Stefan Rogers
BIOGRAPHY
Stefan Rogers is a cellist from the east of England who is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Jo Cole.
On top of being an in demand chamber musician and conductor, Stefan is enthusiastic in discovering and performing lost music.
Stefan Rogers is a cellist from the east of England who is currently completing a Master’s Degree at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studies with Jo Cole. As an active chamber musician, Stefan’s interests focus on discovering and performing works by forgotten composers as well as exploring ways of broadening audiences of classical music through his work as director of the Enys Chamber Music Festival.
Stefan began studying the cello at the age of 7 and, having studied with Katherine Whitehouse, Nicola Anderson and Helen Godferey, he began lessons at the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2014 with Gillian Thoday and Selma Gokcen. During this time, he was fortunate to play in masterclasses to some of the UK’s top cellists including: Julian Lloyd Webber, Guy Johnston and Sebastian Comberti. It was also during this time Stefan first experienced both Chamber Music and Conducting, both of which have since become major elements of his work.
In 2018 Stefan began his studies the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester where he would study the cello with Nicholas Trygstad and become an active member of the Franco-Mendes Quartet. During his undergraduate studies, Stefan explored the works of influential but overlooked composers such as: Nikolai Roslavets, Alfredo Casella, Nikolai Myaskovsky and the Manchunian composer: John Foulds. With his Quartet, Stefan would compete as a finalist in the RNCM’s Nossek, Hirsch, and Weil chamber music prizes, and would study with members of the Elias Quartet, Chillingirian Quartet, and Gould Trio. Stefan has also collaborated with the composers: Ethan Mitchell, Samuel Kane and has performed premiers of their works as part of a Duo recital series and as a member of the innovative Manchester based chamber orchestra, the Carme Ensemble respectively.
Stefan currently plays on a 2017 Cello by Robin Aitchison modeled of the Marquis de Corberon Stradivarius
Alongside studying the cello, Stefan is an active conductor. Having first studied at Junior Guildhall with Scott Wilson, Stefan was able to gain experience through opportunities provided by his local music service, it was during this time he played for Peter Stark, who he has since gone on to study with.
During his undergraduate studies he organised projects which saw him conducting works such as: Franz Schrecker’s Chamber Symphony, Brahms’ First Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with Xander Croft. He also worked with an orchestra formed of students of the RNCM to make the first recording of an Orchestral Symphony by Nikolai Roslavets. Looking forward, Stefan wishes to use his conducting to explore and perform works by lesser-known composers, particularly those whose works were largely forgotten due to political persecution during their lifetimes.
