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra based in Amsterdam, and regularly performed in the beautiful Concertgebouw. As a guest Principal, she has done freelance work in the UK with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and as an associate Principal with the Britten Sinfonia.
A member of the Pelléas Ensemble since 2011, she enjoys curating unusual programmes, commissioning new music and arranging pieces for the ensemble. Her re-imagining of Barbara Strozzi Madrigals, for flute, viola and harp, will feature on their next album.
Luba has been a member of the Ruisi Quartet since 2016. They have performed extensively across the UK and abroad, participated in the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition, IMS Prussia Cove and the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme. In November 2022 they gave the première of Novenyek by Thomas Adès in the Wigmore Hall, London, and their debut album “Big House” was released in February 2023 on Pentatone.
As Principal Viola of the 12 ensemble, Luba has performed at the BBC Proms, the Barbican, the Wigmore Hall and End of the Road Festival and alongside artists such as Nick Cave, Jonny Greenwood, Kojey Radical and Laura Marling.
Henry Roberts
Flute
Henry enjoys a varied musical career as a performer, recording artist and educator. As a multi award-winning chamber musician, he has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and has played in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Buckingham Palace. He regularly works with orchestras including the Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia and 12 Ensemble, and has featured in world premieres, BBC Radio 3 broadcasts and on album recordings. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
He features on the soundtrack of many films, including the 2024 oscar-winning The Zone of Interest and records at Air, Angel, RAK and Abbey Road Studios. He is found playing flutes of all different shapes and sizes on these scores. Henry has also worked with artists such as Oliver Sim (The xx) and Nala Sinephro on their studio album recordings.
His solo recording of Debussy’s Syrinx, described as ‘a langourous performance’, (Gramophone) was released on Linn Records in 2021 and has been praised as ‘a superbly liquid performance…seductive yet with an edge to it too’. (Planet Hugill).
Alongside playing the flute, Henry is a passionate educator and tutors at Aldeburgh Young Musicians as well as giving masterclasses at RWCMD and York and Chichester Universities. He has taught the flute at Merton Music Foundation’s Saturday music school for nine years and is a member of the Kidenza orchestra. He has delivered school workshops across the UK with the Pelléas Ensemble, and regularly coaches flute choirs, wind bands and youth orchestras.
Oliver Wass
Harp
Oliver Wass studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Imogen Barford. He graduated from the University of York with a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry.
He recently won the Suoni d’Arpa International Competition in Italy, and will record a CD with the Tactus Label early next year. In May 2016, he became the first harpist ever to win the Guildhall Gold Medal, the Guildhall’s most prestigious prize. Previous winners of the competition include Jacqueline du Pré, Bryn Terfel and Tasmin Little. He has performed all the major harp concertos, including directing the Handel Harp Concerto in the Barbican Hall. He has also performed concertos at the London Handel Festival, the City of London Festival, with the Oxford Sinfonia, and with the World Chamber Orchestra. He won the Andrea Vigh Jury Prize at the 4th International Harp Competition Szeged. He is a Musicians’ Company Yeoman, and will give his Purcell Room debut in 2018. He is very grateful for support from the Hattori Foundation.
He made his Wigmore Hall debut in 2016, where he was praised for his “tremendous dynamism” and "remarkable range of timbres and warmth of tone” (Seen and Heard International).
