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, London 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 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 Crash Ensemble, Ireland’s foremost new music ensemble. He has performed with a variety of chamber 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.

Sarah Ewins – Second Violin Tutor

Sarah has held the position of Associate Leader of the Halle Orchestra since 2002 and is very involved with the education work of the Halle. She is a violin tutor for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and also teaches violin and chamber music at Chethams school of music.

Passionate about chamber music, Sarah has a rich musical life with the Pleyel Ensemble in Manchester with whom she has performed all the Mozart Sonatas for Piano and Violin, all Haydn Piano Trios, and all Beethoven Violin Sonatas and Chamber music for Piano and Strings.

David Aspin – Viola Tutor

David Aspin studied at the Royal College of Music with Roger Best and Simon Rowland Jones. He is a founding member of the highly acclaimed chamber group, 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. His work with chamber groups such as London Chamber Ensemble, Continuum and Psappha include performances at the BBC Proms, touring internationally and recording for CD and radio.

As a soloist appearances include the RNCM's Turnage Festival, Mozart in Switzerland, Three Choirs Festival and a recital/masterclass for the New Zealand National Music Teacher's Association in Auckland.

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, most recently playing the Walton concerto with the Orchestra of Opera North.

David is principal violist of the Orchestra of Opera North and is a regular guest principal with many of the UK's orchestras.

David has taught at the RNCM and is a regular sectional coach at NYO and Chetham's. He enjoys long walks on the Pennine hills preferably with a pub or two en route.

Kate Gould - Cello Tutor

Kate was a scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, London from 1990, where she formed the celebrated Leopold String Trio. They recorded for Hyperion Records and soon became BBC New Generation Artists and toured international concert halls on the ECHO Rising Stars scheme. Kate used their Borletti‐Buitoni Trust Award to curate a three-year series of twelve concerts at Wigmore Hall and the trio went on to win the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Chamber Music. From 2012-2022 she turned her focus to the London Bridge Trio, most recently recording piano trios by Schumann and Mendelssohn in their ‘The Leipzig Circle’ series. She has been a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe since 2000, performing internationally under conductors past and present such as Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Bernard Haitink and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Solo and chamber music highlights last season included performing at Wigmore Hall, London; Duke’s Hall at the Royal Academy of Music for the London Cello Society; the Wurzburg Mozartfest, Germany - performing Isabel Mundry’s ‘Le Corps des Cordes’ for solo cello in a Chamber Orchestra of Europe concert; the Festival de los Siete Lagos, Argentina, the Penarth, Ironstone and Corbridge Chamber Music Festivals and South Downs Summer Music. In May, Kate performed at her own festival, the thriving Winchester Chamber Music Festival, which she founded in her hometown in 2007.

As guest principal cellist she continues to work with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North, Royal Northern Sinfonia, English Chamber Orchestra and, on gut strings, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.

Kate presently gives classes at the Royal Academy of Music and does some assistant teaching at the Royal College of Music. She has coached on many summer courses, including Lake District Summer Music, Cadenza (London) and Citta Alta Chamber Music Week (Bergamo). She coaches the cellos of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales.

Aura Stone - Double Bass Tutor

A scholarship student with Thomas Martin at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Aura joined the National Symphony Orchestra as sub-principal double bass, a position she held until 2016.

A sought after freelance performer, she now enjoys the variety and diversity of a freelance career, touring the world and performing concerts with all of Ireland’s premier ensembles. Equally at home in symphony or chamber orchestra, as principal bass of the Orchestra of St Cecilia, she performed the entire series of Bach church cantatas, over a period of 10 years. An experienced recording artist, Aura has participated in hundreds of live broadcasts, film sessions, CD and TV recordings.

With a keen interest in chamber music, Aura has performed all of the best known chamber works that include the double bass. Constantly seeking to expand the repertoire, a recent research project focused on discovering lesser known 18th and early 20th century pieces including the double bass.

An enthusiastic teacher and educator, in 2013 Aura co-founded classicalkids.ie, a chamber music concert series for babies and adults. Classicalkids' mission is to make chamber music accessible to young children and adults.

Appointed to the RIAM string faculty in 2021, Aura draws on her professional coaching experience, utilising coaching tools and techniques to fuse student led experiential learning, independent critical thinking and a solid technical knowledge of the instrument.

Aura is active as an examiner for the Cork School of Music and RIAM. She regularly tutors the DYO and NYOI bass sections and is involved in the National Concert Hall's Learning and Participation programme; delivering a third level masterclass for students from Cork and Dublin.

Aura plays a double bass made for her by Thomas Martin.

Meyrick Alexander – Woodwind Tutor

For thirty years Meyrick held the position of Principal Bassoon of the Philharmonia Orchestra and has worked with nearly every other ensemble in the UK. He was Head of Woodwind at RWCMD for seven years and currently teaches there and at RAM, having previously been on the staff at GSMD, RNCM and RBC.

He has been a coach at UYO, NYOW, NYOGB, JONC (Catalonia) and I-Culture (Poland).

Jonathan Luxton - Horn Tutor

Originally from Dorset, England, Jonathan studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Professor James Brown. During this time, he played Principal French Horn with the European Youth Orchestra under the direction of Claudio Abbado and Daniel Barenboim. Before leaving the UK, professional experience included playing with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Opera North, Orchestra of the Royal Ballet, Cambridge Opera Group, and recording with the BBC.

At the age of 24 Jonathan accepted the position of Principal French Horn in the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon, Portugal. For 31 years, he played a vast repertoire of music and genres, travelled the world with the orchestra, and had the opportunity to work with leading soloists and conductors.

Jonathan started to teach brass in the UK, and went on to teach French horn in Portugal. He was the first French horn professor at university-level in Portugal, where he introduced the British method of French horn playing, and developed the Bachelor and Masters degree programmes.

Jonathan is now a freelance player in Ireland and the UK, and continues to teach and direct musical projects.

Andy Stone-Fewings – Brass Tutor

Andrew studied at the Birmingham Conservatoire, formally called The Birmingham School of Music. During his study period he became the first recipient of the Alfred Corfield Trumpet prize and regularly performed alongside his principal teacher Alan Whitehead in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Following his graduation Andrew continued a successful freelance career based in Birmingham. In 1988 he was a semi-finalist in the Maurice Andre International Trumpet Competition in Paris.

Andrew has performed with most of the major orchestras in the UK, covering much of the opera, ballet and orchestral repertoire. In 1996 he was offered the position of Principal Trumpet with the Royal Shakespeare Company, a position he continued to hold until his retirement from performing in 2021.

Andrew is in great demand as an adjudicator and brass clinician. He has taken part in many workshops and master classes worldwide for musicians of all ages. He has been a trumpet coach for the National Youth Wind Orchestra and has led several master classes at Wells Cathedral School. As well as being a trumpet tutor at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire for over thirty years until present, he also held a similar position at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for over twenty years.

In 2015 Andrew was offered the role of Associate Head of Brass at RBC, a role he continued for five years, when, due to increasing commitments, he regretfully resigned the position. He continues to teach, conduct and sit on examination panels at RBC.

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.

Elizabeth McNulty – Harp Tutor

Elizabeth McNulty was appointed Principal Harpist of The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2016. She has also enjoyed occasionally freelancing as guest principal harp with ensembles such as Philharmonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, English National Ballet, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Northern Ballet, RTE Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Elizabeth recently appeared as soloist with Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 2024, performing Mozart Flute and Harp Concerto, with RLPO section leader flautist, Cormac Henry. Other concerto performances include Ginastera Harp Concerto, Mozetich El Dorado, Handel Harp Concerto, Debussy Danses sacree et Profane and Ravel Introduction and Allegro with ensembles such as RLPO chamber groups, Kantanti Ensemble, Symphonia Academica and Berkeley Ensemble. Elizabeth has performed recitals in London as a Concordia Artist and was also selected for the 2011 New London Orchestra Young concert artists’ platform, performing recitals in St James's Piccadilly, St Martin in the Field, The Foundling Museum, Benjamin Franklin Museum and Charlton House.

She particularly loves performing chamber music, in a variety of instrumental combinations, performing around UK in venues such as Liverpool Philharmonic, 100 Club, Royal Festival Hall, London Arts Club and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. A recent personal highlight for her was a flute, viola and harp performance of Rameau ‘Pieces de Clavecin’ and Takemitsu ‘…and then I knew t’was wind…’. , in Liverpool with orchestra colleagues, Cormac Henry and Catherine Marwood. Aside from numerous RLPO recordings, she features on albums for popular artists such as Othon, Joji Hirota and Rick Wakeman.

Elizabeth enjoys teaching and is currently harp tutor at University of Liverpool. On occasion she also enjoys tutoring National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Elizabeth studied for her Masters in Performance with Gabriella Dall’Olio at Trinity College of Music, London, where she was awarded a Leverhulme Scholarship, having previously graduated with a Bachelor of Music from Royal Holloway, University of London. Former teachers were Janice Beven and Karen Vaughan and she also received tuition from Fabrice Pierre, Letizia Belmondo, Sylvain Blassel and Rachel Masters.

David Quigley - Piano Tutor

Since his early successes in major competitions including BBC Young Musician of the Year, the Royal Over-Seas League music competition and his selection as the UK’s representative for the ECHO Rising Stars concert series, Irish pianist David Quigley enjoys a varied international career as a recitalist, concerto soloist, collaborative pianist and educator.

He has performed as a soloist throughout Europe, USA and Asia in many of the world’s greatest concert halls including the Philharmonie Köln, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Musikverein Vienna, Mozarteum Salzburg, Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, National Concert Hall Athens, Wigmore Hall London, Konserthaus Stockholm and Carnegie Hall New York.
 
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. He is also pianist of the Fews Ensemble, one of Ireland’s leading chamber music groups founded in 2016 by himself and his sister, the violinist Joanne Quigley-McParland.
 
Aside from performing, David is passionate about musical education. He is a member of the piano faculties at both Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the University of Birmingham. He is co-founder/artistic advisor of Newry Chamber Music, a concert society that provides concerts and education projects in his home town and surrounding areas. David is frequently invited to give Masterclasses and to adjudicate piano competitions throughout Ireland and the UK. He has also served as a juror for the internationally renowned BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in both 2018 and 2020.

David was a member of UYO from 1994 – 1996. In 2001 he was invited to perform Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto with the orchestra in a series of concerts throughout the UK, becoming the first artist to appear as soloist with the orchestra.