Michael Kidd
Michael Kidd began playing the horn at the age of 8, studying first with David Golightly and then Liz Davis. At the age of 13, Michael was awarded a scholarship to study at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.
Whilst at Chetham's Michael was frequently a member of Chetham's Symphony Orchestra, under direction of conductors such as Franz Anton Krager, Mark Elder, Yan Pascal Tortelier, and Jac Van Steen, and also Haydn's 'Creation' Oratorio on period instruments under Paul McCreesh. At the age of 16 Michael was awarded the Performance Diploma of the ABRSM with distinction, and at 18 was awarded the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music. For this he performed on both modern French horn and Natural horn, performing Mozart's 3rd horn concerto on the latter.
Michael is also a member of the Britten Pears Young Artists Programme, having performed Schubert's Octet with the Navarra String Quartet as well as taking part in the Britten Pears Orchestra.
On leaving Chetham's Michael was awarded the ?Win Birchall Memorial Prize for Brass and then took up a place at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Richard Watkins and natural horn with Andrew Clark. Michael's studies are supported by the Leverhulme Trust.
Lisa Anne Donati
Lisa grew up in Ontario, Canada. She began taking lessons at the age of 18 and received a full scholarship to attend Wilfrid Laurier University in the BMus Performance program, studying with Nina Brickman. As principal horn of the WLU Symphony Orchestra, she performed such repertoire as Mahler's Symphony No. 1, and Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Strieche.
Lisa crossed over to London in September 2006 to attend the Royal Academy of Music's Master of Music program. She was awarded the T & E Crombie Memorial Award, the Richard Merewether Award, and a Royal Academy of Music Foundation Award. She currently studies with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins, as well as Andrew Clark on Natural horn and Baroque horn. Lisa has received commendations in both the Sydney Langston Brass Prize and the Thomas Blake Prize, and has performed with the Britten-Pears Festival Orchestra.
Lisa has been involved with various recording projects for animated and short independent films, as well as many student composition projects. Highly involved in both period performance and contemporary performance, she has performed in the Sounds New 2007 Festival in Canterbury, and participated in the premier of a new innovative composition by Matthew King. Lisa has played in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Wigmore Hall, and the Royal Festival Hall, and has performed in three highlight concerts in the 2007 British Horn Society Festival in London. Lisa was second horn of the Opera Ischia Orchestra in Italy. She performed live on BBC Radio 3 alongside Michael Thompson. In September 2008, Lisa will be premiering a new work for horn, violin, and piano being written for her by Robert Szymanek and Darren Bloom. Lisa is second horn of Duo Sogno, performing in North America, England, and Italy.
Christopher George Beagles
Chris started playing the horn at the age of 12 and within a year he joined the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra and two years later became the principal horn.
In 2004 he started studying at the Junior department of the Royal Northern College of Music with Tom Redmond and won several prizes for his playing.
In 2006 he got a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he has begun his study with Mike Thompson.
Nicholas Ireson
Nicholas Ireson began playing the horn in 1997 and in 2002 won a bursary to the Junior Guildhall School of Music, leaving two years later as winner of the Brass Instrumental Prize. He was also principal horn with both the National Children's Wind Orchestra and the National Youth Chamber Orchestra.
Nicholas read music at Christ Church, Oxford, graduating with honours in 2007. Whilst at Oxford he performed with all the university ensembles, appearing as a soloist in Schumann's Konzertstuck, for four horns and orchestra, and as a recitalist at the Holywell Music Rooms and Christ Church Cathedral.
A keen chamber musician, Nicholas is a member of the Helios Horn Quartet with whom he performed at the Gala concert of the 2007 BHS Festival. The quartet was recently commended in the Nicholas Blake Chamber Music competition for its performance of the Tippet Sonata for Four Horns.
Recent performance highlights have included the Marriage of Figaro for RAM Opera under Sir Colin Davis and, as principal horn with the RAM Symphony Orchestra, Messaien’s L’Ascension under Susanne Malkki.
Future engagements include work with the London Contemporary Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta, recitals in London and St Albans and the Britten Serenade at LSO St Luke’s.
Currently a first year postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music, Nicholas studies with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins and with Andrew Clarke on the natural horn. A participant in the side-by-side scheme with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicholas is supported by the Richard Merewether Award.
Francesca Moore-Bridger
Francesca began playing the French Horn at the age of nine and within a year was a member of the National Children's Orchestra. She went on to become a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain while studying at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.
Francesca graduated with a BA Honours degree in Music from Newnham College Cambridge in 2005 and whilst there held an Instrumental Award Scholarship. She was principal horn of the University Symphony and Chamber Orchestras and performed both Strauss and Mozart Horn concertos during her final year.
After leaving Cambridge Francesca won a full scholarship, awarded by the ABRSM, to study for a Post-graduate Diploma at the Royal Academy of Music where she now learns with Richard Watkins and Michael Thompson and studies Natural Horn with Andrew Clark. Francesca has held the principal position in the joint RAM and Guildhall School of Music and Drama Symphony Orchestra as well as all the RAM orchestras. She was the winner of the Dennis Brain Memorial Prize, awarded Very Highly Commended in the Worshipful Company of Musicians Solo Brass Prize and Highly Commended in the Drummond Sharp Prize. Her studies are kindly supported by the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
Francesca has worked with the London Sinfonietta and the Philharmonia Orchestra and will be playing with London Winds later in the year. She is also a member of the Britten-Pears Young Artist?s Programme. Francesca is a keen chamber musician and is a member of a highly successful trio who have performed recitals around the country and this year won the Max Pirani Prize at the Academy. She is also a member of the the Helios Horn Quartet who were awarded Highly Commended in the Nicholas Blake Prize and performed at the British Horn Festival 2007.
Gabrielle Marrs
Gabrielle was born in Cardiff in 1984 and began to play the horn aged nine. She is currently in her second of two years, studying a PGDip at the Royal Academy and completed her undergraduate studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, receiving a Bmus(Hons) in 2006.
Since joining RAM Gabrielle has become much more involved with chamber music and was involved in the Academy recording of the Strauss Wind chamber music CD. She also has recently helped form a Horn quartet with a player from each of the four London colleges.
In the past year she has enjoyed working with conductors such as Yan Pascal Tortelier, Sir Colin Davis and Thierry Fischer.
James Rudisill
James, or commonly known as Rudi around the Academy, began playing horn at the age of 17 and made his first orchestral début with the Charlotte Civic Orchestra at 18 as a professional. Since then he has performed throughout North and South Carolina frequently with the Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra and Asheville Lyric Opera. Currently he is a free-lance artist in London and throughout the United Kingdom performing with various musical theatre productions, small chamber ensembles, and chamber orchestras.
James attended Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina studying underneath Dr. Alan Mattingly (Professor of Horn studies at Nebraska University) and Dr. Travis Bennett (Current Professor of Horn Studies at Western Carolina University). Presently, he began his Graduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music studying with principal teachers, Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins respectively. His other teachers include natural horn studies with Andy Clark, and various master classes with London Horns: David Pyatt, Richard Bissill, and Richard Montgomery.
Although studying horn is a top priority at the Academy, James does enjoy swimming at the Central YMCA, Jogging in Regents Park. Experiencing "tea time" in England with his fellow Horn and Academy colleagues or the occasional pint in the evenings at the local Pub has been a highlight from his ventures in England so far.
Emma Cotton
Emma began playing the horn at the age of 9 at Penkridge Middle School. At the age of 13 she joined Staffordshire Youth Wind Orchestra and later moved to principal in the Symphony Orchestra. In 2000 she began at Birmingham Conservatoire Junior School. In January 2005 she played Mozart Horn Concerto No 2 with the Staffordshire Chamber orchestra in Hednesford. She is currently principal Horn of the CBSO Youth Orchestra where she has played under conductors including, Sakari Oramo, Paul Daniels, Martyn Brabbins and Mike Seal, in regular concerts, recently performing Shostakovich Cello concerto with the soloist Guy Johnson in Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
Emma is currently in her 3rd year of the undergraduate program at the Academy studying with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins. Whilst at the Academy she has played in the Symphony Orchestra under conductors including Sir Colin Davis and Susanne Malkai and Concert orchestra, Manson ensemble and Musical theatre Orchestra.
Mark Wood
Born in 1987 Mark began playing the horn aged 9. In 2003 whilst at Watford Grammar School for boys Mark obtained a scholarship to the Purcell School of music to continue his studies with Simon de Souza. At the Purcell he played principal horn in all the school orchestras and gave solo and chamber recitals in venues over the country including St Martins in the Field and Buckingham Palace.
Mark began his studies at the Royal Academy in 2005 and since has played principal horn in the Symphony and Opera Orchestras as well as Brass ensembles and will travel to China this summer with the RAM brass soloists. In 2006 Mark performed Malcolm Arnold's 2nd Horn Concerto with the RAM string orchestra and appeared as one of the four soloists in Schumann’s Konzertstück with the St. Paul’s Sinfonia. Mark has played with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and as principal horn of the Britten-Pears Orchestra.
Recently he has recorded film scores at Abbey Road and Air Lyndhurst Studios and performed at the BBC Electric Proms with David Arnold and the Kaiser chiefs.
Emma Hawkins
Emma began playing the French Horn aged 11 while attending Oxford High School with Robert Cutting Sr, and later with Fiona Parker. At the age of 14 she joined the Oxfordshire County Youth Orchestra, of which she became principal horn aged 16. In the same year she became a member of the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain and became co-principal horn aged 18. In her final year at school she performed Mozart's 4th horn concerto with the Oxford Concerto Orchestra and Richard Strauss's 1st horn concerto with the Wantage Orchestra.
Emma is currently in her second undergraduate year at the Royal Academy of Music having won a full scholarship, and is studying with Michael Thompson and Richard Watkins. She is also studying the natural horn with Andrew Clark. Since beginning at the RAM she has worked with conductors such as Yan Pascal Tortelier and Susanna Malkki. She was also involved in the recording of Richard Strauss's music for symphonic wind ensemble. Emma is particularly interested in chamber music and and over the past two years has performed in the Holywell Rooms in Oxford with her brass quintet, and has performed the Summer Music for wind quintet by Samuel Barber and Brahms's Horn Trio.
Amy Grossnickle
Amy, originally from Baltimore, MD, began playing the horn at age 8, but did not begin studying horn seriously until age 14. Since then she has been involved in numerous school and community ensembles, including All-State Band and Orchestra, and the Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra.. She began a degree program in the United States at Towson University, where she studied with Phil Munds of the Baltimore Symphony, and Joy Branagan of the Richmond Symphony.
Amy is currently a fourth year student who entered the Academy through an exchange program. Presently, Amy is a student of Richard Watkins, and is really enjoying her time at the Academy. This spring Amy will graduate with a BM from Towson University and she hopes to continue her studies at the Academy next fall.
Tiffany Stirling
Tiffany is a first-year postgraduate French Horn student at the Royal Academy of Music and is holder of the Winifred Disney Award. Previously she studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Sue Dent and Julian Baker. Whilst studying for a BA in music at Christ's College, Cambridge where she held a choral scholarship, she was taught by Richard Clews. Tiffany played in the Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra and was principal horn in the University Chamber Orchestra.
Recently she has played principal horn in the Royal Academy Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Brass, and also as part of the RAM Brass Soloists. She also participates in the RPO side-by-side programme.
Tiffany particularly enjoys playing chamber music: last year she played the Mozart and Hoffmeister Horn Quintets with members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and this year performed Britten's 'Still falls the rain' for tenor, horn and piano in the RAM Dennis Brain Memorial Concert, as well as the Brahms Horn trio with friends from the Academy.