2006 Awardee: Laura McKinlay

I am delighted and privileged to accept this Award

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 17
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

From the age of seven, Laura’s driving ambition has been to become a professional musician.
Currently a student at the RSAMD, Laura has already distinguished herself by playing with two of Scotland’s youth orchestras, the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth String Orchestra.

She has also been leader of the Repertoire orchestra of NYOS, her Local Council orchestra and School orchestra.
Amongst the prizes and awards she has already won are the Bach class at the Glasgow Music Festival and a bursary to attend the European Youth Summer Music Course in Hertfordshire.

In common with a lot of the young musicians at the RSAMD, Laura has a keen interest in Scottish traditional music and plays in a ceilidh band.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards bought Laura a performance quality violin.

Since the Award

After trying several violins, Laura eventually decided on a Chinese violin made in 2005. As its first owner, she has enjoyed breaking it in and notices that it continues to grow in its capabilities and tone.  She writes, “My new violin is capable of much more advanced techniques than my old one .. and because of this, my musical understanding also progresses further.”

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I am delighted and privileged to accept this Award

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2006 Awardee: Lesley-Ann Smith

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 22
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Hailing from Prestwick in Ayrshire, Lesley-Ann Smith is a talented double-bassist. A graduate of RSAMD, she is currently pursuing postgraduate studies also at RSAMD.

As a youngster, Lesley-Ann was a member of the main youth orchestras of the UK, Scotland and also of NYOS’s Camerata. While an undergraduate she distinguished herself by winning the Eugene Cruft prize for Double Bass in 2004 and 2006.

Lesley-Ann’s ambition is to become a professional musician. Already she regularly plays with the main Scottish orchestras on a freelance basis, and in 2006 she participated successfully in the Side by Side project with the Scottish Opera.

To help her professional development, she now needs an instrument to match her standard of play.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award contributed towards the purchase of a double bass.

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2006 Awardee: Linsey McDonald

I would like to thank the trustees for their very generous award. I am looking forward to starting my course in January 2007.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD:
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Linsey MacDonald, from Lundin Links, Fife, started playing trumpet when she was 11. She quickly demonstrated musical potential above her peers. She was first a pupil at the RSAMD junior school and then progressed to study for a degree in music also at RSAMD.

From an early age she loved playing jazz and during high school played with the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra. She joined the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra when it was founded in 2002, playing lead trumpet. She joined the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra the same year, playing third and fourth trumpet. With her own jazz octet The Hemato she performed at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in 2006.

Tommy Smith considers Linsey to be an amazing young musician, with great potential. He is impressed both by her fantastic improvisational skills as a performer and her maturity as a composer.

There are very few top line female jazz trumpeters, and even fewer lead female trumpeters in the UK. Linsey has both the technique and artistic potential to become one of the very finest lead trumpeters in the UK.

Linsey was offered a scholarship to study jazz trumpet at the renowned ‘mecca’ of jazz, Berklee College of Music, Boston, where most of the world’s jazz greats have studies. But without additional support she would not have been able to take up the offer.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award has provided funding to enable Linsey to study for a 2-year Diploma in jazz trumpet at Berklee.

Since the Award

Linsey’s first year at Berklee was very exciting. She played in all three of the Berklee Big Bands, with a 10-piece all-women ensemble consisting of music students from all over the world, with the Berklee Rainbow Band in front of a crowd of 10,000 and with The Berklee Baseball Samurai at the opening of the baseball play-offs, which is a great honour in America.

With the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra, which focuses on contemporary repertoire, Linsey performed with Maria Shneider, considered to be one of the most influential female jazz composers/performers on the New York scene today.

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I would like to thank the trustees for their very generous award. I am looking forward to starting my course in January 2007.

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2006 Awardee: Lorna Geller

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 23
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

At the age of 18, Lorna Geller left Irvine, where she grew up, first to study for a music degree at Oxford and later to pursue postgraduate study in violin performance at the Guildhall School of Music in London.

Lorna is one of several awardees who started her musical education at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh. While she was a student of David Takeno’s in London, he encouraged her passion for solo and chamber music playing. During that time, Lorna was playing on a wonderful Degani violin on long-term loan.

Now 23, Lorna’s musical CV is impressive. Winner of many prizes and awards, including the 2005 Waddell Memorial Prize for Scottish String Players, Lorna has played with several leading chamber orchestras and appeared as soloist with the Ariette Ensemble, the Oxford Sinfionetta and the Edinburgh Festival Concerto Orchestra.

Lorna also took part in a Cultural Exchange Programme in the Gambia studying West African tribal culture and musical traditions which led to a collaborative project and exhibition in both the Gambia and London.

Lorna is both a talented and dedicated musician who is still improving and developing. She has an opportunity to buy the Degani violin she has been playing for many years.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award provided the balance of the funds required to purchase the instrument.

Since the Award

After completing her studies at the Guildhall, Lorna went on to pursue a career as a violinist, including work with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists and in 2012 as a trialing sub-principal of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

After 10 diverse and busy years in London, she moved back to Scotland in 2013 to work with the Sistema Scotland charity, and holds the post of Senior Musician at Big Noise Govanhill in Glasgow.

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2006 Awardee: Madeleine Shaw

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Dewar Arts Awards for their generous financial support of my professional development in music and opera.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 28
ARTFORMS: , ,
 
 
 

Biography

After three years on a post-graduate programme at the RSAMD, Glasgow, Madeleine gained a place at the prestigious National Opera Studio in London in the face of extremely stiff competition. Madeleine is considered to be one of the most gifted mezzo sopranos of her generation.

She writes of her time at the studio, “It is a dream to be able to work with the coaches, directors and singers that the studio attracts.  I loved every second of my time there.”

Without her training at the Opera Studio, Madeleine says that she would never have had the opportunity of auditioning and going on to work for one of the UK’s leading opera companies.  She writes, “This is the perfect start to my professional singing career that will hopefully go on for many years to come.”

Madeleine is currently a member of the Young Singers Programme at the English National Opera.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards helped to fund Madeleine’s studies at the National Opera Studio, London, before launching her operatic career.

Since the Award

Madeleine moved on to become a member of the Young Singers Programme at the English National Opera.

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I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Dewar Arts Awards for their generous financial support of my professional development in music and opera.

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2006 Awardee: Michael O’Donnell

I was really struck by [Donald Dewar’s] kind nature and passion for politics and it is a real pleasure to accept an award in his name

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 21
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Michael O’Donnell is, in the opinion of his RCM tutor, one of the finest oboists of his generation who brings a generosity of spirit in all he does. While at the RCM, Michael won the Knights of the Round Table Prize and the Chamber Music Prize.

He has been principal oboe and cor anglais of the National Youth Orchestras of both Scotland and Great Britain and principal oboe of Camerata Scotland. At the end of his third year at RCM, he was awarded the highest mark of any student in his year for his end of year recital. He graduated in 2006 with the top mark in the woodwind faculty and with a first-class honours degree.

Michael was brought up in Scone, Perthshire. His musical ambition is to develop a career in chamber music and orchestral playing. He gained a scholarship to study on the RCM Integrated Masters course (MMus).

Michael is very interested in the Suzuki teaching method and, in addition to his playing, aims to develop the application to oboe teaching.

How the Award Helped

Michael met Donald Dewar in 1997 and then later during the campaign for the devolution of the Scottish Parliament. If he hadn’t gone on to study music, he says he would have gone into politics.

The Dewar Arts Award will help finance Michael through his MMus course.

Since the Award

Michael graduated from the RCM in 2008 with an MMus, Distinction. In late 2010 he was offered the post of 2nd oboe and cor anglais in the Northern Sinfonia and also the post of 2nd oboe in the Irish Chamber Orchestra. Michael writes that he still can’t believe he’s playing in some of the major concert halls of the world. “Growing up in a small village in Scotland, I had no idea my career would allow me to see so much of the world so quickly.”

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I was really struck by [Donald Dewar’s] kind nature and passion for politics and it is a real pleasure to accept an award in his name

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2006 Awardee: Murdo Macrae

I would like to express how grateful I am to the Dewar Arts Awards. Thank you very much for your generosity, it will be a great help!

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 15
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Murdo is currently a pupil at the City of Edinburgh Music School, where he plays clàrsach, piano and pedal harp. He is from the small West Highland village of Nostie in Lochalsh and took up the clàrsach while in primary school in Plockton.  He is a former student of renowned harpist, Savourna Stevenson, and a current pupil of Charlotte Petersen.

Not having a harp of his own made it increasingly difficult for Murdo to practise regularly and make good progress. Despite this, he made an effortless transition from the clàrsach to its larger relative, and in a short space of time Murdo progressed very quickly to achieve outstanding results in his exams. An illustration of his potential and dedication to succeed in a musical career.

Murdo has a passion for his native Scottish culture. He has an outstanding vocal talent, which together with his clàrsach playing have won him 26 gold medals at local and national Mods.

He played at the Skye Festival and the book launch of ‘One City’ and at the Edinburgh International Harp Festival 2006 took part in a public master class with Edward Witsenburg.

Murdo’s ambition is to study pedal harp at music college and develop his interest in composition and orchestration.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards helped Murdo buy a Salvi Aurora pedal harp.

Since the Award

Since getting his new harp, Murdo has had much success in clarsach and harp competitions in the Edinburgh Performance Festival in 2007-08.  He also performed solo harp at the National Showcase of Excellence of the Scottish music schools. In 2009 Murdo plans to go on to study harp at the Guildhall School of Music on a scholarship.

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I would like to express how grateful I am to the Dewar Arts Awards. Thank you very much for your generosity, it will be a great help!

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2006 Awardee: Peter Murch

[Having my own instruments] will make a huge difference to my studies at RSAMD and any future career.

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 18
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Percussionist Peter Murch comes from a family of strong musicians. Brought up in Aberfeldy in Perthshire, Peter has been part of the RSAMD YouthWorks programme for the past two years and has now embarked on full-time undergraduate study also at RSAMD.

Despite never having owned his own percussion instruments, but having to borrow ones from school, Peter has worked very hard to turn his talent into promise and potential. His percussion tutor on YouthWorks ranks him as one of the most gifted students to have come through the programme.

As well as revelling in one-to-one tuition from percussion legends at the RSAMD, Peter plays in a couple of bands in his spare time, which have treated audiences to performances of musicality and ‘joie de vivre’.

Now that Peter, aged 18, is studying full-time it is essential that he has his own set of percussion instruments.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award will enable him to buy various instruments, such as timpani, drum kit and marimba.

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[Having my own instruments] will make a huge difference to my studies at RSAMD and any future career.

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2006 Awardee: Roberta Burn

My harp is so important to me. I spend most of my time when I’m not in school playing it, it’s like a companion

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 11
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Roberta comes from a family of dedicated young musicians who between them play harp, piano, euphonium, Northumbrian smallpipes, piano accordion, trumpet and clarinet. Roberta, the youngest, aspires to become a concert harpist.

Currently, she is a pupil at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh which has overseen the early musical education of many of Scotland’s finest musicians. When she auditioned for St Mary’s she impressed the adjudicators with her sense of poetry and magic, as well as technical ability. Roberta stood out as being one of the most talented harpists of her age.

From Berwick on Tweed, Roberta lives and breathes the harp. Her current teacher has seen her make enormous progress in her musicality and technique, the result of a great deal of time and effort spent in improving her technique.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Awards helped to buy Roberta a performance standard harp.

Since the Award

Roberta writes that having a new pedal harp has opened up ‘many fantastic opportunities’. Shortly afterwards she passed Grade 7 on pedal harp with distinction, took a master class with internationally-renowned harpist, Isabelle Perrin, and was accepted into the National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland. In 2008 Roberta became the Berwick Rotary Classical Musician of the year.

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My harp is so important to me. I spend most of my time when I’m not in school playing it, it’s like a companion

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2006 Awardee: Roisin Hughes

YEAR OF AWARD: 2006
AGE AT AWARD: 17
ARTFORMS: ,
 
 
 

Biography

Roisin Anne Hughes is an extremely talented multi instrumentalist, who can perform to a very high standard on fiddle/violin, flute, whistle, accordion, mandola and mouth organ. She’s also a cracking singer.

Still only 17, Roisin has enjoyed an almost intimidating level of success in championships, including in fiddle, Scottish Champion eight times and British Champion once, and in mouth organ, British Champion seven times. Not surprisingly, Roisin has performed at Celtic Connections, as well as at many other Scottish and Irish traditional music showcases, with one of the bands she regularly plays with, ‘La’.

Roisin’s interest in both Scottish and Irish traditional music stems from her background. Her mother is Irish, and her father’s family have a long tradition with Clyde shipbuilding, near where Roisin was brought up. As well as being an exponent of traditional music, Roisin started playing classical violin at the age of 9. It shows character and talent to master both techniques well, and by fifth year, Roisin became leader of the Glasgow Schools Symphony Orchestra.

For some time, Roisin has wanted to have a performance standard fiddle. She had her eye on a George Duncan fiddle, but had competition from a fiddle collector who spied it for his show cabinet. George Duncan was a Glasgow fiddle-maker who won gold medals for his fiddle-making – he and Roisin have a lot in common.

How the Award Helped

The Dewar Arts Award provided the money for Roisin to buy the George Duncan fiddle, to release it to be played rather than sit on a shelf and gather dust.

Since the Award

Roisin has had a great deal of success with her new fiddle. In 2007 and 2009 she reached the All-Ireland finals in the Comhaltas competitions. Her band Yuptae has also enjoyed success, playing at the Danny Kyle Open Stage as part of the Celtic Connections and reaching the semi-finals of the Live and Unsigned UK in Newcastle.

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