MEET THE PLAYERS

Leader

Leon is acclaimed for his versatility across solo, chamber, and orchestral performance. A First-Class Honours graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Leon is co-founder of the award-winning Quartet Concrete, recently resident at the Montreux Jazz Festival. They have collaborated with Quatuor Diotima and Sienna Spiro, with their recording surpassing 2.1 million streams. He is also a core member of the Rothko Collective, winners of the 2022 Nonclassical Battle of the Bands, with a forthcoming appearance at the Venice Biennale. Leon is concertmaster for the Odyssey Festival Orchestra, performs with Britten Sinfonia and The Heritage Orchestra, and regularly appears at major venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and Wembley Stadium—sharing the stage with artists including Dua Lipa, NAS, and Raye.

PR Manager

Social Media Manager

Manon works as an Assistant Educational Psychologist in a secondary school. She has played the double bass in every Odyssey concert so far. In her spare time she does archery and enjoys reading. 

Social Media Manager

Casper is a trainee maths teacher, having just graduated from the University of Warwick. They play the double bass and played in all Odyssey concerts throughout their degree. They spend their spare time knitting clothes

Administration Assistant

Alex is a violinist in Odyssey. Although graduating with a Natural Sciences degree he was heavily involved in music at university, playing in and managing multiple ensembles. Alex loves performing with Odyssey now that he is back in London and finds it a great way for young professionals to still be a part of high-standard music-making. He is really excited about the upcoming concerts this season and exploring the themes presented.

Sustainability Advisor

Martha is a recent Natural Sciences graduate with a passion for sustainability and championing diversity. She's a violinist in Odyssey orchestra and works to promote the orchestra's projects to professional and aspiring musicians alike. She can't play double stops.

Content Creation

Ellen is an oboist, writer and arts educator. She recently graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, and founded the conservatoire’s student newspaper, RAMpage news, in her first year of study. Ellen enjoys combining mediums in performance, including narration, movement and music, and loves that Odyssey has similar aims. She is very excited to be developing a blog for Odyssey, as well as playing in the orchestra. 

Trombonist

Sam Cox is a trombone player who grew up in Kent. From the age of thirteen, Sam studied the trombone at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance junior department in Greenwich, and when he was seventeen he became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for a year. 

Sam is currently a third-year undergraduate student studying at Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a full scholarship, and he is being taught by Mark Templeton, Emily White, Eric Crees and Simon Wills. Recent achievements of Sam’s include playing second trombone in Mahler 8 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, being a finalist in the Armourers and Brasiers Prize at Guildhall and playing first trombone in Guildhall Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Holst’s ‘The Planets.’

I am incredibly grateful for receiving this award, it is an absolute honour, and I will be putting the funding towards paying for my new trombone which I bought last month. 

I have always thoroughly enjoyed playing with Odyssey Festival Orchestra in every concert that I have done with them. It is a pleasure to play the quality and range of repertoire that we get to perform in the orchestra, as it is often music that we haven’t played before. As well as this, playing in this orchestra regularly which is such a high standard is such a valuable experience for me, as it has really helped me improve as an orchestral player over the last two years.

Double Bass

Sam Nolan is a musician and double bass player currently studying Music Technology at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where he enjoys composing and performing many genres of music. He started playing the bass aged seven at the Guildhall School of Music as part of the String Training Program and Junior Conservatoire before progressing to the Purcell School of Music at 14. He has been a member of the Odyssey Orchestra since its inception. His great love is performance and Odyssey provides a wonderful opportunity to play engaging repertoire, with a wonderful group of musicians and friends. 

Being in the second year of a four-year degree I am very grateful for this scholarship. It will help with both day-to-day student life and all of the costs associated with traveling with a double bass from Birmingham to London for rehearsals and concerts

Clarinetist

As a recent graduate of music college, the Beecham scholarship will be invaluable in helping me to begin my freelance music career; helping to fund lessons, travel for auditions and pay for general upkeep and instrument maintenance. 

My favourite thing about Odyssey is the sense of community.  Every rehearsal brings a sense of like-minded similar people working together to create the best music we possibly can. 

Latchen Kinghorn-Perry is a 24 year old clarinettist in the second year of his masters studies at the Royal College of Music under Barnaby Robson, Richard Hosford and Tim Lines. He previously completed his bachelor’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, under the tutelage of Yann Ghiro and John Cushing.

He regularly performs in a variety of different projects, encompassing small and medium sized chamber ensembles, such as the Prince Consortium, Mercury Winds wind quintet and the Orios trio and larger scale orchestral projects.

This year he performed regularly throughout the year with the college symphony orchestra as principal clarinet, with the Odyssey Festival Orchestra and the Albion Orchestra, as well as being involved in a number of chamber projects including a  performance of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. 

He was the principal clarinet of the Halle Youth Orchestra for three years, and regularly performed with them alongside the Halle Orchestra, principal clarinet of the National Wind Orchestra of Great Britain, and most recently principal With the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

Latchen has played with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra through their professional schemes, and performed in a concert tour of the West of Scotland with his wind quintet, and he spent this summer in Sicily with the Mediterranean Opera Studio Festival as principal clarinet, performing La Traviata, Lucia Di Lammermoor and La Cenerentola.

Flautist

Agnese Ieva Lipska is a Latvian flutist currently in her final year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music. She is an active solo performer—most recently, she was awarded Highly Commended in the Young Artist category at the 2025 British Flute Society Competition. In November of 2024, she performed C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in D minor with string orchestra at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, in a charity concert supporting Ukraine.

Agnese is also passionate about chamber music. She won the 2025 British Flute Society Ensemble Category as a member of the flute quartet Zephyr Flutes. Her orchestral experience includes performing with the Odyssey Festival Orchestra since 2023 and playing in the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra with conductors such as Ryan Wigglesworth, Trevor Pinnock, and Roderick Cox.

In September 2025, Agnese will begin her Master’s studies at the Royal Academy of Music, taking the next step in her development as a versatile and dedicated professional musician.

Receiving the Sir Thomas Beecham Award is a tremendous honor, and at this stage in my career, it will provide invaluable support in funding my postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music.

What I love most about Odyssey is the blend of history, drama, art, and classical music in every concert. It captivates even those new to classical music and makes the experience incredibly rewarding for us as performers.

French Horn

Joshua Pizzoferro grew up in South London and was surrounded by music from a young age. Originally a violinist, and later switching to the horn, Joshua was awarded a scholarship to attend the Centre for Young Musicians as part of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) junior programs at the age of eleven.

Later, Joshua went on to study at the GSMD on a full scholarship, in the class of Sue Dent, Angela Barnes, Phil Munds and Johnathan Lipton, where he received his Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours in 2023.

Joshua is currently studying for his Masters of Music in Performance at the Royal College of Music (RCM), under the tuition of Simon Rayner, John Ryan, Jonathan Maloney and Alex Edmundson, generously supported by the John Aster Award.

Whilst at the RCM and the Guildhall, Joshua has had the opportunity to perform in a variety of orchestral and chamber ensembles as well as taking part in masterclasses with renowned horn players including Sarah Willis, Radek Baborak and Felix Klieser.

I feel extremely honoured to be part of this years Sir Thomas Beecham awards and I shall be putting this funding towards my continued education at the Royal College of Music.

I am very lucky to be part of the Odyssey Festival Orchestra and the projects that they undertake. Having the opportunity to perform in concert venues such as Cadogan hall with a group of such talented musicians has been a real joy. One of my favourite things about performing with Odyssey is the theatrical aspects of concerts, working with actors and portraying composers thoughts and feelings alongside the music has been very educational for me and I hope for others too. The outreach work of Odyssey is also very inspiring, encouraging young people to get involved in classical music is key to making sure it survives and it is great to see Odyssey have that as a priority of their work.