Tony Liu, Second Bassoon

Tony will be joining us in mid-August - the first time a second bassoon has been appointed into the orchestra since 1966!

Tony Liu, prior to joining CBSO, was the principal bassoonist of Jönköpings Sinfonietta in Sweden for six years and was a member of the Hyogo Performing Arts Center Orchestra in Japan from 2015 to 2017. Born in Hong Kong, Tony began learning the bassoon when he was 11. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in Australia, The Royal College of Music in London, and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München in Germany under the guidance of Matthew Wilkie, Andrew Barnes, Martin Gatt, Prof. Eberhard Marschall, and subsequently Prof. Ole Kristian Dahl of Muho Mannheim.

Tony has appeared with orchestras and ensembles in both Europe and the UK, including the Göteborgs Symfoniker, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and The Halle, and performed in music festivals around the world, including the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany, Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway, and BBC Proms in London. He was previously a prizewinner of the Australasian Double Reed Competition and the Audi Mozart! International Competition in Rovereto, Italy.

Yuriko Matsuda, Tutti Second Violin

Yuriko joins us in September, just in time to start the 24-25 Season!

Japanese violinist Yuriko Matsuda has enjoyed her varied career ever since she came to the UK. She gave her solo performances at venues such as Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall and St. John’s Smith Square and appeared as a soloist performing with Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra and Wealden Sinfonia. As a passionate chamber musician, she performed in LSO Friday Lunchtime Concert series, Maiastra Concert Series, Wigmore Study Group, and was invited to Akoesticum Talent Programme in Holland, where she worked with David Dolan, Jean-Bernard Pommier and Jan Talich.

In 2021 she was selected for London Symphony Orchestra's String Experience as well as being invited to Internationales Orchesterinstitut Attergau in Austria and worked with the members of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. She has been enjoying playing with orchestras such as Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and Sinfonia Cymru as well as theatre shows of Royal Shakespeare Company, ‘My Neighbour Totoro’.

Yuriko first came to the UK at the age of 14 to study with Arisa Fujita. She was later awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Akiko Ono. She then went on to pursue bachelor's and master's degrees at Guildhall School of Music & Drama under the tutelage of Krzysztof Smietana. She completed her bachelor’s degree in First Class with a Concert Recital Diploma as well as her Master's, Orchestral Artistry, with Distinction. She received a full scholarship as an LSO Japan scholar, Yhrah Neaman Memorial Scholar and was awarded the Sheriff's Prize on her graduation.