Alumni
We have an excellent track record of graduate employment
Success is enabling our graduates to be the best they can be. By the time our students
graduate they are so well prepared - and such is their calibre - that we have one of the highest
graduate employment rates of any higher education institution in the UK. 90% are in employment 6
months after leaving.
Our alumni are musicians, directors, writers, composers, costume designers, set designers,
animateurs, educators, actors, performance makers, producers, technicians...and more.
Some of our alumni are faces you will know:
Maureen Beattie – actor
Billy Boyd - actor
Robert Carlyle – actor
Tom Conti - actor
Alan Cumming – actor
Tony Curran – actor
Patrick Doyle – composer
Sheena Easton - singer
James Fleet - actor
Stella Gonet – actor
Hannah Gordon – actor
John Gracie – actor
John Hannah – actor
David Hayman - actor
Denis Lawson – actor
Phyllis Logan - actor
James McAvoy – actor
Lorna McGhee – flute
David McVicar – opera and theatre director
Lisa Milne – soprano
Colin Morgan – actor
Daniela Nardini – actor
Mark O’Keefe – trumpet
Shernaz Patel – film maker, actor
Bill Paterson – actor
Elaine C Smith -actor
David Tennant – actor
Ruby Wax – comedienne
And others are the young talent chasing at their heels:
June
Binnie – Principal Timpani with
Sinfonia Finlandia under Music Director Patrick Gallois. Sinfonia Finlandia
Jyväskylä has recorded extensively and has released music for some of the largest classical music
publishing companies, among others for Naxos.
Richard Craig – Flute. Richard’s career to date has taken him to festivals such as
Venice Bienalle, Berlin Maerz musik, performing new music with ensembles on mainland Europe such as
Musik Fabrik and Klangforum Wien. He is also an active soloist, commissioning works and recording
for the likes of BBC, WDR, YLE Finland and Swedish Radio.
Michael Hallit –Principal piccolo with the
Macau Orchestra
Siu Hay Yip – Violinist with the
Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Genna Spinks – Double Bass, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Since joining the orchestra she has toured to Switzerland, Spain and China and worked with
conductors such as Simon Rattle and Hilary Hahn and with artists such as Paul McCartney and Deep
Purple.
Shuna Sendall – Soprano. Shuna has worked for Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, English Touring Opera, Mid Wales
Opera amongst many others. In 2010 she won the inaugural BBC Radio 2 Kiri Prize and performed at
Proms in the Park with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras and went on to study with Dame Kiri
and Sir Thomas Allen. Currently she is the 2011/2012 John Mather Charitable Trust Emerging Artist
at Scottish Opera.
David Fennessy – Composer. David’s works have been performed by the National
Chamber Choir, the Castagneri and Zephyr Quartets, Synchronia and Concorde, among others. He has
received many commissions, including those from RTÉ Lyric FM, Music Network, the Paragon Ensemble,
Concorde, and the Dundee Guitar Festival. In 2010, David was awarded a Paul Hamlyn Award for
composers.
Martin Gillespie – Piper. Since graduating Martin has focused on growing the band
Skerryvore into a world touring act, performing at festivals such as Lorient, Tonder, Milwaukee
Irish, Celtica, Belladrum and T in the Park. Skerryvore were also Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust winners in 2009.
Nicola Killean - CEO Sistema,
Scotland. Former Head of Youth Music UK in Scotland, Nicola was this year
appointed director of the Venezuela Scotland music project, a radical scheme inspired by El
Sistema.
Davur Juul Magnussen – Trombone. Davur successfully auditioned to play Principal
Trombone for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra while still a student. He continues in that role
today.
Katie Shearer – Music Head Teacher - Following her BEd degree, Katie has quickly rose to become Head of Music at Cayman Prep and
High School in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
Ayden Millar - Scenic Artist. On graduation Ayden was employed as Assistant Scenic Artist
at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow before moving to the BBC where she became Art Director on the
primetime quiz show, The Weakest Link.
Gary McNair – Director, Performer. Since graduating in 2007, Gary has had several
shows produced around Scotland including:
crunch at Oran Mor,
How Soon is Nigh? at the Traverse and the Arches,
Count Me In at the Traverse and Citizens. In 2010 he was awarded the Platform 18 award for
new directors in association with the Arches and the Traverse. He is now working with National
Theatre of Scotland.
Kate Dickie – Actor. Her feature film debut was in
Red Road, directed by American Academy and Bafta award winner Andrea Arnold, which
premiered at Cannes, where the film was awarded the Jury Prize. Kate was in contention for the Prix
d'Interpretation Feminine.
Aaron Lee Lambert – Musical Theatre. Following a role in
Sister Act at the London Palladium with Sheila Hancock and Whoopi Goldberg, Aaron is
currently playing Donkey in
Shrek in London’s West End.
Paul Wright - Film maker. Paul has been described as one of the most exciting film makers
of his generation and was named as a ‘Star of Tomorrow’ by Screen International in 2007. His DFTV
graduation film
Hikikomori won a BAFTA Scotland award and was nominated for a BAFTA. He has since directed
a number of award-winning short films including
Believe and
Until the River
Runs Red, the latter winning the BAFTA for Best Short Film this year. He is now preparing
his first feature film.
Richard Evans – Set and costume designer – Richard is currently working as Set and
Costume Designer for the UK national Tour of
Lord of the Flies (Dir. Bart Williams, Sell a Door Theatre Company). He has previously
worked for film, TV and theatre including
Justice and
Moving On for the BBC, and for productions at Frinton Summer Theatre, Battersea Arts
Centre and the Tabernade Theatre, London.
Richard Madden – Actor . Richard recently appeared in the National Theatre of
Scotland’s production of
Be Near Me including an eight-week run at London’s Donmar Warehouse. Richard received the
Ian Charleson Award Commendation in 2008 for his role as Romeo at The Globe and was tipped in
Esquire Magazine’s Brilliant Brits list 2009 as one of the hottest up-and-coming British talents.
He is currently filming HBO fantasy series
Game of Thrones.
Becki Gerrard – Performer. Becki graduated in 2010. Her first solo work
Lip
Service was nominated for a Total Theatre Award and the Arches Brick Award at the 2010
Edinburgh Fringe. She has developed and delivered touring schools workshops as an associate artist for
Junction25 and Glas(s) Performance. Becki is currently involved in the development of sustainable
Drama in HMP Perth.
Emun Elliott – Actor. Hailed by Screen International as ‘one to watch’,Emun spent two and half years in the
acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland production
Black Watch before going on to star alongside Tamzin Outhwaite in big-budget BBC1 drama
Paradox. He plays Marillion in the HBO series
Game of Thrones and has recently been filming new Ridley Scott science fiction film
Prometheus due for release in 2012.
Greg McHugh – Writer, actor, comedian. Greg is the creator, writer and star of the
hit BBC1 comedy
Gary:Tank Commander for which he won a BAFTA.
Alexandra Silber - Actor, Musical theatre performer –Alexandra played Hodel in West End
production of
Fiddler on the Roof to great critical acclaim. She went on to play Julie Jordan in
Carousel at the Savoy Theatre and was awarded the TMA Award for Best Performance in a
Musical 2009. She made her Broadway debut in Terrence McNally’s
Master Class in 2011.
Amanda Gaughan – Director/Producer. Following her work with Douglas Maxwell while
still a student, Amanda went on to become the Trainee Director at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow.
She is now working with National Theatre Scotland’s Associate Director, John Tiffany, in his new
production of
The Missing by Andrew O’Hagan.
Johnny McKnight – Actor, Director, Writer. Johnny’s directing credits include:
Smalltown,
Promises Promises (Scotland, West End and Broadway runs),
Little Johnny’s Big Gay Adventure (Random Accomplice);
Jackie & The Beanstalk (MacRobert). He has also worked as a performer and on
educational projects with a multitude of arts organisations including: National Theatre of
Scotland, Scottish Opera, 7:84 Theatre Company, Arches Theatre, Complete Productions and Visible
Fictions. His most recent project took place in Hong Kong.
Niall Black –Technical Director, National Theatre of Scotland.
Sam Heughan – Actor. Sam was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer of
2002 for his performance in
Outlying Islands performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, even before he graduated.
Roles followed in popular TV programmes
River City,
Midsommer Murders and
Rebus. His most recent role sees him as Batman in
Batman the
Musical, touring UK wide before going international in 2012.
Kevin Guthrie – Actor. Selected to play Peter Pan for National Theatre of Scotland
while still a student, Kevin has since starred in TV shows including BBC's
Field of Blood and
Case Histories and has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has just finished
playing a Scottish soldier in
Dunisane for the Royal Shakespeare Company and is gearing up to take part in another
National Theatre Production,
Men Should Weep.
Emma Stevenson – Viola. Emma has recently joined the viola section in The
Orchestra of Scottish Opera.
Siobhan Miller – Singer (Scottish Music), graduated 2009. Specialising in Scots song, Siobhan teaches workshops, has recorded two albums, and has
performed at numerous festivals including Celtic Connections, including television appearances. She
has recently returned from Broadway, New York, where she was resident singer in the Mabou Mines
production of
Peter and Wendy, with music composed by Johnny Cunningham.
Stuart Cassells – Piper. Stuart won BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician
Award Winner in 2005, is a member of the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and featured on the song
Do the Hippogriff by Jarvis Cocker for the film
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Kate McDermott – Clarinet. Kate has recently moved to Sweden to take up the
position of Co-Principal Clarinet with the Gothenburg Opera.
Arlne McFarlane – Trombone. Arlene took up the post of sub principal trombone with
the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in October 2008.
Claire Mckenzie – Composer and Musical Director. Clare followed an undergraduate
degree in composition with a masters in Musical Direction. Since graduating she now works regularly
for the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow and has composed scores for several productions. Her children’s
music company ‘Little Larks’ which she set up in her third year having won £1000 as part of the ‘Principal‘s Pit’competition continues to grow from strength
to strength.
Aneika Rose – Actor. Upon graduating Aneika went straight to London to play Juliet
in the Royal Shakespeare Company's Production of
Romeo and Juliet before joining the cast of popular TV series
Taggart.
Richie McColm – Drama/Performance Teacher - Richie explored different educational
projects during his studies on the Contemporary Performance Practice degree including working with
Theatre In Prison and Probation (T.I.P.P), work experience in schools, DramaWorks facilitator in
classes on Saturday mornings and secondments with Culture Sport Glasgow arts development sector.
With an ambition to make a difference to the lives of children, he went on to become a teacher and
won the Probationary Teacher of the Year Award in 2011.
Tunji Kasim – Actor. Tunji Kasim is currently appearing as a member of the Royal
Shakespeare Company’s 2009-2011 Ensemble.
