Philippa Mo founded a violin duo in 2000 whilst still a student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She fist played with Mislava Mikelic and the Eight Duos by David Matthews was written for their fist concert. With Harriet Mackenzie, Retorica made two CDs and toured China and South Korea.

 

Now Retorica relaunches with Hannah Perowne. The two players were undergraduates at the Royal Academy of Music together before Hannah moved to Germany to establish a stellar career.

 

 

Highlights of Retorica's career include international tours performing in the most prestigious halls in China, (Beijing NCPA, Shanghai SHAOC and Tianjin Grand Theatre), South Korea (Seoul Arts Centre), Spain (Ateneo de Madrid), Ukraine (2D2N International Contemporary Music Festival), Japan, Italy, Sweden, Germany and the Channel Islands. In the UK, performances include the Barbican Centre as part of the Park Lane Young Artists Series and International festivals including the Jersey Liberation Festival, Ripon International Festival, Ryedale International Festival, Swaledale Festival, and ‘Artists in Residence’ at the Presteigne Festival. The duo have also broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. In 2015, both Philippa and Harriet were honoured to be awarded 'Associate of the Royal Academy of Music' for their services to music.

 

Their recordings (English Violin Duos, NMC Label; John McCabe's double violin concerto, Dutton Label) have received critical acclaim, including Gramophone Magazine's 'Editor's Choice': "superbly responsive playing from Harriet Mackenzie and Philippa Mo.... faultless technique and unfailing insight" and reviews from The Strad: “Excellently played”; The Sunday Times: “….the riches vividly displayed by Retorica....dazzling.” 

 

Retorica has always been unique in dedicating the highest level of performance to this rarely heard genre. Their extensive repertoire together includes works by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Mozart; technical masterpieces by Wieniawski and Sarasate; folk inspired works by Bartok; British works by Moeran, Rawsthorne; as well as the largely unexplored wealth and quality of repertoire for two violins and orchestra. They are proud to be expanding the repertoire and creating a legacy with recent works written for duo by Gabriel Prokofiev, John McCabe, David Matthews, Dmitri Smirnov, Jim Aitchison, Robert Fokkens, Ken Ueno and Taro Iwashiro.

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