Ruby Hughes began her musical studies as a cellist, graduating from the Guildhall School of Music in London before going on to study singing at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Munich and the Royal College of Music, London, on a full scholarship. A BBC New Generation artist in 2011–13, Ruby Hughes held a Borletti Buitoni Trust award, was shortlisted for a 2014 Royal Philharmonic Society Music award, and was winner of the first prize and audience prize at the 2009 London Handel competition.

She made her début at the Theater an der Wien in 2009 as Roggiero (Tancredi) con- ducted by René Jacobs, returning as Fortuna (L’incoronazione di Poppea). She has sung major roles at the London Handel Festival, Buxton Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, English National Opera, Garsington Opera, The Opera Group, Music Theatre Wales and Scottish Opera, as well as in Jonathan Miller’s production of Bach’s St Matthew Passion at the National Theatre. Festival appearances include the Edinburgh International Festi- val, the BBC Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cheltenham, Gent OdeGand, Göttingen, Lockenhaus, Lucerne, Manchester International, Nuremberg, St Endellion and West Cork. Ruby Hughes has broadcast and recorded extensively and has sung under many leading conductors; she is also a keen recitalist, working particularly closely with Joseph Middleton and Julius Drake.

Pianist Joseph Middleton specializes in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been highly acclaimed in this field. Described in Opera Magazine as ‘the rightful heir to legendary accompanist Gerald Moore’, by BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’, he has also been labeled ‘the cream of the new generation’ by The Times. He is Director of Leeds Lieder, Musician in Residence and a Bye Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge and a Fellow of his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music, where he is also a Professor. He was the first accompanist to win the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award.
Joseph is a frequent guest at major music centres including London’s Wigmore Hall (where he has been a featured artist), Royal Opera House and Royal Festival Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Park Avenue Armory, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus and Musikverein Vienna, Zürich Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Berlin BoulezSaal, Kölner Philharmonie, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Lille and Gothenburg Opera Houses, Baden- Baden, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Musée d’Orsay Paris, Oji Hall Tokyo and Festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Barcelona, Schloss Elmau, Edinburgh, Munich, Ravinia, San Francisco, Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, deSingel, Soeul, Stuttgart, Toronto and Vancouver.
He made his BBC Proms debut in 2016 alongside Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson and returned in 2018 alongside Dame Sarah Connolly where they premiered recently discovered songs by Benjamin Britten.
Joseph enjoys recitals with internationally established singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Louise Alder, Mary Bevan, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Dame Sarah Connolly, Marianne Crebassa, Iestyn Davies, Fatma Said, Samuel Hasselhorn, Christiane Karg, Katarina Karnéus, Angelika Kirchschlager, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, John Mark Ainsley, Ann Murray DBE, James Newby, Mark Padmore, Mauro Peter, Miah Persson, Sophie Rennert, Ashley Riches, Dorothea Röschmann, Kate Royal, Carolyn Sampson, Nicky Spence and Roderick Williams.
He has a special relationship with BBC Radio 3, frequently curating his own series and performing alongside the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. His critically acclaimed and fast-growing discography has seen him awarded a Diapason D’or, Edison Award and Priz Caecilia as well as receiving numerous nominations for Gramophone, BBC Music Magazines and International Classical Music Awards. His interest in the furthering of the song repertoire has led Gramophone Magazine to describe him as ‘the absolute king of programming’.