2022 Awardee: Kira Charleton

Kira Charleton

“Receiving an award from the Dewar Trust has honestly been life changing. It has allowed me to complete my final year of Master’s at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama whilst preparing for the next step in my journey. They have allowed a small town girl to keep working towards her big dreams of changing lives through music.”

YEAR OF AWARD: 2022
AGE AT AWARD: 24
ARTFORMS: , , ,
WEBSITE:https://www.facebook.com/kiraalexanderx
 
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kiraalexander_

Biography

Kira Charleton is a soprano singer from Ayrshire, who possesses a fresh sounding voice and the ability to sing both classical music and music theatre. Her talent and hard work earned her a place at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, from where she graduated with a 1st Class Honours Degree in 2021. During her undergraduate studies, Kira was the only female candidate selected to compete and represent the college in the highly regarded, Junior Kathleen Ferrier competition. Following this, she partook in many performances, with the main highlights being selected as a finalist for the E A Redman competition and playing the Mezzo-Soprano role in the Edward Barnes opera “The Hiding Tree”.

Kira regards herself as an enthusiast who thrives in a challenge and when collaborating as part of an ensemble or company. In 2019, she worked alongside choral master, Steven Harris and conductor, Carlo Rizzi as part of RWCMD’s 70th Anniversary Opera Gala celebration. Upon moving to Cardiff, Kira also became a member of the BBC National Chorus of Wales as a choral Scholar. This provided her with a wealth of performance opportunities, such as regularly appearing live on BBC Radio Three and in televised performances as part of the London Proms in the Royal Albert Hall.

Kira is fiercely dedicated to music and believes that her life will continue to be moulded around music. She is a determined individual who has faced the odds and is aware of the hard work required to be successful. Kira believes that to be a singer is to understand the art of storytelling and she has the commitment and abilities to achieve her goals.

Kira has generously received support to study from a Peter and Janet Swinburn Scholarship, a Girdlers’ Charitable Trust Award, and the Dewar Arts Award. In 2021, Kira won the Eileen Prize Price for lieder singing and the Mabel Linwood Prize.

In May 2022, Kira played the Dutchess of Montalbano, in Lennox Berkeley’s comic opera, A Dinner Engagement. As well as this, she took part in the chorus of RWCMD’s spring production of The Marriage of Figaro in the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. Kira was also awarded a bursary to perform in the Welsh National Youth Opera’s production of Cheryomushki in October 2022.

How the Award Helped

Kira’s Dewar Arts Award has enabled her to further her studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she is pursuing a MMus degree in Performance.

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Kira Charleton

“Receiving an award from the Dewar Trust has honestly been life changing. It has allowed me to complete my final year of Master’s at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama whilst preparing for the next step in my journey. They have allowed a small town girl to keep working towards her big dreams of changing lives through music.”

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10 April 2022

Elaine Woo MacGregor shortlisted for Jackson’s Painting Prize 2022

The 2008 Awardee has made the final 42 from 8948 entries

Dewar Awardee Elaine Woo MacGregor has been shortlisted for the Jackson’s Painting Prize 2022 for her painting ‘Portrait of Nan Shepherd: Camping by the Wells of Dee’, making the final 42 from 8948 entries.

Born in Edinburgh and brought up by her traditional Chinese parents, Elaine moved to Glasgow at the age of 18 to study Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art. She received a Dewar Award in 2008, which supported a Partial Fellowship Artist Residency in the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson in Vermont. Elaine told us that the Award gave her ‘an exciting opportunity to work in a creative environment within the unique New England setting’ and opened up ‘new directions’ for her practice. In 2012, Elaine’s work was displayed as part of Roots to Shoots, an exhibition celebrating ten years of Dewar Arts Awards in the visual and applied arts. Elaine is now based in Linlithgow and works as an Art Tutor at the University of Strathclyde’s Centre for Lifelong Learning.

The Jackson’s Painting Prize exists to champion exceptional artworks made by international artists at all points in their careers, with tailored prizes that aim to give successful applicants the exposure and resources to support them in their practice. Elaine’s painting ‘Portrait of Nan Shepherd: Camping by the Wells of Dee’, has made the final 42 from 8948 entries to the competition.

In an interview with the Edinburgh Evening News, Elaine said “The painting was inspired by passages in the book ‘The Living Mountain’ and the life of Nan Shepherd. I was interested in finding out about individual writers’ demeanour and habits, as well as sense of place, and how this shaped their identity and the themes in their work.”

“With the break due to the pandemic, I reflected on what it means to be a creative during these times, our relationships with natural and urban environments and our sense of ‘self’.”

Congratulations Elaine – we are proud to have been part of your journey and wish you all the best in the final! The winner of the Prize will be announced on Wednesday 13 April 2022.

Read Elaine’s Awardee Profile

Read Elaine’s Interview with the Edinburgh Evening News

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Portrait of Nan Shephere by Elaine Woo McGregor
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2021 Awardee: Blise Orr

Blise Orr

"Without this award, it would have been impossible for me to fulfill this ambition [of attending the Williem De Koon Academy]. The Dewar Award will enable me to develop my practice over the next two years and work on larger scales with many more people positively affected by my designs and strategies for more sustainable and considered designed environments. "

YEAR OF AWARD: 2021
AGE AT AWARD: 23
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Blise completed an undergraduate degree in Interior Design at the Glasgow School of Art in 2019, before taking up a place on the Interior Architecture Masters course at the Williem De Koon Academy in Rotterdam in 2021. Blise’s practice looks at urbanism and interior architecture through the design of more sustainable and considered cities, with a focus on the spatial experiences of every day and how design can positively impact us. Working between Glasgow and Rotterdam, Blise continues to develop her practice with a new focus on climate, migration and inequality in cities. Blise has also hosted panel discussions, creating connections and contrasts between cities of similar scales across the globe and working to design better more transparent cities for all.

How the Award Helped

Blise’s Dewar Award supports her Masters studies in Interior Architecture in Rotterdam, for which she secured one of only twelve places available. This enables her to develop her practice from Interior Design into Interior Architecture and work on larger scales and focus on producing designs and strategies for more sustainable and considered design environments.

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Blise Orr

"Without this award, it would have been impossible for me to fulfill this ambition [of attending the Williem De Koon Academy]. The Dewar Award will enable me to develop my practice over the next two years and work on larger scales with many more people positively affected by my designs and strategies for more sustainable and considered designed environments. "

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2021 Awardee: Layla Ballard

Layla Ballard

"To receive the Dewar Arts Award has provided me with the opportunity to continue my passion of music and study the BMus Performance course at the Royal College of Music. This will allow me to continue developing my playing whilst being surrounded by other aspiring musicians - I can’t wait to get started!"

YEAR OF AWARD: 2021
AGE AT AWARD: 17
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Layla is a cellist from Edinburgh, Scotland. As part of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Layla has played in high profile venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Konzerthaus in Berlin and Queens Hall in Edinburgh, both as an orchestral player and soloist.

In 2021, she won the annual St Mary’s Music School Director’s Recital Prize Competition and was a finalist of the school’s Lord Clyde Concerto Competition. She won the Leonid Freidman Chamber Music prize as a member of the St Mary’s String Quartet in both 2020 and 2021. Layla has also played in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, Nicolas Aldstadt, Gautier Capuçon, Leonid Gorokhov, Natasha Brofsky and Hannah Roberts.

In September 2021, she started her studies at the Royal College of Music in London under the tuition of Melissa Phelps.

How the Award Helped

Layla’s Award supports her Bachelor of Music studies at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London.

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Layla Ballard

"To receive the Dewar Arts Award has provided me with the opportunity to continue my passion of music and study the BMus Performance course at the Royal College of Music. This will allow me to continue developing my playing whilst being surrounded by other aspiring musicians - I can’t wait to get started!"

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2021 Awardee: Alana Smith-Saville

Alana Smith-Saville

YEAR OF AWARD: 2021
AGE AT AWARD: 15
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Alana grew up in Orkney, and at the age of 9, began her dance journey at Just Dance. With the help and guidance from her dance teacher, Alana was the first person from Orkney to be accepted into the Dance School of Scotland. After studying at the Dance School of Scotland for two years, Alana was accepted into the prestigious Central School of Ballet, Northern Ballet School, and Edinburgh Festival Ballet School. Alana decided to accept a place at Edinburgh Festival Ballet School, where she will complete a three-year programme with the hope of being accepted into their company. Peter Schaufuss is the founder and Artistic Director of EFB and is widely recognised as one of the most talented male dancers on the international stage.

How the Award Helped

Funding from the Dewar Arts Awards will support Alana’s studies at the Edinburgh Festival Ballet School.

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Alana Smith-Saville

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2021 Awardee: Sam Marston

Sam Marston

"This award from the Dewar Arts Fund has been so important in allowing me to study on the MMus Opera course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It will allow me to develop artistically and professionally. I’m very excited to undertake my study wholeheartedly.”

YEAR OF AWARD: 2021
AGE AT AWARD: 27
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Sam Marston is a tenor studying on the MMus Opera course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He had previously completed his MMus Perf at the RCS under the tutelage of Scott Johnson. He has performed in several opera choruses, operatic scenes, and masterclasses.

Sam was part of the on-stage chorus in the ENO revival of Jonathan Dove’s The Day After and was a prisoner in the UK staged premiere of Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie. He has also featured in the prominent choruses of Street Scene (Weill) and Les Mamelles de Tirésias (Poulenc). In addition to this, he has performed in orchestral choruses of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Choral Fantasia with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Sam’s roles within opera scenes have included Tom Rakewell (The Rake’s Progress), Nemorino (L’elisir D’amore) and Ferrando (Così fan tutte). Sam regularly performs in concert settings across the UK as the tenor soloist in works including Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation and Mozart’s Requiem/Mass in C minor.

How the Award Helped

Sam’s Dewar Award supported him through the MMus Opera Studies course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

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Sam Marston

"This award from the Dewar Arts Fund has been so important in allowing me to study on the MMus Opera course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. It will allow me to develop artistically and professionally. I’m very excited to undertake my study wholeheartedly.”

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2021 Awardee: Rylan Gleave

Rylan Gleave headshot

"Receiving the Dewar Arts Award meant that I could pause my hospitality job in order to focus on my Masters studies. This additional time was absolutely invaluable, and enabled me to graduate with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Composition Prize, and The Craig Armstrong Prize. Reaching my full potential was an incredible feeling, and I am overwhelmingly grateful to Dewar Arts Awards for their support."

YEAR OF AWARD: 2021
AGE AT AWARD: 24
ARTFORMS: , ,
WEBSITE:https://www.rylangleave.com
 
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/GleaveRylan

Biography

Rylan Gleave is a Leith-based composer and vocalist whose musical practice involves mending the unfeigned gaps in his classical study with the healings of imaginative neuro-/gender-divergent kinship. As a composer/performer, his work has explored the instrumental qualities of his late-breaking trans-masc voice through queer auto-ethnography and autistic-specific notation. His compositions have been praised as ‘haunting’ by The Herald, and ‘rapturous’ by The Scotsman. The Scotsman also named Rylan ‘One to Watch’ in 2021, describing him as ‘one of the brightest lights in Scotland’s new music scene’.

Rylan’s commissions include pieces for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Composer Programme / Presteigne Festival, Crossing Borders Music / Momenta Dance Company, Shadwell Opera, newEar Chamber Ensemble / KC No Divide, Red Note Ensemble, soundfestival, CRIPtic Festival, and Nevis Ensemble. Other projects have included new notes; better days, for which he worked with Cox’s Bazar Rohingya Refugee Musicians in Bangladesh after receiving a British Council Unlimited Micro Award: and KITH, nominated for Forecast Edition 6, Berlin, where he was mentored by composer/performer Sofia Jernberg.

Rylan studied with Linda Buckley, Oliver Searle, and David Fennessy at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, supported by a Dewar Arts Award, The Kenneth Barrett Scholarship from the RCS Trust, The Glasgow Educational and Marshall Trust, and The John Mathers Trust.

How the Award Helped

Rylan’s Award supported him through an MMus Degree with Dr. Linda Buckley at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he won the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Composition prize.

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Rylan Gleave headshot

"Receiving the Dewar Arts Award meant that I could pause my hospitality job in order to focus on my Masters studies. This additional time was absolutely invaluable, and enabled me to graduate with The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Composition Prize, and The Craig Armstrong Prize. Reaching my full potential was an incredible feeling, and I am overwhelmingly grateful to Dewar Arts Awards for their support."

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2019 Awardee: Timothy Edmundson

"Quite simply, without the financial support of the Dewar Awards, I wouldn't be able to undertake my place at the RCS and continue my studies in the opera school. I now look forward to focusing and taking full advantage of the opportunities of the programme without worrying about my finances."

YEAR OF AWARD: 2019
AGE AT AWARD: 26
ARTFORMS: , ,
WEBSITE:http://www.timothyedmundson.com
 
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/tedmundsonbari

Biography

Timothy is a British baritone who is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) and a Master of Music. In 2019, Timothy gained a place at the Alexander Gibson Opera School (RCS) to study under the tutelage of Scott Johnson and Duncan Williams. He is grateful for his studies being supported by the Dewar Arts Awards, the Clemence Charitable Trust, the Kathleen Trust, the McGlashan Charitable Trust, the Mario Lanza Educational Foundation and an RCS Trust Scholarship.

Operatic highlights include his role debuts as Macheath Die Dreigroschenoper and Betto di Signa Gianni Schicchi, both for RCS Opera, Papageno Die Zauberflöte for Berlin Opernfest, the title role in The Marriage of Figaro for Edinburgh Studio Opera and Schaunard La Bohème for Edinburgh Grand Opera. For the 2020/21 season, he was scheduled to sing Curio Giulio Cesare, Minskman Flight, Le Chat in L’enfant et les sortilèges with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the role of Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Ensemble Orquesta. However, due to Covid-19, these performances were cancelled.

Scenic roles and covers include Faninal Der Rosenkavalier, 1st Lieutenant Billy Budd and Vater Hänsel und Gretel, Sam Trouble in Tahiti, Valentin Faust, Zurga Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Count Almaviva Le Nozze di Figaro, Malatesta Don Pasqaule, Guglielmo Così fan tutte and the title roles in Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi. Chorus work has led to him performing at prestigious events such as the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms under the baton of conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim and Sir Andrew Davis. Works including Mahler Symphony No.2, Stravinsky The Rake’s Progress, Wagner Götterdämmerung and Scottish Opera’s The Fiery Angel by Prokofiev.

On the concert platform, Timothy is in demand throughout the United Kingdom and Europe with repertoire including Handel ‘Messiah’, Duruflé ‘Requiem’, Fauré ‘Requiem’, Puccini ‘Messa di Gloria’, Mozart ‘Requiem’ and Beethoven ‘Symphony No.9’, which he performed at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. As a lay clerk with the Choir of Glasgow Cathedral, he is a frequent soloist, and was soloist with them for Haydn’s ‘The Creation’. He has taken part in masterclasses with Patricia MacMahon, Philip Moll, Gidon Saks, Nicky Spence and Christopher Purves.

How the Award Helped

Timothy’s Award enabled him to study at the Alexander Gibson Opera School (RCS) under the tutelage of Scott Johnson and Duncan Williams.

Since the Award

In the 2020/21 season, Timothy became a member of the ‘Bridging the Gap’ scheme with the Dunedin Consort.

Timothy Edmundson performs Papageno’s Suicide Aria in Die Zauberflöte. Recorded live at OpernFest 2018 with Berlin Opera Academy.

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"Quite simply, without the financial support of the Dewar Awards, I wouldn't be able to undertake my place at the RCS and continue my studies in the opera school. I now look forward to focusing and taking full advantage of the opportunities of the programme without worrying about my finances."

Back