Zoe Hodi & Kryštof Kohout

All music is folk music; I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song 

Louis Armstrong

Putting Prokofiev, Bartók and Ligeti into the folk music context of their origins, they perform the sonata for two violins, violin duos and Balada si joc alongside Scottish traditional music and improvisations. Delve into the rich tapestry of folk music and storytelling with us. 

Folk-songs and folk-dances are really the heart of all music, the very beginning of music; and you’d be amazed at how much of the big, complicated concert music we hear grows right out of them.  

Leonard Bernstein

Kryštof Kohout

Having recently made his Carnegie Hall debut recital, the Czech violinist performs as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and the USA. Aged 21 he made his Barbican Hall debut playing the Berg Violin Concerto and, as a laureate of the Bartók World Competition, he has recently performed the Beethoven Concerto with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Other recent highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Konzerthaus Berlin. Kryštof is currently studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with David Takeno (violin) and David Dolan (classical improvisation) and has worked with artists such as Midori, Leonidas Kavakos and Josef Špacek. 

Zoe Hodi

Described as possessing ‘infectious musical temperament and interpretative imagination’, Scottish violinist Zoe Hodi is a diverse artist who has performed in a variety of chamber ensembles and orchestras, including touring and making a documentary with Orchestra for the Earth.

Zoe is currently studying at postgraduate level at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under Levon Chilingirian, on the London Symphony Orchestra associated Orchestral Artistry programme. Zoe has also received guidance from Adrian Brendel, Krysia Osostowicz, Angus Anderson, and the late George Taylor, and performed in masterclasses with Wolfgang Redik and Nicola Benedetti.

She has performed in a range of venues across Britain and Europe, including at the BBC Proms and Mahler’s composing huts. In her spare time, she loves hillwalking and is a member of the Cairngorm Club! Zoe is proud to play on a Colin Adamson violin, made in 2016. This concert is particularly special to Zoe, giving her the opportunity to share her perspective of the traditional music she grew up playing in the Highlands of Scotland. 

Zoe and Kryštof studied alongside each other at the Guildhall School in the class of widely respected pianist and improviser David Dolan and play together regularly.