The City Music Foundation (CMF) has announced that the A4 Brass Quartet will become the first brass ensemble to become part of their acclaimed '2018 CMF Artists' programme.

They will join singer Helen Charlston, string players Toby Hughes, Ariana Kashefi and Emily Sun and pianist Tom Millar to be part of the foundation's aim to turn exceptional musical talent into professional success by equipping outstanding musicians with the tools, skills, experience, and networks they need to build and sustain rewarding and profitable careers.

Exciting projects

Chosen after an intensive audition process from over 150 applicants, the A4 Quartet is made up of brass band players Jamie Smith, Jonathan Bates, Chris Robertson and Michael Cavanagh.

They responded to the news by telling 4BR: "We're really looking forward to this new partnership with the City Music Foundation and we can't wait to begin working on developing exciting projects over the 2-3 year programme as we continue to expand our repertoire and perform to new audiences across the world."

It will see the quartet giving a recital at The Hospital Church of St Bartholomew the Less on Wednesday 19th December as part of CMFs 201/19 lunchtime recital series.

We're really looking forward to this new partnership with the City Music Foundation and we can't wait to begin working on developing exciting projects over the 2-3 year programme as we continue to expand our repertoireA4 Quartet

Two year programme

4BR was informed that the 'CMF Artists' will engage in an innovative two-year programme, which includes artistic and business mentoring, as well as professional development workshops covering topics such as financial planning, artistic development and promotion and publicity strategies.

A spokesperson told 4BR: "We work with the CMF Artists to develop professional promotional tools, as well as providing help with commissioning and other projects to ensure that they develop a their niche and selling point.

We present CMF Artists in our own recital series and residencies and arrange performance opportunities at venues and festivals throughout the UK and beyond, as well as securing airtime on BBC Radio 3 and promotion through online, print, and social media."

CMF artists

Now in its sixth year, previous CMF Artists include jazz bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado (now a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist), Foyle-Stsura Duo, Tabea Debus, jazz clarinetist Giacomo Smith, soprano Raphaela Papadakis, and guitarist Andrey Lebedev.