Petford Duo

The Petford Duo are a modern Violin and Cello duo that were formed in 2017 by two young musicians who studied at Chetham’s School of Music together. They perform all sorts of genres, varying from Classical to easy listening Jazz as well as Pop songs. The group consists of the Violinist, Alexander Petrov and Cellist, Josh Mountford - both of which study at leading conservatories in the UK. Aleksandar Petrov began playing the violin at the age of 5 and in 2009 he became a student at the National School for Music and Theatrical Art "Prof. Pancho Vladigerov" Burgas-Bulgaria. Since the first days of his training, Aleksandar has revealed himself as a gifted child with excellent musical qualities. He possesses musical thinking, wonderful memory, developed hearing and rhythm. Aleksandar takes an active part in the concert life of the school thus accumulating musical experience. He is a participant in the Master classes of prominent violin players as Professor Mincho Minchev, Vesko Eshkenazi, Professor Kevork Mardirosyan, Prof. Micho Dimitrov. During his studies, Aleksandar Petrov shows himself as a tallented and perspective student. His performance enables him to achieve high results in both regional and international competitions for his age group. 2010 -Festival Miglianico - Italy – Laureate 2010 – Competition "Varban Varbanov"- Burgas - First place 2011– A soloist at Burgas State Opera 2011–A competition for German and Austrian music -Burgas- third place 2012- Competition "Emil Kamilarov"-Sofia - First place 2012 –International competition "Nedyalka Simeonova"- Haskovo - Second place 2013- First solo recital - Burgas 2013- International Competition "Pancho Vladigverov"- Shumen-Second price 2016- A soloist at the Festival in Baden Baden –Germany. 2016 - Festival "Misho Todorov "- Sliven - Special Prize of the Garo Shakliyan for best violinist. 2017 –Withgif t International Music Competition – London – Certificate with Highly Commended A participant in Levon Manukyan's orchestra "Collegium Musicum" since 2009 until now with many charity concerts in the country. In 2017 Aleksandar Petrov joined Chetham's School of Music with Tutor – Ruth Khan. Currently he is a student at Royal Northen Collage of Music, in his final year of BMus Undergraduate study. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The orchestral environment has always been a big focus in Josh’s life from an early age, being part of the National Children’s Orchestra of GB, CBSO Youth Orchestra as well as the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Josh went on to become the Principal Cellist of the CBSO Youth Orchestra in the 18/19 season. He has featured for the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra, and The Midland Sinfonia throughout the year of 2022, as well as the Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra for the Cheltenham Music Festival in 2021. Josh played alongside the Manchester Camerata as part of the PES scheme in 2022. Josh, currently studying a Master of Arts in Performance degree at the Royal Academy of Music under tuition of Jo Cole, started the Cello at the age of 4. He went on to join the Birmingham Junior Conservatoire tutored by Elaine Ackers, before moving on to Chetham’s School Of Music, Manchester, where he studied under Head of Strings, Nicholas Jones. He the continued his studies in Manchester, studying an undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music. During his time here, Josh was taught by Hannah Roberts. In July 2022, Josh graduated the RNCM with a First Class Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree. Josh is actively part of many chamber ensembles. Forming the Bauhaus Trio in 2021, he went on to win the esteemed RNCM Nossek Chamber Music Prize with the ensemble in the following year, performing Mendelssohn’s D Minor Piano Trio. As a member of the Riedl Quartet, forming in the first year of RNCM undergraduate studies, Josh returned to his old school, Chetham’s School of Music, in March 2022, to collaborate with middle school students in a project consisting of working side-by-side coaching the students over an intensive two day period. This culminated with a performance in the Carol Nash Recital Hall at Chetham’s. Josh has a vast amount of experience performing at weddings and events with these ensembles, as well as the Petford Duo and also as a Solo Cellist. Through both orchestral and chamber playing, Josh has performed at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Barbican, Bridgewater Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic and Sage Gateshead, as well as the Konzerthaus in Berlin. Josh has had many masterclasses with illustrious Cellists from around the world such as Steve Doane, Bruno Delepelaire, Robert Cohen, Sung-Won Yang, Milkós Perényi and most recently Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Winning many awards, most recently the Shirley Catterall Award in June 2022 as well as the Guilhermina development award and the James Langley Memorial Trust, Josh is extremely grateful to Help Musician’s UK, having won a Postgraduate Award in 2022, allowing him to further his musical education to a Master’s level. Josh is a band member of Forever Elton, who made their first outing in March 2019. In this ensemble Josh performs on Electric Cello, as well as featuring as a keyboardist. Also taking part in many recording opportunities, Josh can be heard playing the cello in the feature film soundtracks to; Journey to Le Man (Patrick Stewart), Vendetta (Danny Dyer), Breakdown (Craig Fairbrass), Stalked (Justin Edgar), The Sun Also Rises (2023) Josh currently plays on Luthier Robin Aitchison’s Montagnana replica Cello and is grateful for the multiple awards he has received towards this. Josh is a member of the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM)