Ciaran McCabe – First Violin Tutor

Ciaran enjoys a varied musical life as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Recent solo engagements include the concerti of Bruch, Dvorak, Mendelssohn and Barber with ensembles such as the Ulster Orchestra and Orpheus Sinfonia and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at St Martin-in-the-Fields with the Brandenburg Sinfonia. He was a recipient of the Milton Violin Award and the Young Artists' Platform Award from the Arts Council of N.Ireland, which included a BBC studio recording of virtuoso violin works.

He recently became a member of the Maggini Quartet, one of Britain’s leading chamber ensembles, currently celebrating their 30th anniversary season. Prior to joining the Magginis, Ciaran was a founding member of the Cavaleri Quartet, with whom he performed in major venues such as the Musikverein, Vienna, Rachmaninov Hall, Moscow, Auditorio Nacional, Madrid, Wigmore Hall, London and throughout New Zealand and Australia. They were First Prize winners at the 2012 Hamburg International Chamber Music Competition, Second Prize winners at the 2014 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and in 2011 won the Royal Over-Seas League Competition.

Ciaran has appeared as guest leader of the Ulster Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, the Symphony Orchestra of India, English Touring Opera and Brandenburg Sinfonia and as a guest co-leader or principal with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the John Wilson Orchestra. He is also a member of the London Chamber Orchestra and the Crash Ensemble and has performed with ensembles such as the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, English Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Aurora, Camerata Nordica, Sweden, HardRain Soloist Ensemble and the Rasumovsky Ensemble.

Ciaran studied with Yossi Zivoni at the Royal College of Music, London as a Yehudi Menuhin Scholar and later in the chamber music class of Günter Pichler in Madrid. He plays a 1689 Cremonese violin by Andrea Guarneri, on generous long term loan from a private trust.

Paulette Bailey – Second Violin Tutor

Paulette’s violin studies started as a Suzuki violin pupil and continued at the Purcell School, the Junior Department of Guildhall School of Music& Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Her varied professional life began as a member of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra before joining the Hallé in 2004. She has also worked with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and Scottish Orchestras. Paulette very much enjoys the richness of symphonic string writing, but also regularly plays in smaller chamber ensembles. She loves improvising so is just as happy to be rid of sheet music and communicating freely!

The support received throughout her study has inspired Paulette’s commitment to education and outreach work. This covers a wide range of work from coaching of the NYO violin sections, leading of creative projects with young children, writing pop songs with teens to playing in care homes.

David Aspin – Viola Tutor

David Aspin studied at the Royal College of Music with Roger Best and Simon Rowland Jones. He is a founder member of Chroma, resident at Royal Holloway, University of London. The group has forged an enviable reputation for its commissioning of new work, collaborations and education work. With groups such as Psappha he has performed at the BBC Proms, in Buenos Aires, Lisbon and St Magnus Festival as well as recording for CD, BBC Radio 3 and webcasts.

As a soloist, David has performed in the UK and overseas including the RNCM’s Turnage Festival, Mozart in Gstaad, Switzerland, Three Choirs Festival and a recital and masterclass for the New Zealand National Music Teacher’s Association. David has performed and recorded the Telemann viola concerto with the Lancashire Sinfonietta. Other concerto appearances include works by Bartok, Berlioz, Britten, Bruch and Vaughan Williams and most recently the Walton concerto with the Orchestra of Opera North.

David is principal violist of the Orchestra of Opera North. He has also appeared as guest principal with the BBC Philharmonic, Halle, Royal Scottish National, Bournemouth Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC NOW, BBC Scottish Symphony, Philharmonia and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras. David is a viola tutor at the RNCM and a regular sectional coach of NYO. He is often to be found walking in the Pennine hills with his dog or pursuing other activities such as yoga and swimming.

Benedict Rogerson - Cello Tutor

Ben Rogerson is a member of the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Mozart Players and also enjoys playing regularly with the John Wilson Orchestra. With the Irish Chamber Orchestra he toured all over the world with artists including Maxim Vengerov, Steven Isserlis, Anthony Marwood and Nigel Kennedy.
Ben has played as Guest Principal Cello for the City of London Sinfonia, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera and Opera North, the Mozart Festival Orchestra and the Johann Strauss Gala Orchetsra. With violinist Gabrielle Painter and Leslie Hollingworth he formed the Szabo Piano Trio. Nowadays he gives chamber music concerts mostly with the Minerva Ensemble. He has appeared as a guest with the Carducci, Tippet, Merchant and St. Paul’s quartets for performances of the Schubert C Major Quintet.
Ben studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and at SUNY Purchase, USA, with Julia Lichten of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. For several years he coached the cello section of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland a role he has also fulfilled for the National Youth Orchestras of Wales, and of Great Britain, the Southbank Sinfonia and at the Royal Academy of Music.

Ronan Dunne - Double Bass Tutor

Ronan began his musical training as a chorister with the Palestrina choir in Dublin's Pro-Cathedral. He then took up the double bass and aged eighteen, went on to study in London and later, in Vienna. He spent a couple of wonderful years touring Ireland as a member of the Irish Chamber Orchestra before becoming a member of the BBC Philharmonic, where he has played since 2002 and was appointed principal bass in 2015.
As well as enjoying touring to Europe and the far east, he is hugely enthusiastic about the wide variety of repertoire the orchestra performs each season. As a guest principal bass, he plays regularly with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, The Hallé, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Opera North. As a chamber musician, he has enjoyed many interesting collaborations, with such quartets as the Voglers and the Callinas.
Ronan is passionate about teaching and bringing on the next generation of young bass players. He teaches, tutors and takes classes at the Royal Northern College of Music and has given masterclasses around Europe and most recently in China

Lenny Sayers – Woodwind Tutor

Lenny Sayers is the principal bass clarinet player of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and tutor in clarinet at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. He studied Music at York University, followed by a Master’s degree and post-graduate diploma at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. In June 2001 he was a concerto finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of The Year.

Before joining the BBC NOW, Lenny worked as a freelance clarinet player and teacher based in Manchester. He has performed with the Hallé Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and Opera North.
Education and Outreach work plays a very important part in Lenny’s life as a musician. As well as being actively involved in the outreach work of BBC NOW he has been a guest tutor at Wells Cathedral School and for the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales. Lenny worked for over a decade as a mentor, trainer and musician for Live Music Now and currently tutors on the ‘Outreach Skills’ and ‘Teaching Skills’ modules at the RWCMD.

Lenny is also a published composer and many of his chamber music works have been recorded professionally. His many arrangements of Klezmer music have proved very popular with musicians and audiences and have been performed throughout the world. His music has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Radio Wales, Radio Cymru and Radio Scotland

Cormac Oh'Aodáin - Horn Tutor

Born in Dublin in 1971, Cormac O’hAodáin studied horn with Victor Malirsh at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. He continued his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Between 1993 and 1996 Cormac represented Ireland in the European Union Youth Orchestra, working with such eminent maestros as Carlo Maria Giulini, Kurt Sanderling, Georges Prêtre, Bernard Haitink, Mstislav Rostropovich and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
In 1997 he joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniele Gatti, also working with Yuri Temirkanov, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Berglund, Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies amongst others. In 1999 Cormac moved to the Philharmonia Orchestra, performing with many of the world’s leading conductors, such as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Evgeny Svetlanov, James Levine, Sir Charles Mackerras, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christian Thielemann, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and Lorin Maazel. With these orchestras Cormac has toured extensively throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, North and South America, the Near and Far East, Australia and New Zealand.
Since 2009 Cormac has been a member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. In 2010 he performed Aloys Fleischmann’s Cornucopia for Solo Horn and Orchestra with the RTÉ CO as part of the Fleischmann Centenary year celebrations. In 2012 he performed Richard Strauss’s 1st Horn Concerto with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.
Cormac has considerable chamber music experience and is a founding member of Cassiopeia Winds Wind Quintet, Vox Merus Brass Quintet and Musici Ireland Chamber Ensemble.

Andrew Berryman – Brass Tutor

Andrew is currently the Musical Director and Principal Conductor of the NSO Symphony Orchestra Abu Dhabi, an orchestra founded in 2011. Andrew has guided the NSO through eight seasons of symphonic music, film nights and opera, from Mozart to Nyman and everything in between, and always with a few surprises. He also directs the NSO string ensemble, big band and brass ensemble. Andrew has an associate position with the Bolton Symphony Orchestra and is Music Director and Band Leader of the Nordhorn based big band The Berrytones.
In 2016 he conducted the opening ceremony to World Skills and this year the closing ceremony for the Special Olympics, with guest singer Keala Settle. He has conducted the Orchestra da Camera Fiorentina at the Auditorium di Santo Stefano al Ponte in Florence, Italy and conducted The First Old Boys Brass Band at the Northern Ireland Music Awards with vocalist Hannah Peel. Andrew is also a certified Disney conductor.
In February 2019 he conducted the world premiere of ‘The Piano Live’ at the Barbican Centre in London.
His performing career started in 1980 freelancing with most of the countries symphony orchestras and then as Principal Trombone with the Ulster Orchestra, 1984-88, and Principal Trombone with the Halle, 1988-2008. Whilst with the Halle Andrew was very involved in the education department and presented many concerts as an animateur. He has performed as a soloist and as a clinician. He also taught at the Royal Northern College of Music and Chethams School of Music. Andrew has also led and conducted sessions and concerts for ‘Music for Autism International’.
Andrew is extremely creative and engaging and enjoys bringing all genres of music to life for audiences all over the world.

Jonathan Herbert – Percussion Tutor

Jonathan won a junior exhibition to study timpani and percussion at the Royal College of Music in London and then at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He has performed with virtually every symphony orchestras in the UK and in 1992 joined the percussion section of the Halle Orchestra. In 2001 he was appointed Principal Percussion and Principal Timpani with the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.

Since 2005 Jonathan has been invited to play with the World Orchestra for Peace under the direction of Valery Gergiev performing at the BBC proms and in some of the world’s greatest concert halls including the Philharmonie Berlin, Carnegie Hall New York, Symphony Hall Chicago, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow and the Salzburg Festspielhaus .
Jonathan is a member of the teaching staff at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Irish Academy of Music. He has previously held teaching posts at the Liverpool, Manchester and Salford Universities. Jonathan has been the featured guest artist at the RNCM day of percussion.

Stephanie Beck – Harp Tutor

Stephanie Beck is a freelance harpist, based in London. She is principal harpist of the Arensky Chamber Orchestra, the Multi-Story Orchestra and for her work as a harpist has been awarded an ‘Associate of the Royal Academy of Music’. She has played guest principal harp with City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, BBC Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra among others. She is a regular guest with the Philharmonia Orchestra and has played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment as well as orchestras in Europe and Asia.
She has played concertos and chamber music concerts in venues such as the Sala de Camera at the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, the Mozart-Saal at the Konzerthaus Vienna, the Festival Theatre at the Palace of Arts in Budapest, Wilton’s Music Hall London, Glasgow University and the Royal Academy of Music. Stephanie grew up in Liechtenstein. She studied at the Landeskonservatorium für Vorarlberg Feldkirch and the Royal Academy of Music in London. She was awarded a Junior Fellowship at the Royal Academy of Music, was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, the World Philharmonic Orchestra and the orchestra academy of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Foyle Future Firsts.

David Quigley - Piano Tutor

Award winning Irish pianist David Quigley enjoys a wide and varied career as a recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. As a concerto soloist he has appeared with many orchestras including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Camerata Ireland, Southern Sinfonia and Cairo Symphony Orchestra. David is also a much sought after chamber musician and performs regularly with internationally renowned artists including oboist Nicholas Daniel, clarinettist Michael Collins, violinist Nathaniel Vallois and soprano Ailish Tynan. He performs regularly with his sister, the violinist Joanne Quigley in both duo recitals and in trio recitals with cellist Jonathan Aasgaard.
Born in Ireland in 1977, David attended the Leinster School of Music, Dublin, studying with the renowned Irish teacher Mabel Swainson. In 1996 he entered Birmingham Conservatoire where he worked with the pianist/composer Philip Martin, graduating in July 2000 with a first class honours degree and the Principal’s Prize. David continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest, with Balázs Szokolay and later with Brigette Engerer at the Paris Conservatoire.
Recent performing highlights include a multi city solo recital and masterclass tour of China and chamber music recitals at the National Concert Hall Dublin, Barber Institute Birmingham and RNCM Concert Hall Manchester.
Aside from performing, David is passionate about musical education. He is a member of the piano faculty at Birmingham Conservatoire, one of the UK’s leading music colleges. He is co-founder/director of Newry Chamber Music, a concert society that provides concerts and education projects in his home town and surrounding areas. David is also frequently invited to give Masterclasses and to adjudicate piano competitions throughout Ireland and the UK.