Biography of the Pavão Quartet
Kerenza Peacock- violin
Jenny Sacha- violin
Natalia Gomes - viola
Bryony James - cello
'Exceptionally talented' BBC Music Magazine
Radio 2
'A dream of a string ensemble' Desmond Carrington, BBC
The Pavão Quartet's impressive 14-year journey has so far included a Grammy Award, 5-star reviews,
worldwide radio play, Classical no.1s, Royalty, rock stars, and taken them to both the Wigmore Hall and the
Wailing Wall.
The Pavão formed in 1998 at the Royal Academy of Music, where they won many prizes individually and as an
ensemble, culminating in their appointment as Chamber Music Fellows for two years. Classical recitals
delightfully increased their knowledge of the highways and byways of the British Isles, besides taking them to the
Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall, Gateshead’s Sage
and Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall. In addition to an intensive UK schedule, their concert tours have also given
them opportunities to observe the skyscrapers of New York and the Great Wall of China, the Arabian desert and
Jerusalem’s ‘Wailing Wall’, and an arc of European cities from Lisbon to Warsaw.
A CD of encore repertoire, Someone to Watch Over Me, launched their increasingly successful recording
career, leading to extended radio play on Classic FM, Radio 3 and Radio 2, including on Michael Parkinson’s
show and ‘Friday Night is Music Night’. A disc of quartets by Bax and Elgar was welcomed as ‘a real winner’ from
‘an ensemble of real depth and musical distinction’ (Classic FM Magazine), with ‘plenty of energy, precision and
clarity’ (BBC Music Magazine) and ‘an intoxicating warmth and emotional spontaneity’ (The Strad Magazine).
Music Web International christened it disc of the month, ‘an unqualified success – a real must-have!’ Their
Christmas Collection for Breakthrough Breast Cancer also became the soundtrack of Christmas for many people,
on both disc and radio. The Pavao Quartet's reputation has gone ahead of them; their CDs are regularly played
on classical radio stations in countries they have not yet visited, including Australia and SIngapore. They
recorded a CD with Craig Ogden called 'The Guitarist', which reached no. 1 in the Classical Charts. The 'Light
and Gold' CD they recorded with Eric Whitacre reached no. 1 in the Classical Charts on both sides of the Atlantic
simultaneously, and won a Grammy award in 2012.
Although the great canon of music for string quartet is at the heart of their being, you are just as likely to hear
Pavaos playing on Radio 1 as on Classic FM. They have played with many singers in the pop and rock worlds,
live and on recordings. At the same time as playing on albums at the top of the Classical Charts, they had also
recorded on albums topping the Pop Charts, by Adele, Noel Gallagher, Cee-Lo Green and Emeli Sande. The
Pavaos have performed with singers as diverse as Sir Willard White, Andrew Kennedy, Janis Kelly, Hayley
Westenra, Katherine Jenkins, Elaine Paige, Aled Jones, Victoria Hart, Russell Watson, Paul Weller, Charlotte
Church, Pink, Celine Dion, Sir Paul McCartney, The Script and Bryan Adams (who took the cover photo of their
Elgar album).
The Quartet has have enjoyed collaborating with jazz musicians including pianist Dom Alldis and saxophonist Iain
Ballamy, and enjoyed performing in Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. The Pavão’s experience in the studio has led to
them recording for TV, the West End and film; recording music for Andrew Lloyd Webber, Rick Stein's cookery
series, and even the X-Factor.
The Pavao celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in style, by performing Elgar's Piano Quintet with John Lill
in Malvern. Highlights of their career so far include performing the Mendelssohn Octet on a set of Stradivarius
instruments on loan from the Royal Academy, touring extensively with the Henri Oguike Contemporary Dance
Company, and also the opportunities they have had to reach further into the community by playing in schools and
hospices.
Individual Biographies
Kerenza Peacock
Kerenza Peacock (1st violin) began playing the violin in Ipswich at the age of three, and from the age of 10 she
studied at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. She was a member of the National Youth
Orchestra for two years. After leaving school, she went on to study full-time at the Academy with Howard Davis
and also learnt piano with Virginia Black. Kerenza led the Academy Symphony, Concert and Studio Orchestras
and was awarded the DM Lloyd Prize and the Bunty Lempfert Award. She graduated in 2002 with a First Class
Honours degree and the following year was loaned a Stradivarius violin by the Academy for a performance of the
Mendelssohn Concerto. She was also invited to Cremona for the Stradivarius Festival to play in an orchestra
consisting solely of Stradivarius instruments. As well has having played many times with the BBC Symphony
Orchestra and BBC Concert Orchestra, Kerenza often leads the orchestras for West End shows and played the
solo in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Like the other Pavaos, she is in demand as a session player in London, and records
for TV and film. She has also played for artists such as Rod Stewart (the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Concert), Noel
Gallagher and KanYe West. She enjoys playing sonatas with pianist Alison Farr, and this May will be performing
Barber's Violin Concerto with the Wolsey Orchestra, Ipswich.
Jenny Sacha
Jenny Sacha (2nd violin) began learning the violin at the age of nine with her grandfather. Four years later she
gained a place at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and later went on to become a principal
player of the National Youth Orchestra. Jenny graduated from the Royal Academy in 2003 obtaining a First Class
Honours degree and a Postgraduate diploma. During her studies in London with soloist Maurice Hasson, she
was given the opportunity to learn with Michelle Auclair at the New England Conservatory, Boston U.S.A. She led
the N.E.C Chamber Orchestra in Boston and in London took principal positions in many of the Academy
orchestras. Jenny has enjoyed playing for session orchestras around London and recording for Travis, Divine
Comedy and Pavarotti. She has also performed in large scale concerts such as the Concert For Diana at
Wembley Stadium and the Queen’s Jubilee Pop Concert at Buckingham Palace.
Bryony James
Bryony James (cello – 12/2/79) was taught ’cello from the age of six by her mother. She played with the National
Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for three years before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Music with
David Smith and Philip Sheppard. Whilst at the RAM, she won an RAM Foundation Award, the Hovis Prize and
the EMI Award, and played principal cello in the Academy String, Studio and Symphony Orchestras and Sinfonia.
Bryony also played in the Queen’s Jubilee Pop Concert at Buckingham Palace, and was principal cello in the
televised Elton John Royal Opera House Gala Concert. She appears as solo cellist on the Robbie Williams album
‘Escapology’ and last year played solo cello with Robert Downey Jnr. She has played with the London
Philharmonic Orchestra and in ‘Les Miserables’ in the London’s West End.
Natália Gomes
Natália Gomes (Viola) started to play the viola aged eleven, learning with David Wyn Lloyd in Portugal. In 1998
she came to London to take up an entrance scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, to study with Yuko Inoue
and Mathew Souter. In that year she won the Theodore Holland Prize. Natalia has played with the London
Symphony Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. She has been principal of the World Youth
Orchestra, and the Academy’s Sinfonia, String Orchestra and Concert Orchestra. Natalia was the recipient of the
RAM’s Hilda Wynne Memorial Prize, the Moir Carnegie Prize and the Margit & Benjamin Dale Award. She was
also awarded a full Scholarship to support her in her studies by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. She
graduated with Distinction from a Postgraduate course at the Royal Academy in July 2003.