#MeetTheArtists
ALL THESE ARTISTS WILL BE PERFORMING
AT THE LAUNCH EVENT
Katie Forrest is the Founding Director and Producer of the Young Classical Artist (YCA) programme at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh 2019.
Katie is currently a third year undergraduate Soprano on the BMus(hons) Vocal Studies course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) studying voice with Wilma MacDougall and generously supported by a Robertson Trust Scholarship.
As an aspiring Arts Professional she proactively pursues opportunities to explore new creative platforms to build skills and techniques through active learning and reflective practice.
Corey Mckay is a Scottish BA (Hons) Media student studying at Robert Gordon University. She is part of the YCA Artists as she is managing all Marketing, Social Media and creating Promotional Content in preparation for the YCA launch event which will be held at The Queens Hall, Edinburgh.
Corey is a Robertson Trust Scholar and has just secured a 2-month PR internship in London over summer and is always looking for ways to grow and learn within the media industry.
Alongside her Degree, she volunteers at Cyrenians, works part-time and is also a concert photographer across Scotland. She has been involved in the creative industry for over 2 years now and had a great understanding of the skills and awareness needed to have a strong role in a competitive environment.
Corey has also completed A Discovery Film School Course with the British Film Institute (BFI) where 2 short films were screened at Dundee Contemporary Arts.
Helen Frances Corlett is a Mezzo-Soprano reading BMus Vocal Performance with Elizabeth McCormack in her fourth and final year at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Previously studying in Vienna, Austria, Helen has performed in a variety of locations throughout Europe, including Paris, Ghent and London.
Helen works frequently with ensembles and companies across the UK in a number of exciting performances, including BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Choir and RSNO. Her operatic repertoire includes performances in “Dido and Aeneas” by Purcell, “Street Scene” by Weill, “The Day After” by Jonathan Dove, “The Fiery Angel” by Prokofiev, and an upcoming production in May/June 2019 of Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking”.
Her upcoming performances include a premiere at Leeds Lieder 2019 of new contemporary vocal repertoire written by emerging composers across the UK. In other contemporary material, Helen has worked on Russian composition “Autumn was Already Staying at the Yard” for Voice and Prepared Piano by William Parker, and groundbreaking piece “For Voice and Electronics” about performance anxiety by Amit Anand composed for The Royal Conservatoire’s “PLUG” festival.
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Ruaridh Bakke is a Scottish clarinettist currently studying a Master of Music performance degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
As a keen orchestral player, he enjoys appearing with various orchestras and ensembles around the UK and has most recently played with Scottish Opera and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra experience schemes. In January 2020, Ruaridh will appear as soloist with the Vacation Chamber Orchestra for two performances of the Finzi Clarinet Concerto. Additionally, he is excited to have been given the position of principal clarinet with the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland for 2019, playing under conductors Jessica Cottis and Elim Chan.
As a soloist, Ruaridh is passionate about finding new ways to enhance the performance experience by challenging traditional performance conventions and bringing new life to the classical repertoire.
Elena Garrido Madrona is a young Spanish soprano and pianist. She graduated in 2018 with a BMus in Piano Performance from the Conservatoire of Málaga and is now completing a BMus Degree in Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Elizabeth McCormack.
Since 2016, Elena has been a member of the Young Choir of Andalucía and Opera Choir of Málaga. She has performed frequently as a soloist with both, having sung the roles of ‘Handmaid’ in Puccini’s Turandot and ‘Page’ in Verdi’s Rigoletto in Teatro Cervantes de Málaga opera season. She also created the role of ‘Ishtar’ in the opera Gilgamesh, by Héctor Eliel. For a production at the Conservatoire of Málaga, Elena has performed the role of ‘Child Spirit’ in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and ‘The Music’ in Monteverdi’s L'Orfeo as well as being a featured soloist with orchestras, and regular recitalist throughout Spain.
Recently, Elena has participated in masterclasses with artists such as Carlos Aransay, Giulio Zappa, Mónica Campaña, Patrizia Patelmo, David Mason, Manuel Carra, and Albert Attenelle.
An award winning singer, Elena has won several prizes in voice, piano and chamber music competitions in Málaga, Madrid and Catalonia. As a pianist, she represented Andalucia, playing in the final round at the XXI National Performance Competition “Intercentros Melómano” in 2012. She was a Finalist in The National Youth Music Competition of Spain as a Soprano in 2017.
Karla Grant is a Soprano currently studying at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the Undergraduate Vocal Performance programme under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall. During the summer of 2017, Karla was a young artist at the New Generation Festival in Florence, performing in the chorus of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.
Karla has also played some lead roles in musical theatre, such as Maria in West Side Story, and one of the principal roles in Godspell. She was delighted to have been selected from her year to represent the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland at the Kathleen Ferrier Award for Young Singers in 2017.
Karla is a proud member of the Les Sirènes female chamber choir (2016-). She has also been a keen member of the NYCoS for eleven years and during that time has had many opportunities to perform at a high level in large choral works. In July 2017 she was honoured to be chosen as a soloist for a live BBC TV Broadcast in commemoration of the Passchendaele Battle in Belgium and most recently, performed Berlioz’ Lelio in Carnegie Hall with NYCoS and John Eliot Gardiners Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.
Julia Solomon is a mezzo-soprano currently studying Undergraduate Vocal Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall. She is grateful to be supported by an RCS scholarship and by the EMI Sound Foundation.
She was inspired by singing with the Royal Opera House Children's Chorus in Puccini’s La Bohème, Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, in which she also understudied the roles of the Young Vixen and Caterpillar. With RCS, Julia has been in the chorus of Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (Scottish Opera 2017), Dove’s The Day After (2018) and Weill’s Street Scene (2018) and is currently in rehearsals for the UK staged premier of Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (2019).
Julia has also played a string of principal roles in straight drama and musical theatre (Seymour, Little Shop of Horrors; Miss Dorothy, Thoroughly Modern Millie; Yum-Yum, Hot Mikado; Titorelli in Kafka’s The Trial; The Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland).
Julia was Richmond Upon Thames Young Singer of the Year 2015, and has a strong choral background having sung with the Thames Youth Choir (2012-2015), and now with the RCS Chamber Choir and Les Sirènes Female Chamber Choir.
James McIntyre is a Scottish tenor from Dumbarton currently in his second year of BMus Vocal Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he is studying under Iain Paton.
He is a member of the Scottish Opera Young Company and performed in their production of ‘Orfeo and Euridice’ earlier this year as well as taking part in their school outreach project concert last year in collaboration with the RAF.
James is excited to have been cast in Scottish Opera’s new touring opera ‘Amadeus and the Bard’ which he’ll be performing in later this year and is currently rehearsing as part of the chorus for the UK staged premiere of Dead Man Walking by Heggie at RCS in May.
Last year, he also co-founded an a cappella and barbershop group “The Quintessentials” with fellow students at RCS which has already received a positive response both within and out with the conservatoire.
Colum Donovan-Paterson Baritone is a third-year student on the BMus Vocal Studies course at RCS, studying with Julian Tovey.
He enjoys an active solo and ensemble career alongside his studies; he is a member of RCS Voices, and has also sung with Caledonian Voices. He was recently highly commended at the Leonie Kayser Prize for Singing, 2018 and was one of five finalists in the Governors’ Recital Prize 2019.
Colum regularly performs with the Cumnock Festival Chorus, working under directors such as Eamonn Dougan (The Sixteen) and Sir James MacMillan. He is a current member of Genesis Sixteen. Opera credits include singing in the chorus for Karen MacIver's The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas (Scottish Opera Connect), Donizetti’s L’Elisir D’Amore (New Generation Festival, Florence) and Jonathan Dove’s The Day After (RCS/ENO joint production). He also played the principal role of The Boy in Kurt Weill’s Der Jasager. Recent highlights include performing in the world premiere of James MacMillan’s All the Hills and Vales Along and in the Netflix Originals feature Outlaw King. He has recently joined the Dunedin Consort for their Golden Age Tour, directed by Ben Parry. Future performances include the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Le Grand Inconnu with The Sixteen and baritone soloist in Puccini’s Messa di Gloria.
Christopher McVinnie was born in Edinburgh and started learning the cello at the age of 8. He achieved his grade 8 at the age of 14 and has performed in several local music festivals such as the Balerno Music Festival. He has recently won the Dunbar Gerber prize for Chamber music with his piano trio. Christopher has collaborated with several big names in the music industry including film composer Patrick Doyle and percussionist Evelyn Glennie. He has performed with the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble, EYO, Scottish Ensemble, Clyde Opera Group, Scottish Opera and has participated in a side by side with the RSNO. He is a former Principle Cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and has played with the orchestra for 5 years. For the past 2 years, Christopher has performed as part of the Cantilena Chamber Music Festival on Islay and performed the Bridge Cello Sonata as part of the WW1 commemorations in 2018. Christopher is currently in his 4th and final year of his BMus(Hons) course at the RCS, studying with Betsy Taylor and currently does freelance work for Cairn, Corda and Arta string quartets as well as several other groups. After graduating from RCS, Christopher will persue an MMus degree at the RNCM in Manchester and hopes to continue freelancing and gain more professional work during his time there.
Graeme Law is currently studying with Stuart MacRae at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. More recently he has been asked to write for Leeds Lieder Festival, Decibel Ensemble, RCS MusicLab, Soprano Karla Grant and Taylor Wilson, Emi See, and the RCS winter production of Peter Pan. Graeme is interested in creating a meaningful experience for both the audience and performers. This often requires singers to dance, instrumentalists to sing and conductors to join in. If the audience do the same then even better.
Marcus Swietlicki is a 20 year old Scottish tenor currently in his 2nd year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the B.Mus Vocal Studies course, tutored by Professor Stephen Robertson.
In 2019 Marcus was delighted to be awarded 1st place at the Leonie Kayser Prize for Singing competition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and in 2018 was awarded 3rd place at the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition for Young Singers. Also in 2018 he was delighted to receive the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Winnie Busfield Singing Award.
In 2017 Marcus was awarded a Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Trust Entrance Award Scholarship and in 2016 was awarded winner of the Rotary Club Young Musician 2016 Competition, Scotland & N.E.England Final.As well as his studies at RCS Marcus enjoys an active career as tenor soloist performing various engagements around Scotland.
Marcus is a member of RCS Voices, RCS Chamber Choir and the National Youth Choir of Scotland.
Opera credits include the Scottish Opera Young Company, a Young Artist at the New Generation Festival, Florence, performing as a chorus member for Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Walton’s Henry the V and chorus member for the recent RCS opera production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias
Other recent engagements include Tenor soloist for Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Harmoniemesse.
Marcus is currently in rehearsal for the upcoming UK staged premier of Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking at RCS and will be performing as Tenor soloist for Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Brahms Liebesliede Waltzes at Glasgow Cathedral in May.
Marcus is a grateful recipient of a Dewar Arts award and a Cross Truss award.
Initially studying at Edinburgh Napier University under the tutelage of Simon Coverdale, Fraser has only
recently returned to full time education to study piano accompaniment at postgraduate level. During his
formative undergraduate years, he could regularly be found playing for musical theatre shows across Scotland and worked regularly in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, working closely with companies such as Captivate
Theatre and Youth Music Theatre Scotland among others, with highlights including Uncompromising Artistry Productions’ performance of Rent in 2015, and the UK premiere of Dani Girl in 2016. In addition to this, regular répétiteur work with Edinburgh Studio Opera, for productions of Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Bizet’s Carmen also followed, alongside being appointed as accompanist for Edinburgh University Music Society’s Chorus, under the direction of Neil Metcalfe. In his later university years, a passion for community music and education was discovered, leading to regular work with Edinburgh’s Tinderbox Orchestra, dep work with Edinburgh Young Musicians, and voluntary work with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s VIBE project.
Upon graduating, a move to the south coast quickly followed, being appointed as ‘Musician in Residence’ at Lancing College. Two intensely rewarding years followed, juggling performance and teaching commitments, with highlights including BBC Radio Broadcasts with the College Chapel Choir of evensong, and their live Sunday morning service, as well as a sung evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral, London. Outside of College
commitments, Fraser’s freelance career continued to grow, working regularly in musical theatre productions between Brighton and London, including freelance work with the Brighton Institute for Contemporary Theatre Training, as well as a rare appearance as an orchestral pianist for Horsham Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.
Currently part-way through his masters in piano accompaniment, studying under Scott Mitchell, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Fraser’s career now has a more balanced approach between educational and
performance work, teaching piano at Dunbar Music School, forming and leading a children’s choir in Chatelherault Primary School in Hamilton, in addition to regular work with community choirs throughout
Scotland alongside more recent freelance accompaniment work with the RCS Junior Conservatoire.
William James Alexander Parker is a English composer studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of David Fennessy, however he has also studied with Dr Linda Buckley, Dr Oliver Searle, Michael Fuchsmann and Judith Weir CBE. In his time at the conservatoire William has written for a wide range of instrumental and vocal combinations and has worked on compositions for a variety of commissions from musical organisations and groups such as Red Note Ensemble, Gelos Duo, Leeds Lieder Festival, RCS MusicLab and newly formed Glasgow-based contemporary music group Dias Ensemble. His work - which has been performed across the UK and the Russian Federation - aims to capture and explore the essence of place and time, often taking its' inspiration from the natural, barren landscapes of the British Isles - but also deals significantly with elements of folk and world music, taking great inspiration from his experiences as a performer training as a Sitarist in the Indian Classical tradition under the tutelage of Nikhil Patwardhan. A love of vocal music has also seen William collaborate with both singers and poets on a series of art songs which can be said to be strikingly different to a lot of his instrumental output, most recently collaborating with poet Fiona Williams OBE and mezzo-soprano Helen Frances Corlett on a song to be performed at this years Leeds Lieder Festival . William has also made a significant contribution to the world of film composition within Scotland's student space working with a team of other RCS students on a short film which placed second in the 'Thumb-Stopping Moments' short film competition in 2016 and with Scottish director Johnstone Macpherson-Stewart on a project featuring current BBC Young Dancer Danila Marzilli amongst others. As a composer, William can be said to be most interested in creating music which is strongly connected to music of both past and present and which elevates the world of musical sound into new territory whilst still keeping contact with it's audience.
Ankna Arockiam is a Mezzo Soprano who graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She continues to study under Margaret Izatt. Originally from India, Ankna has been inclined to music and dance since her childhood. From the age of ten, she has sung Indian classical music and trained as a Bharatnatyam dancer. Ankna has completed her foundation course in KMMC, Chennai. She has composed a work for a project in India with A R Rahman. As a soloist, she has performed works such as Mozart Coronation Mass, Haydn Nelson Mass, Bach’s Mass in B minor and Magnificat with the Invergordon singers, Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and University of Stirling Choir. She has performed as a soloist for Beethoven 9 with the Indian National Youth Orchestra in Bengaluru and with the Symphony Orchestra of India at NCPA, Mumbai where she was a soloist accompanied by the Living Voices Choir and conducted by world famous composer Karl Jenkins. She regularly performs in India and the UK in collaboration with various other musicians such as pianists Edward Cohen, Shantanu Patel and Estonian pianist Liivi Arder and classical guitarists Aditya Gandhi and Kenny Cormack. Most recently, in 2019, she sang as a soloist for Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ at the Monte Festival in Goa. She also has collaborated with various Scottish musicians such as Horse Macdonald, Paddy Callaghan among others and performed at the Celtic Connections, which is Glasgow’s biggest traditional festival. Ankna is a member of several choirs in Glasgow including the award winning Les Sirenes, NYCoS, RSNO Chorus, St. Andrew’s Cathedral choir, RCS Chamber choir, St. Aloysius Church choir, RCS Voices etc. which has given her opportunities to perform at various venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Glasgow Concert Hall, Old Fruitmarket, City Halls, Usher Hall, St. Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh Fringe and recently at Aberdeen International Youth Festival among many others. Ankna performed at Glasgow Green as part of the Commonwealth games celebrations, WW1 memorial service at Glasgow Cathedral and for Sir Peter Davies’ 80th birthday celebration she was part of the world premiere of a piece by James MacMillan. She has performed in India at the 30th anniversary celebration of Alliance Française, World Music Day celebrations and other prestigious
events. She also teaches, takes masterclasses and conducts choirs in India and Glasgow. Ankna Arockiam is the Teen of the year 2007 titleholder. She was the winner of Best student award in the cello department at KM and is the cofounder of Her Song, which is a charity that raises money for women's issues. She has been part of panels for the Conservatoires UK Student Network and the Association of the British Orchestras conferences. She is also the chair of the Association of European Conservatoires Student Working Group. Currently, Ankna is a PhD student, exploring the musical, cultural and social identities of young Western classical musicians in Indian cities.
Benjamin Keay started playing trumpet under the tutelage of John Dickson he later moved to horn before joining the local Youth brass band St. David's. He later that year moved to the tuba before joining the Junior Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as a transitions 20/40 student where he started his studies with current teacher Tony Swainson where he went on to win the Rotary Clubs Scotland and Nothern England Young Musician of the year. He then Received an unconditional offer to Study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he is currently in 2nd year as a Robertson Scholarship Student.
Benjamin has played a vast amount of music ensembles such as : National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, National Youth Wind Ensemble of Scotland, Edinburgh Youth Orchestra and a variety of ensembles within the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in which he still thoroughly enjoys playing. Ben was most recently in Sweden as a tuba player with the Aurora music festival and has been travelling abroad to get lessons with various teachers. Benjamin is always looking for new ways to improve his playing and aspires to one day be a great musician.
Konstantina Maimari is a 22 year old violinist from Cyprus currently earning her Master’s degree in Violin Performance under the tutorage of Maya Iwabuchi. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in RCS with her principle tutor Katie Hull.
She has previously participated in masterclasses with artists such as Joseph Swensen, Lutsia Impragimova, Simon James, Leland Chen, Dimitri Chandrakis, Simos Papanas and Mikis Michealides . Her solo performances include Mozart violin concerto no. 5 with the Cyprus Youth Orchestra in 2013 and Saint-Saens’ Havanaise op.83 with Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in 2016.
During her time in RCS she has won apprenticeships with Scottish Opera, Scottish Ensemble and participated in orchestral masterclasses with RSNO and Brodsky Quartet. Besides RCS orchestral projects, Konstantina has been a member of the Mediterranean Youth Orchestra, Cyprus Philarmonic Orchestra, Avanti Crossover Symphonic Orchestra. She has received scholarships from the Nikolas Economou Foundation, Hope Scott Trust, as well as from the Musical Workshop of the CYSO.
Dorote Vdovinskyte is a lithuanian pianist studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Prof. Petras Geniusas.
She is a prize winner of many international competitions for young pianists in Germany, Sweden, Luxembourg, Poland, Lithuania, Macedonia and Serbia. She has played with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (2010) and with the internationally renowned Ensemble Modern orchestra in Wolfenbuttel and Hannover, Germany (2015). The concerts in which she took part were live transmitted by Mezzo TV and Radio Classique as part of Michel Sogny Foundation “SOS Talents” concerts in Paris and Vilnius. She was twice awarded certificates of honour for her musical achievements by the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė in 2014 and 2015. In 2015 her short biography was included in anthology book about talented children “Future of Lithuania”.
Born in 1998 in Vilnius, Lithuania, Dorote started playing piano at the age of six when she began her piano studies in the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts in Vilnius, from which she graduated cum laude in 2016 with Prof. Justas Dvarionas. Her first major international competition was won at the age of 7 (R. Schuman 2005 in Suwalki, Poland). Dorote is a prizewinner of following international competitions for young pianists: B. Dvarionas, 2006, 2010, 2012 (Vilnius, Lithuania); R. Schumann, 2007 (Suwalki, Poland); J.S.Bach, 2012 (Vilnius, Lithuania); “Ohrid Pearls”, 2012 (Ohrid, Macedonia); S. Rachmaninov, 2013 (Frankfurt, Germany); P. Konjovic, 2014 (Belgrad, Serbia); Grand Prix in Luxembourg Youth, 2014 (Luxembourg), Stockholm Competition, 2015 (Stockholm, Sweden).
As an avid chamber musician and collaborator she has won Grand Prix in “Le strade d'Europa”, 2014 (Lithuania-Italy) with her piano trio and had concert tours in Italy in 2015.
Her music education has been kindly supported throughout the years 2008-2016 by a special scholarship awarded by the Michel Sogny Foundation "SOS Talents" (Switzerland).
During her studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland she has been awarded The Lamond Prize, The Peter Lindsay Miller Prize for Piano Duo, The Agnes Millar Harmony and Counterpoint Prize for Advanced Compositional Techniques and highly commended in The Bach Prize for Harpsichord, Piano, Accordion and Organ and Louis Carus Duo Prize. In addition to her studies, she actively enjoys teaching, composing, conducting and playing organ. Now Dorote is honoured to be a recipient of ABRSM Scholarship 2018-2020.
Northern Irish soprano Laura McFall graduated from Ulster University, Derry-Londonderry in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music Honours degree, and was selected to join the Northern Ireland Opera Young Artist Programme in 2015. She is currently studying a Masters of Music Performance at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, under the tutelage of Wilma MacDougall and is supported by the Mario Lanza Trust, The South Square Trust, The Kathleen Trust and The McGlashan Trust.
Since moving to Scotland, Laura has been involved in many performances within and outside of RCS. During her studies she has worked in the chorus of Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel (Scottish Opera and RCS 2017) and Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tireisas (RCS 2019), is covering the role of Kitty Hart in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (2019), has performed the role of Despina from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte and Servillia from Mozart’s La Clamenza di Tito and has performed with ‘Les Sirénes’ Female Voice Chamber Choir in Glasgow, conducted by Andrew Nunn. Laura has been performing regularly as part of a soprano and piano duo, primarily on the Live Music Now scheme.
As a passionate music educator and Kodály enthusiast, Laura is a lecturer of Musicianship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior and Early Years departments and has worked with the National Youth Choir of Scotland as a Musicianship tutor. On top of her regular weekly teaching, Laura also works as a freelance music educator with NI Opera, Belfast Music Society, Ulster Youth Choir, Spark Opera and Sestina, and develops interactive performances/workshops for children of all ages and abilities.
Hebba Benyaghla is a Scottish pianist based in Glasgow and a recent graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she was the first recipient of the Principals’ Scholarship and graduated with Honours of the First Class. Now a Masters student at the Conservatoire, Hebba performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist, currently studying with Prof. Aaron Shorr and Graeme McNaught. She has performed in many events and festivals including the Aurora Chamber Music Festival in Sweden, Music at Paxton Festival, Haddo Arts Festival, Lammermuir Festival, Leeds International Concert Season, Forum Musikae Academia International de Música Madrid, Worcester Three Choirs Festival, BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/NYOS and the RCS International Piano Festival. In 2018 she was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of International Women’s Day, celebrating the work of female composers. Hebba is a regular collaborator with the vocal and instrumental departments at the Conservatoire and was recently made Associate Accompanist for NYCOS National Girls Choir. She also works at the RCS Junior Conservatoire as an accompanist and deputy lecturer in piano.
Jacopo Lazzaretti from Rome, Italy, is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the guidance of Matthew McAllister and Professor Allan Neave. Previously he graduated from the Conservatoire of Santa Cecilia in Rome where he studied with Arturo Tallini and during his studies he has performed in many masterclasses with some of the worlds most well-known guitarists. Jacopo has played in many concerts in Italy as well as abroad and won several prizes in national and international guitar competitions. He has also become an artist for ‘Live Music Now Scotland’ in January 2018.
Amit Anand’s (b.1989) first music lessons were with his father, Anand Vamanacharya, who taught him Tabla at an early age of 3. With a strong background of both styles of Indian Classical Music, Amit started learning piano with Harsha Jade in India who inspired him to travel to the UK to study western classical music. He is now a student at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, pursuing his honours degree in composition under the tutelage of Dr Colin Broom. During his studies, he has written several Chamber music and Electroacoustic works most of which were premiered in the Plug festivals (2016-2018), Glasgow. Amit’s music can be described as a blend of classical and traditional influences. Whilst actively involved as a composer pan genres, he is also an active producer, producing music independently for various Indie artists since 2011 some of which has gained over a million views on social media platforms. Amit recently composed music for a critically acclaimed and a commercially successful Indian film titled, “Gultoo”(2018). Amit regularly collaborates with British Asian musicians and enjoys performing Indian classical music.
Originally from Peterhead, Daniel Peter Silcock is a freelance pianist based in Glasgow and currently a first year masters' student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Daniel studies under the joint tutelage of Aaron Shorr, and James Willshire. Daniel is active in performing around the country as a solo recitalist and concerto soloist, accompanist and chamber musician.
In 2009, Daniel was offered a place at the RCS Junior Conservatoire. He then began entering and having success in music festivals and competitions, including the James Waterhouse Piano Competition, and the BBC Young Musician of the Year. During his time at Juniors’ he was winner of the Gilbert Innes Prize for Piano on two occasions, the Beethoven Piano Competition, and also won the concerto competition – leading to a performance of Mendelssohn’s G Minor concerto aged fifteen, under the baton of David Danzmayr. Since then, Daniel’s concerto repertoire has widened to encompass Mozart and Beethoven, through to Prokofiev and Benjamin Britten. Most recently, Daniel has performed Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Daniel regularly collaborates with other a variety of other musicians in performances of chamber music.. In 2017, Daniel represented the conservatoire in the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music competition as part of a piano trio. Daniel also enjoys performing as an accompanist for singers – appearing frequently in recital, as well as in competitive settings, accompanying many prize-winners. This year, Daniel recorded the soundtrack for a new film, “What the Cat Dragged In,” (Amelia Nashe), with music by Danielle Bees.
In July 2018, Daniel graduated from the RCS with a first-class honours' degree in piano performance. This year, Daniel was selected to participate in the prestigious Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Competition. Daniel has performed as part of the Cantilena festival on Islay, Music at Paxton festival, the RCS Piano Festival and Mondays at One series, the Piano Café series at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Recently, Daniel has been performing a solo recital programme devoted to the first and last works Debussy and Rachmaninoff wrote for the piano, including the latter’s Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 22, playing at the Greyfriar’s Kirk in Edinburgh, as well as St. Andrew’s Cathedral (Aberdeen), and St. Pauls’ Cathedral (Dundee). Through the summer, Daniel will be performing an all-Debussy programme centered around his second book of preludes; and has enjoyed a masterclass from Pascal Rogé on this repertoire.
Daniel is delighted to be involved in the Young Classical Artists’ programme at Edinburgh’s Queen’s Hall, and is looking forward to the performance on the 30th of June.
Donagh was born in Cork and grew up in Wicklow, a small town near Dublin. He started to play piano at a young age, and soon took up clarinet too. Throughout his pre-teen and adolescent years he dabbled in guitars and drums. At the age of fourteen he began to study the bassoon with Michael Jones at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, then going on to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Janet Bloxwich, David Hubbard, Simon Davies and Alison Green. Donagh is a founding member of Prismatic Winds, a quintet that plays music from films and musicals along with standard repertoire. The quintet is part of Live Music Now Scotland, and performs in care homes and schools as part of their outreach work. Donagh likes to fix things, and is also a keen composer, conductor, improviser and photographer.
Donagh was born in Cork and grew up in Wicklow, a small town near Dublin. He started to play piano at a young age, and soon took up clarinet too. Throughout his pre-teen and adolescent years he dabbled in guitars and drums. At the age of fourteen he began to study the bassoon with Michael Jones at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, then going on to study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Janet Bloxwich, David Hubbard, Simon Davies and Alison Green. Donagh is a founding member of Prismatic Winds, a quintet that plays music from films and musicals along with standard repertoire. The quintet is part of Live Music Now Scotland, and performs in care homes and schools as part of their outreach work. Donagh likes to fix things, and is also a keen composer, conductor, improviser and photographer.
Miguel Luis Losada Abellan, born in 1992, started to study music at the age of three years old. He combined the study of violin and piano until the third course of Bachelor, when he decided to choose one of them, the violin. He has studied the Bachelor in Spain, at the Conservatoire of Badajoz, with the violin teacher Olga Vilkomirskaya, an old pupil of David Oistrakh in Moscow and the piano teacher Alexander Kandelaki. At the same time, he received lessons of the violin teachers Vicente Cobacho and Gabriel Lauret before doing the Bachelor.
He also received lessons in summer courses and masterclasses of teachers as Alexandre Vasiliev, Pilar Valero, Miguel Luis Losada Rodriguez (his father and a piano teacher), Teresa Trevisan, Aquiles Delle-Vigne, Mariana Gurkova, Evelyn Brancart, Ivan Perez. He studied a performance master in violin in Madrid during the season 2015-16 by the hand of Joaquin Torre Gutierrez in the University "Alfonso X El Sabio".
At the age of 15, he was chosen as a first violin in the youth symphony Orchestra of the region of Murcia, in which he has played as a soloist and as the “concertino” and in which he has played in the Lincoln centre of New York and in Chicago. In 2013 he was selected as a member of the youth symphony orchestra of Spain and he still continues playing there. He has been awarded in several competitions, both in piano and violin. He won the second prize in violin and the second also in piano in the competition "Entre cuerdas y metales" of Cartagena and the first prize in violin in the competition "Villa de Molina" in Molina de Segura. At the same time, he has played in several recitals and concerts all over the country of Spain, in cities like Granada, Segovia, Oviedo, Madrid, Salamanca, and in others countries: Italy, Portugal, Germany, Rumania, France and the United Kingdom.
He is now finishing a master in music at the royal conservatoire of Scotland with the violin teacher Andrea Gajic. During his time in Glasgow, he has taken part in some collaborations between students of the Conservatoire and some professional orchestras, such as the Scottish Opera and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. At the meantime, he has been awarded in two competitions: first prize in the Governors recital prize for strings and Highly Commended in the Mabel Glover String Quartet Prize.
James Alexander’s career has been a portfolio one ranging from the staging of operas, classical music galas, plays and musicals in London’s West End to working in the A&R Dept. at Decca Records. He continues to stage operas, oratorios and gala concerts in the USA where he works most frequently with conductors Robert Spano and Yannick Nézet-Séguin who also support the ethic of mentoring emerging talent.
A proud Scot, Mr. Alexander was thrilled and honoured to be invited to curate this event and wishes all these talented classical musicians a long and happy career in their chosen field.
Karolina Pancernaite began her piano studies at the age of six in Kaunas, Lithuania. In 2017 she graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London where she studied with Professor Christopher Elton.
During her studies Karolina gave chamber and solo recitals in classical music festivals and concert halls all over Europe such as – “Aurora Chamber Music” (Sweden), Aegean Arts Festival‘‘ (Greece), Kaunas and Brno Philharmonic Halls (with Brno Philharmonic Orchestra) and Steinway Hall in London.
Currently Karolina is finishing her Master‘s degree studying with Professors Aaron Shorr and Petras Geniušas at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she was accepted with a full ABRSM scholarship. One of her recent achievements was the Tony/Tania Webster Prize at the RCS for rare Russian music which quickly became her field of interest.
Vox Duo is an independent collaboration between Karla Anne Grant (a Scottish soprano) and Julia Solomon (an English/Brazilian mezzo soprano), completing their studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in June 2020.
Since 2018, Vox Duo have worked in close collaboration with RCS classical pianists to present recitals of
German lieder, French mélodie, Italian, English and Scots song, and also oratorio, opera and operetta arias. They have performed in St Mary’s Cathedral Glasgow and St Mary’s Merton in London in their own Vox Duo
concerts, and for the Glasgow Art Club and at the Kodàly Erasmus+ Event in The National Piping Centre.
Born in Sligo on the west coast of Ireland, Diarmaid is currently a post graduate student at the Royal
Conservatoire of Scotland where he studies with Andrea Gajic. Throughout his time at the RCS, Diarmaid has worked with such violinists as Ilya Gringolts, Joseph Swensen and Nicola Benedetti; as well as side-by-side projects with the Scottish Ensemble and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Before moving to Scotland, Diarmaid performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto accompanied by members of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and Camerata Ireland; and he also worked with such artists as Krzysztof Penderecki. Most recently, Diarmaid was invited to perform as part of the Conservatoire's Chamber Orchestra at Buckingham Palace for the Prince's Foundation Ball.
Jasmine Ong, violist, is currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Duncan Ferguson. An award-winning performer, she strives to spread joy and enrich lives through music and humour. Her interest in the social aspect of music and how it brings people together has led her to participate in multiple chamber groups and orchestras from the age of 8. Jasmine debuted as a soloist at the age of 18 with the Orchestra of the Music Makers and was a member from 2017-18. Member of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO) from 2010-17. Toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra 2018 and SNYO in 2016 visiting Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan across 18 concerts. Venues include notable international halls such as the Singapore Esplanade, Victoria Theatre, Malaysia Petronas Philharmonic Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts and Tokyo Opera City.
Jasmine Ong, violist, is currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Duncan Ferguson. An award-winning performer, she strives to spread joy and enrich lives through music and humour. Her interest in the social aspect of music and how it brings people together has led her to participate in multiple chamber groups and orchestras from the age of 8. Jasmine debuted as a soloist at the age of 18 with the Orchestra of the Music Makers and was a member from 2017-18. Member of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO) from 2010-17. Toured with the Asian Youth Orchestra 2018 and SNYO in 2016 visiting Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan across 18 concerts. Venues include notable international halls such as the Singapore Esplanade, Victoria Theatre, Malaysia Petronas Philharmonic Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts and Tokyo Opera City.
Born in Shropshire, England, in 1991, Luke Faulkner studied piano and composition at Chetham's School of Music before attending Christ Church, University of Oxford on an academic scholarship to read Music
(2009-12). Whilst at Oxford, he studied composition with Professor Stephen Darlington, and was awarded a bursary to pursue his piano studies with Nicola Eimer at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
After graduating Bachelor of Arts with “double” first class honours from Oxford, Luke continued his education at the University of Edinburgh, studying for a Master of Science in Composition for Screen. It was here that he learned about music production and engineering, and graduated top of his class in 2014. Since university, Luke has pursued a career as a composer and recording artist. His original piano compositions and recordings have been published by Halidon (Milan), and Cavendish Music (London), and comprise ten albums to date, as well as a variety of individual releases. Through Cavendish, his compositions have been licensed for use by the BBC.
In 2017 Luke was admitted a Fellow of the Royal Schools of Music (FRSM) with distinction, and in 2018 he became a YouTube Official Artist having set up a YouTube channel principally for his compositions the
previous year. Altogether, his recordings have been streamed over 20 million times on YouTube, attract c. 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, and his independently produced films have featured on Classic FM's
various social media pages.