Biography

From Monifieth, Calum is an exceptional trumpet player for his age with bags of potential and motivation. He is currently on the RSAMD Youthworks programme, designed to encourage young musicians of real talent, and his ambition is to study music and become an orchestral trumpet player.

Calum has a real natural talent on the trumpet but is being held back by his current instrument. He is already a sensitive chamber musician and a member of a very fine brass quintet. He is seen as a young musician with enormous potential to make his mark in the future.

Calum plays soprano cornet with the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland and toured Japan with them in mid 2008.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will enable Calum to buy a professional trumpet.

Since the Award

Since receiving the award, Calum believes that much of his subsequent musical development has been thanks to finding a trumpet of quality that he enjoys playing. Calum auditioned for conservatoires and was offered a place at both RSAMD and Manchester. He will start studying music at RSAMD in 2011.

Calum has enjoyed success in other areas, winning the award for Best Instrumentalist in Brass Bands, winning the concerto class at the RSAMD Junior Academy and reaching the semi-finals of the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist of the Year 2011.