Guest Coaches
Justin Lamy and Abi Hyde-Smith
Justin Lamy
Justin Lamy, born in 1990, has been studying the violin since the age of five. At the age of eight, he was accepted at the Conservatoire de musique of Gatineau in Canada, in Brian Boychuk’s class. In 2000, he studied with Calvin Sieb, former principal violin of the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra and the Capitole de Toulouse. From 2003, he continued his violin studies with Denise Lupien, then principal violin of the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal. In 2013, Justin Lamy obtained his Master in violin performance at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne with Gyula Stuller, principal violin of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. He also obtained a Master in violin pedagogy at the University of Arts in Bern with the violinist Bartholomiej Niziol, principal violin of the Tonhalle in Zurich. Then, he concluded his studies in 2018 at the Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano with the Italian violinist Massimo Quarta.
The young violinist won several awards at the Kiwanis Music Festival and the Canadian Music Competition. He received the “Most Promising Artist Award” at the National Arts Center Orchestra Competition in Ottawa. He has notably performed as a soloist with the National Arts Center Orchestra conducted by Pinchas Zukerman, the Lucerne Chamber Orchestra conducted by Sebastian Hamann and other Canadian and Swiss orchestras.
Justin Lamy also participated in several festivals including the Morningside Music Bridge in Calgary and Shanghai, the Young Artist Program directed by Pinchas Zukerman, the Académie du Festival de Musique du Domaine Forget and the Centre d’Art Orford in Quebec, the Schleswig-Holstein Orchestra in Germany and the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Justin Lamy also participated in masterclasses given by Régis Pasquier, Ivry Gitlis, Pavel Vernikov, Pierre Amoyal, Igor Oistrakh, Martin Chalifour and Kristof Barati, among others.
Between 2011 and 2019, Justin Lamy played on a 1667 Antonio Stradivarius “ex-Tom Jenkins” violin, a loan from Canimex inc. of Drummondville, Québec, Canada.
Justin Lamy is currently the teacher and director of his recently founded Académie de Musique des Combins based in Verbier, Switzerland.
Abi Hyde-Smith
London based cellist, Abi Hyde-Smith enjoys an exciting and varied career. Abi's passion is chamber music - both performing and coaching it. She recorded Shostakovich's Cello Sonata which was released by Rubicon Classics in 2023, with the album entering the UK Classical charts at number 4 to critical acclaim. She enjoys regular chamber performances in venues including the Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and the Purcell Room. Abi has performed all over the world with orchestras including the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Ballet Sinfonia and RTÉ Concert Orchestra, often as guest principal cellist. She regularly plays on London's West End and for many film and TV soundtracks.
Abi is a great believer in the communicative power of music and she is proud to lead projects working creatively with dementia patients and in children's hospitals. She also coaches for the National Children's Orchestra of Great Britain and her writing has been published by the Strad magazine.
Abi can't wait for her first Festival of Chapels experience and to get to know everyone there.
