Julian Bliss
 

Dame Evelyn Glennie  

Clíodhna Ní Aodáin  

Clíodhna Ní Aodáin was born in Dublin, Ireland and had her first cello lessons with Olwen Lewis in the Royal Irish Academy of Music. She later studied with Aisling Drury Byrne and became principal cellist of the Irish Youth Orchestra in 1992. Clíodhna went on to study cello full-time at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester with Emma Ferrand, graduating with BMus (Hons) in 1996. Her postgraduate studies were at the Université de Montréal with Yuli Turovsky (M.Mus Interpretation 1998) and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Zürich with Susanne Basler (Konzertreifediplom mit Auszeichnug 2001). Masterclasses include workshops with Janos Starker, Valentin Berlinsky, Miklos Perenyi, Phyllis Young, Gerhard Mantel and David Darling.
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Gwendolyn Masin   

Aged eleven she was introduced to the Irish public when she played a recital in the National Concert Hall, Dublin, and later that year appeared on The Late Late Show. She has since been a regular guest on TV and radio productions in various countries.
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Nicola Benedetti   

Named BBC’s Young Musician of the Year in 2004, violinist Nicola Benedetti has captivated audiences and critics with her performances, leading the Independent to say of her, “Benedetti has the gift of communication in spades: an ability to make the music seem larger than life by sheer eagerness of musical personality.”

An exclusive Universal/Deutsche Grammophon artist this season sees the release of Nicola’s third album, featuring a new violin concerto, Lalishri, by John Tavener and Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. Nicola’s second album, including Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and From Ayrshire, a piece written for her by James MacMillan, received a unanimously positive response reaching No. 1 on the BBC Music charts and named “Disc of the Month” by Classic FM . Her debut album featured Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1, the work which catapulted her to nationwide fame after she performed it to win the title of BBC Young Musician of the Year.
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Finghin Collins   

Dublin-born pianist, Finghin Collins commenced his piano studies with his sister Mary, and from the age of six he was a student of Dr John O’ Conor at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin. In June 1999 he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Performance in Dublin with first class honours and is currently continuing his studies with Dominique Merlet at the Conservatoire of Music in Geneva.

Michael McHale   

Michael was born in Belfast in 1983. After early studies in his home city he won a scholarship to study with John O’Conor and Réamonn Keary at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, and whilst still a student there was invited to give an early concerto début in the Ulster Hall for BBC Radio 3 performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.1. A former principal cellist of the Belfast and Ulster Youth Orchestras, he was also a member of the Junior NYOI, back in 1996.

Michael continued his education at Cambridge University, graduating with a double first-class honours degree in Music and all the major performance prizes. He then went on to study piano with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music as holder of the EMI Music Sound Foundation Scholarship, graduating with distinction in 2006. He was a piano finalist in both the BBC Young Musician of the Year and Royal Overseas League competitions, won first prize in the 2004 Camerata Ireland Musician of the Year and was winner of the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition.
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Simon Aspell   

Born in Swansea, Simon Aspell, ARAM, began his musical studies locally at thirteen before gaining scholarships to study at The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff as a junior. Going on to study with Stephen Shingles at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he won many prizes for viola-playing and chamber music, became principal viola in several college orchestras as well as performing concertos and recitals.

Postgraduate study followed with Peter Schidlof and the Amadeus Quartet, along with masterclasses with Milan Skampa of the Smetana Quartet and the La Salle, Vermeer & Guarneri Quartets.

Whilst still at the RAM, Simon had a busy professional life playing as guest principal viola with a number of major UK symphony and chamber orchestras before forming the Vanbrugh Quartet with colleagues Gregory Ellis, Elizabeth Charleson & Christopher Marwood in 1985.
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Antti Siirala   

Antti Siirala was born in Helsinki in 1979 into a musical family. He began taking piano lessons at the age of 6. He has studied with Professors Matti Raekllio and Ivari Ilja. He has also worked with Mitsuko Uchida, Murray Perahia and Charles Rosen among others. In Spring 2003 he was awarded a Master’s degree from the Sibelius Academy. He was also named the most distinguished graduate.

His international career was launched when he won 1 st prize in the London International Piano Competition in 2000, the AXA Dublin International Piano Competition 2003 and the Leeds International pianoforte Competition 2003.
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Cathal Breslin   

Cathal was born in Derry, N. Ireland. He began studying piano with Deidre Doyle in Dublin and Francis King in Belfast. Conservatory studies commenced at the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with John Barstow, and graduated with a First Class Honours BMus (Hons) RCM Degree. He then pursued his studies as the ABRSM Scholar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester under the tutelage of Kathryn Stott, Benjamin Frith, and Alexander Melnikov.

Whilst at the RNCM he was awarded a PG Dip with Distinction, and First Prizes in the Recital Prize and the Concerto Award. Now Cathal lives in Madrid, and studies in the class of Joaquin Soriano on the Curso de Perfeccionamiento at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Madrid.
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