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Aurras Duo
With rippling piano and swirling, playful flute, combined with dark passages of turmoil and longing, brought forth strong emotions through the intricate and complex interaction of piano and flute until finally, passion spent, it resolved into the gentlest peace, sustained by a silent audience which then acknowledged a wonderful performance.
Duo - Instrumental
Instrumentation
- Fiona Sweeney - Flute
- Ben Eames - Piano
Repertoire
As the Gloaming Falls - Sweeney
Flute Sonata - Bonis
Flute Sonata - Prokofiev
Flute Sonata - Poulenc
Le Rire de Sarai- Connesson
Fantasie - Frhüling
Carmen Fantasie Brillante- Borne
Canzone- Samuel Barber
Cleveland Times- Ned McGowan
Be still my Soul- Rhonda Larson
Ballade-Perilhou
Concertino- Chaminade
Hypnosis- Ian Clarke
Duo for flute and piano- Copland
Sonatine- Dutilleux
Sonatine- Sancan
Andante pastoral et scherzettino- Taffanel
Introduction and Variations on “Trockne Blumen”- Schubert
Flute Sonata- Carl Vine
“Undine” Sonata- Reinecke
Flute Concerto- Liebermann
Flute sonata - Liebermann
Chant de Linos- Jolivet
Fantasie- Hue
Flute sonata- Hindemith
Biography
Hailing from Scotland, Aurras Duo are a UK based ensemble whose aim is to discover lesser known repertoire for flute and piano, while also highlighting works by composers of under-represented groups, particularly minority genders, LGBTQ+ composers and composers from the BAME community. Aurras Duo is comprised of Fiona Sweeney (Flute) and Ben Eames (Piano).
Fiona is originally from Glasgow and began her studies at the Junior Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she was awarded a scholarship. Fiona then completed her undergraduate degree as a scholarship holder at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and was awarded a 1st class honours degree, the Concert Recital Diploma award and the Principal’s Music Prize in 2020.
Fiona completed her postgraduate degree on the Orchestral Artistry course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in July 2022, also as a scholarship holder, and was the winner of the Woodwind Prize in 2021. Fiona was also a scholarship holder and recital scheme artist for the Hattori Foundation for Music and the Arts.
Fiona has worked with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House. She has also performed with the Scottish Opera Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Opera North Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Nevill Holt Opera. As a soloist, Fiona has recorded Richard Bissill’s Flute and Piano Sonata, for his CD ‘Panoply’, available on Spotify and iTunes, and has performed as a concerto soloist with the Junior Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Ben Eames is a Scottish pianist who has performed extensively throughout the UK.
He grew up, surrounded by creativity at the foot of the Ochil Hills in Clackmannanshire, the 'wee county' and discovered a passion for music and piano after his artist parents were offered an old piano ‘free to a good home’.
He studied initially at the Ian Tomlin School of Music in Edinburgh Napier University with a 1st class Bachelor of Music with Honours studying under Simon Coverdale. He has won multiple prizes at the Edinburgh Competitions Festival including: Horace Fellowes Medal for Chamber Music; Elizabeth Ritchie Medal for 15 Minute Recital; Christina Pentland Medal for Classical Piano Recital and the Chopin Medal. Ben completed a Masters of Music in piano performance at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London in 2015 studying under Douglas Finch.
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