2009 Awardee: James Kenny

"Thank you ever so much, I cannot begin to describe how much this means to me. I am overwhelmed and am so reassured to know that I will now be able to follow my dreams."

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 18
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

James Kenny, from Edinburgh, initially learnt to play piano from his mother, a piano teacher. At age 14, James was a pupil at Edinburgh City Music School where he studied double bass, piano, composition and choral singing. While at the Music School James was an active member of various ensembles, including NYJoS, The Edinburgh Schools Symphony Orchestra, The Edinburgh Youth Orchestra and the School String Ensemble. He also played in both jazz and classical ensembles.

James was offered places by a number of leading conservatoires and chose to accept the place offered by the Royal College of Music in London, where he is now an undergraduate.

James approaches his musical studies with the winning combination of musicality and intelligence. He goes into his studies at a high standard of musicianship and showing great potential for the future.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help towards the substantial costs to study music at the RCM in London. James’s support has been continued for a second, and subsequently, a third year.

Since the Award

December 2017 – Appointed Associate Principal Double Bass of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.

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"Thank you ever so much, I cannot begin to describe how much this means to me. I am overwhelmed and am so reassured to know that I will now be able to follow my dreams."

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2009 Awardee: Jemma Brown

I am delighted to be able to accept this award and am very grateful for the trust’s assistance.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 25
ARTFORMS: , ,
 
 
 

Biography

Dunfermline-born Jemma got her start as a singer as a chorister at Dunfermline Abbey. She was subsequently awarded a music scholarship to St Leonard’s School in St Andrews where she continued her singing and piano playing and took up the bassoon.

Through her early life Jemma’s greatest inspiration and biggest source of encouragement was her paternal grandmother who was a musician of potential but who had to forgo her place at the Royal Academy of Music because of family circumstances. She spotted the musical talent in Jemma and encouraged her to sing and make music.

Jemma moved to Glasgow to study music at Glasgow University with Pat MacMahon, where she held a Lanfine Choral Scholarship and a Currie organ studentship. She won the Hague Prize for performance on graduating. Jemma then moved to the RSAMD for postgraduate study in singing and completed a Master of Music performance the following year studying with Kathleen McKellar Ferguson.

Jemma has now gained a coveted place on the Master of Music Opera course at RSAMD continuing her studies with McKellar Ferguson.

Jemma possesses a warm mezzo soprano voice, well suited to the larger roles in opera. Her tutors believe that there are exciting times ahead of her.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help towards the costs of studying towards an MMus Opera.

After a successful first year on the RSAMD opera course, during which she won the John Ireland Prize for voice and piano and made her debut at the BBC Proms with the BBC SSO, Jemma’s funding has been continued into the second and final year of her studies.

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I am delighted to be able to accept this award and am very grateful for the trust’s assistance.

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2009 Awardee: Joseph Young

This award will help so much in my final year of study at GSA, I will be forever grateful.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 21
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

From Alloa, Joseph Young is a student on the degree course in acting at the Guildford School of Acting. He describes himself as a ‘driven and hungry individual’.

At the end of his second year, he won the Director’s Award and represented GSA in Stratford-upon-Avon in an all-schools workshop with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Joseph’s ultimate ambition is to work with the RSC and in film. Joseph appeared in a new play staged at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. He has been put forward to take part in the prestigious BBC Carlton Hobbes competition.

At the start of his third year at GSA, Joseph put on his own production of “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me” by Frank McGuinness and was part of the GSA of “The Shakespeare Review” which went on tour at the end of 2008.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award helps toward the costs of Joseph’s final year at GSA.

Since the Award

Joseph graduated successfully in 2009 from Guildford School of Acting. Whilst still at GSA and with a group of fellow students, Joseph put on a production of Jonathon Lewis’s Our Boys in the Tabard Theatre, Chiswick. The play was extremely well received and led to Joseph being signed to an agent. He now works under the name Joseph Creeth.

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This award will help so much in my final year of study at GSA, I will be forever grateful.

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2009 Awardee: Katherine Grosset

I am determined to continue achieving at a high standard, and I have no doubt that …[the tutors] at the Guildhall can support and aid me in both setting and accomplishing my goals .. I am extremely grateful to the Dewar Arts Awards for making another year at this inspiring institution possible.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 23
ARTFORMS: , ,
 
 
 

Biography

Mezzo-soprano Katherine Grosset from Edinburgh first studied composition and performance at the University of Glasgow graduating with an honours degree in music. She later went on to study for a Master of Music in Vocal Training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, with Susan McCulloch. In between graduation and going to the Guildhall, she was a peripatetic Kodaly vocal instructor for the National Youth Choir of Scotland.

As well as possessing a well-trained, rich voice full of potential Katherine has a deep musicality and artistic imagination. She has had master classes with (former Dewar awardee) Karen Cargill, Rosalind Sutherland, Amy Jarman and Malcolm Martineau. Katherine is considered to have both the talent and the character to achieve great success in her chosen career.

Katherine looks forward to the challenges of a second year at Guildhall. She and her tutor are building up a bank of repertoire that she can take to competitions and auditions and perform at an exemplary level.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will go towards the costs of studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since the Award

In the summer of 2010, Katie graduated with an MPerf degree with distinction. A highlight of the year was singing the role of ‘Ma’ in Iain Burnside’s highly-acclaimed production of ‘Lads in their Hundreds’, which incorporates a variety of English songs by different composers about the tragedy of war. At the end of a very eventful year, Katie was awarded a fellowship by the GSMD enabling her to continue her opera studies for a further year.

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I am determined to continue achieving at a high standard, and I have no doubt that …[the tutors] at the Guildhall can support and aid me in both setting and accomplishing my goals .. I am extremely grateful to the Dewar Arts Awards for making another year at this inspiring institution possible.

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2009 Awardee: Kierah Poppy Stark

This award means so much to me. I am so excited that I have been given this opportunity and can’t thank you enough for your support.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 18
ARTFORMS:
 
 
 

Biography

Kierah Poppy’s first appearance on stage was at the age of three in the Merry Go Round Show at Eden Court in Inverness, in the same year that she started learning to dance.

She continued her dance training with Ballet West on their Aspiring Professionals programme and with the Scottish Ballet on their Junior Associates programme. At the age of eleven Kierah successfully auditioned for the Dance School of Scotland, Glasgow.

During her six years at the Dance School, Kierah regularly performed with the School at Glasgow’s Kings Theatre and Theatre Royal. In her final year she won the Randak Achievement Award for ‘Overall Excellence in Dance’. Kierah went on to successfully audition for Bird College to study musical theatre and also won a DADA scholarship.

Kierah excels in all the dance styles that she has studied, classical ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap, and communicates expressively to her audience, and shows huge potential in both singing and drama.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards will support Kierah Poppy in her first year at Bird College, Kent. Her funding has been continued for a second year. Demonstrating excellent progress in her second year, Kierah’s funding was continued for a third and final year.

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This award means so much to me. I am so excited that I have been given this opportunity and can’t thank you enough for your support.

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2009 Awardee: Krysty Wilson

Please accept my sincere gratitude and thanks to everyone on the board.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 22
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Glasgow-born Krysty Wilson is a graduate of RSAMD where she studied screenwriting and graduated with a first-class degree in digital film and television. She stood out amongst her peers as a natural-born talent and developed into one of the brightest students.

Krysty has a gift for storytelling and displayed invention, imagination and creativity during her undergraduate studies. She has been accepted onto the MA in Screenwriting course at NFTS, Beaconsfield. She writes that this course would “give the best possible chance to hone the skills to become an excellent screenwriter”.

Her tutors at RSAMD have no doubt that as a talented screenwriter already she has the potential to develop into a significant voice in British cinema. Krysty’s ambition is to return to Scotland after her training and work to develop the local film industry.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Award will help towards the substantial costs for the first year at NFTS.

Since the Award

After a very successful first year at NFTS, the trustees were pleased to extend their support of Krysty into the second and final year.

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Please accept my sincere gratitude and thanks to everyone on the board.

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2009 Awardee: Lliam Paterson

Thank you so much …I am delighted to be offered a Dewar Arts Award … I am very grateful to the trustees ..as this will help me a great deal with my studies.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 18
ARTFORMS: , , ,
 
 
 

Biography

Born and brought up in Aberdeenshire, Lliam is described as ‘a prodigious talent’ and ‘an irrepressible musician, both intellectual and practical’ possessing ‘artistic generosity’.

Lliam was a pupil first at Dyce Academy, Aberdeen and later at Edinburgh’s St Mary’s Music School where he studied composition, piano and horn. As a pianist, Lliam has been successful in competitions and festivals across the country and is considered to be a fine and gifted accompanist. He also plays the French horn to orchestral standard.

However, it is in his work as a composer where his prodigious musical talent is particularly evident. Lliam won a place on the National Youth Orchestra’s Composers’ Course for 2008-09. His compositions have been performed at the Sage, Gateshead, Leeds Town Hall, Aldeburgh, Royal Festival Hall, London and the RCM. In 2009 he won the Meadows Chamber Orchestra Commission Prize, who subsequently performed his piece at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh. In 2008 he won the Isobel Dunlop Composition Award. Both the Meadows Commission prize and the Isobel Dunlop Award were judged by James MacMillan.

Lliam is currently studying on the Music Tripos course at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He has performed with the Cambridge University New Music Ensemble, given a solo piano recital in the Fitzwilliam College Chapel and in early 2010 will perform his commissioned piano trio with the contemporary ensemble CB3. The Fitzwilliam College Chapel Choir performed his Ave Maria in 2009. Lliam is currently working on a large-scale choral work for the Gordon Forum for the Arts.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will support Lliam’s studies at Cambridge.

After a busy and productive year during which Lliam was awarded the Padley Repetiteur Scholarship, the second prize in the Alkan Piano Competition and received numerous commissions for new compositions, his funding has been continued for a further year. After demonstrating progress in his second year, Lliam’s funding was extended for a third and final year.

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Thank you so much …I am delighted to be offered a Dewar Arts Award … I am very grateful to the trustees ..as this will help me a great deal with my studies.

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2009 Awardee: Màiri Chaimbeul

We greatly appreciate …the tremendous influence [the Dewar Arts Awards] have in encouraging young artists such as Màiri to develop their education and career. This particular award means a great deal to Màiri. (Angus Campbell, father)

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 15
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

From Sleat, the Isle of Skye, Màiri has been described as ‘outrageously talented’. Not only is she a prodigious talent on the clàrsach, but she also plays the fiddle and piano to an equally high standard. Currently studying at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh, Màiri is a member of the Scottish National Children’s Orchestra.

Màiri has won a number of significant music awards at the Royal National Mod and other music festivals. She is currently the youngest finalist to compete for the Director’s Recital Prize at St Mary’s Music School.

Màiri has performed on the Celtic Connections Open Stage and plays clàrsach with the Celtic fusion jazz group Kitairuri. She is considered to be one of the most talented harpists of her generation who has the potential to develop into a significant musician of the next.

To date, Màiri’s most memorable concert was at the Skye Feis with the Luminescent Orchestrii of New York, a punk-gypsy-indie-kleismer group, playing clàrsach in the context of world music. Her verdict? “Gaelic riffs alongside Balkan stomping and Russian dance and Latin sounds was great”.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will assist Màiri to buy a professional pedal harp.

Since the Award

Since her Award, Màiri has been nominated for the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award twice, has been a finalist in the BBC Young Traditional & Jazz Musicians of the Year, and is now a graduate of the Berklee College of Music (which she attended with full scholarship).

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We greatly appreciate …the tremendous influence [the Dewar Arts Awards] have in encouraging young artists such as Màiri to develop their education and career. This particular award means a great deal to Màiri. (Angus Campbell, father)

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2009 Awardee: Nicky Spence

Thank you so much….I can’t tell you how grateful I am to ..the trustees for your generous support. It’s true to say that without this award, my life this year would be significantly more difficult.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 26
ARTFORMS: , ,
WEBSITE:https://www.nickyspence.com
 
 

Biography

Born and brought up in rural Dumfries and Galloway, Nicky Spence showed early musical promise, which was nurtured both at school and in the community. From an early age, his goal was to sing professionally on the operatic stage.

Thanks to scholarship support he studied music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, completing a BMus, MMus and MMP with distinction. Nicky became a bit of a star in his own right at an early stage while he was at the Guildhall after he made a well-received CD. But this did not deflect him from pursuing seriously his opera studies. He has recently gained entry to the highly-competitive and prestigious National Opera Studio.

Already Nicky has performed in some of the coolest venues in Europe and has sung with well-known singers as diverse as Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Dame Shirley Bassey and Bryn Terfel. He is a Britten-Pears Young Artist and Samling Scholar and his awards include the Kathleen Ferrier Young Singer’s Bursary Award, the Young Classical Performer of the Year nomination at the Classical Brit Awards and a place in the final of the Gold Medal at the Guildhall School.

Nicky’s teachers consider him to be one of the most gifted singers of his generation who is developing into a professionally exciting operatic tenor. British Youth Opera cast him as Tom Rakewell in the 2009 production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. For more information about Nicky, see www.nickyspence.com.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will help with Nicky’s studies at the National Opera Studio.

Since the Award

During the year, Nicky was selected to represent the Studio in the annual Bruce Millar Opera Prize and repaid their confidence by bringing the prize back after many years absence. He writes that “one of the most useful elements of the Studio is its ready connection with outside entities who are working in the operatic arena.” As a result he had the opportunity during the year of working with renowned singers, directors and conductors as well as auditioning for many of the major opera companies. Nicky has won principal roles in 2010-2011 at Scottish Opera (debut), ENO, Opera North, Opera Holland Park and in Paris and America.

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Thank you so much….I can’t tell you how grateful I am to ..the trustees for your generous support. It’s true to say that without this award, my life this year would be significantly more difficult.

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2009 Awardee: Patrick Kenny

I am delighted to accept your generous award.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2009
AGE AT AWARD: 20
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Edinburgh-born Patrick comes from a musical family, both his parents are musicians, and at an early age he showed himself also to be an exceptionally talented musician.

In 2007 Patrick won a Dewar Arts Award to attend the Beijing International Trombone Festival. Of his experiences there, he writes, “I had an unforgettable and extremely valuable experience and I cannot thank [the trustees] enough for their generous support, without which this incredible learning experience would have been completely impossible for me.”  Following the festival, Patrick had classes with Niels Ole-Bo Johansen at the Royal Danish Conservatoire and Pete Madson at the University of Nebraska, USA.

Patrick spent a gap year playing music and travelling the world. He went to India with the Ronak Baja Indian Fusion Band, to Toronto with the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra and to Europe with the Carnyx Youth Brass to play at the Philharmonie Essen in Germany where his brass quintet was broadcast on German radio. He has been a member of the European Youth Jazz Orchestra, Edinburgh Youth Orchestra, Grand Union Orchestra, among many others. He has played in venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, Barbican and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

In January 2009 Patrick was featured both as soloist and composer on the BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up with his composition ‘Turbulent Times’. Patrick is now studying classical and jazz music at the Guildhall School of Music.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award is helping Patrick with the costs of studying in London at the Guildhall School of Music.

Since the Award

After a successful year, of which the highlights include being selected as a member of the London Sinfonietta Academy 2010 and reaching the semi finals of the BBC Young Brass Soloist 2010, Patrick’s funding has been continued for a further year.

After a further successful year at the Guildhall School of Music, the trustees were pleased to extend their support of Patrick into his final year.

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I am delighted to accept your generous award.

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