James Conway – cello
Valentina Wang – piano

The Programme

James Conway – cello
Valentina Wang – piano

Cello Sonata
i. Moderato
ii. Vivace, molto leggiero
iii. Adagio
iv. Allegro

Cello Sonata No 4 in C major, Op 102 No 1
I. Andante – Allegro vivace
II. Adagio – Tempo d’andante – Allegro vivace

The Artists

Valentina Wang is an Italian pianist based in London, currently in demand as a versatile collaborative pianist, chamber musician and song accompanist. She is a recent graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, where she completed an Artist Diploma course in Piano Accompaniment under the guidance of Caroline Palmer, and is currently a freelance professional accompanist at Guildhall. She previously obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Solo Piano Performance at Conservatorio Peri in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where she was awarded the ‘Giovanna and Fabrizia Magnani’ scholarship for outstanding academic achievement. She is a prizewinner of several national and international competitions. Among them are J S Bach Competition, Castiglion Fiorentino Competition, G Rospigliosi Competition and the Steinway Piano Competition. Together with Lycos Trio, founded in 2019, she won First Prize at Palmanova International Competition, Piove di Sacco Competition and Sarzana International Competition. Most recently, she was awarded first prize at the 2025 Jubilee Accompaniment Prize at Guildhall.

James Conway is a Fellow at the Guildhall School. Whilst at studying at Guildhall for a Master’s, he won Aboyne Young Artist as part of Deeside Cello Project in Scotland. Previously studying at the Royal Northern College of Music under Nicholas Trygstad, James was given the Leonard Rose Award for Cello and won the opportunity to work with BBC Philharmonic on their Professional Experience Scheme. He was a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, working with musicians including Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Mark Elder and Steven Isserlis. James also studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department and was awarded the Esther Coleman Prize.