Andrey Fjeldstad saxophone
Bianca Vancea piano

Bozza Fantasie Italienne
Glazunov Chant du ménestrel
Schumann 3 Romances Op.94

Beatrice Heasman mezzo-soprano
Alex Wyatt piano

Dring 7 Shakespeare songs
Dove 5 Amorous sighs (No.1, No.2 & No.4)

Andrey Fjeldstad is a Norwegian saxophonist, composer, and educator based in Birmingham. He graduated with First Class Honours from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where he studied with Naomi Sullivan, Andrew Tweed, and Anna Brooks, and was awarded the Principal’s Prize for his outstanding achievements. He is now pursuing multi‑instrumental studies in clarinet and flute with Paul Saunders, Anna Hashimoto, Mark O’Brien and Diane Clark.

A committed advocate for new music, Andrey works closely with composers to develop original repertoire for saxophone. His recent project, Fjord Fantasia, celebrated contemporary Norwegian music and featured four world premieres, reflecting his interest in cross‑cultural collaboration and expanding the instrument’s expressive possibilities.

As a versatile performer, he has toured across the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands with Joe Broughton’s Conservatoire Folk Ensemble, appearing on major festival stages. He has also performed in Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States as part of collaborative international projects. Andrey is the lead saxophonist and ensemble manager for the RBC India Ensemble under Dr. Radhika Balakrishnan, performing alongside artists including Shankar Mahadevan, Zakir Hussain, and John McLaughlin.

He has participated in masterclasses with leading figures such as Kyle Horch, Asya Fateyeva, Claude Delangle, Kenneth Tse, Christian Wirth, Lutz Koppetsch, Amy Dickson, Katia Beaugeais, Aina Davidsen, Lars Lien, and ensembles including the Rascher Saxophone Quartet, Laefer Quartet, Atea Quintet, and the Rolin’Phones Quartet.

An active chamber musician, Andrey performs in a saxophone and piano duo with Bianca Vancea and in Nordlys Sax Duo with multi‑instrumentalist Amy Hunt, exploring repertoire that bridges classical, folk, and contemporary traditions. Dedicated to education, he has taught and conducted in Norway and has led classes in the Faroe Islands, inspiring musicians of all levels through collaborative creativity.

Upcoming engagements include performances at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference in Columbus, Ohio, and the Nordic Saxophone Festival in Aarhus, Denmark.

Bianca Vancea is a Romanian pianist based in Birmingham. She completed her bachelor's degree with First Class Honours at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and is currently enrolled on a Personal Study Programme under John Thwaites and Margaret Fingerhut. A dedicated collaborative pianist, Bianca is a joint winner of the John Ireland Prize and recipient of the Edward Brooks English Song Accompanist Prize, the Edward Brooks Lieder Accompanist Prize, and the Gordon Clinton Prize for English Song Pianist.

She has performed solo and ensemble recitals across the West Midlands, and recently released Echoes of Our Island, an album of twentieth-century English songs with soprano Maria Willsher.

In May 2025, she performed as a soloist with the Romantic Revival Orchestra at the CBSO Centre for the premiere of For Every Round You’ve Walked, a new work for piano and orchestra by composer James Sharif. Bianca is also a piano tutor and regularly takes part in outreach projects. Upcoming engagements include a performance in the Pre-CBSO Showcase at Symphony Hall in April 2026, alongside Matthew Pandya.

Beatrice Heasman is a mezzo soprano from East Sussex currently in her fourth year at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. She is passionate about singing German Lieder, she took part in the BIP winter academy in Leipzig in Febuary 2025. 

Beatrice’s recent performances recently include Ursule in Berlioz’s Beatrice and Benedict as part of RBC’s 2025 opera scenes, Coraline in Turnage’s Coraline, Armelinde in Viadot’s Cendrillion, and chorus in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta as part of RBC’s 2024 opera scenes. She also performed in the Puppet Chorus in Ethel Smyth’s Fête galante. She was also recently a finalist in the Edward Brookes Lieder prize and is a Josephine Baker Young Artist.

Beatrice credits taking part in Glyndebourne’s youth opera as a teenager as the main catalyst to her desire to pursue music as a career. She enjoys singing a wide range of repertoire from opera, to oratorio, to art song, to early music. 

She has recently taken an interest in directing as she is creating, directing and producing her own set of opera scenes which will take place on 11 March 2026 in the Recital Hall.

Running time approx. 55 minutes