Biography

After graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 1987, Ivan performed throughout the world for over twenty years with the Duke Quartet which was formed during his time at the Academy. They worked with an array of artists including Jessye Norman, Monserrat Caballe, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Alexander Baillie, the Brodsky Quartet, Marc Andre Hamelin, Martin Roscoe and Joanna McGregor, as well as The Pretenders, Blur, John Cale and George Michael. They recorded over a dozen string quartet CDs, the first of which was voted ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ at the Cannes Classical Music Awards in 1994. The quartet also toured extensively for many years with the award-winning European dance company Rosas, and appeared in concert on TV and radio the world over. The quartet were resident at Trinity College, Oxford, for many years.

In 2001 Ivan left the quartet to undertake other projects including a residency with the Swiss Theater St Gallen Dance Company, performing solo cello and vocals. In the following years he also toured with artists such as Pete Docherty and Mike Batt.

In 2009 he organised two hugely successful concerts for King’s Lynn’s Hanse Festival: a Baroque concert at St Margaret’s church; and a children’s concert including Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, with Roger Lloyd-Pack as Narrator, at the Corn Exchange. At the beginning of 2012 Ivan performed at the Royal Opera House with The Royal Ballet, performing 3 pieces for cello and piano by Oliver Davis, with pianist Helen Leek. They also recorded those pieces in the spring of that year. At the end of 2015 Ivan played in London’s West End for ‘Les Mis’ at the Queen’s Theatre, and for ‘The Kings of Broadway’ at the Palace Theatre.

2019 finds Ivan combining work near his home in Norfolk with recording in London and involved with three ensembles based in Norwich: the Archaos Ensemble; the Norwich String Quartet; and the Kavolini String Quartet. Summer 2019 has seen the start of a new ensemble, the Kavolini Chamber Orchestra, which performed three proms concerts in Norfolk. He also performs with the London Studio Players, a collection of London-based musicians, doing corporate, session and recording work and the London-based Ella McCready Trio which sees Ivan working alongside his daughter, Ella.

Ivan was awarded an Associateship to the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM). He plays on a cello made for him in 2001 by Kai-Thomas Roth.