Staff A-Z

Amy Turner currently holds the position of Section Principal Oboe of the Orchestra with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, a position she has held since 2015.

Dr J Simon van der Walt is a composer and Head of Taught Postgraduate Programmes in Music at the Conservatoire. His artistic research inhabits a broad span of work, ranging from score-based composition to installation, sound art, and devised musiktheater. Current preoccupations include Indonesian gamelan music, live coding in SuperCollider, and reconstructing the career of his fictional alter ego Edward ‘Teddy’ Edwards, unsung hero of British light music electronica.

Ruta is an active initiator of experimental music projects: she was director of the Druskomanija festival and workshop series the Process in Lithuania for several years, facilitator of New Music Incubator in Nordic and Baltic countries and across the EU, facilitator and tutor at ComposersPlus summer academy in Lithuania, and currently – initiator of CoMA, Contemporary Music for All, Glasgow branch.

Nadja works to empower the next generation of musicians, teaching Music Business on the Jazz course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

After graduating with distinction from Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh he has worked as a Lighting Designer on productions in many genres, including devised theatre, stand-up, cabaret, corporate events, car and product launches and fashion shows.

Abbie has been the Fair Access Manager since September 2024. She works across all strands of the programme, supporting colleagues, developing new process and projects, and always looking for new ways to keep things running smoothly.

After reading Music at Kings College, Cambridge, and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, John held a variety of Trumpet positions in London Orchestras, and enjoyed a wide-ranging and successful solo career. In 2002, John returned to Scotland and became Principal of the RSAMD (now RCS) a position which he held until he retired in 2014 after a period of huge influence on the institution. John is now an Emeritus Professor of Brass at RCS.

Scottish Opera

Jan Waterfield read music at Girton College, Cambridge, where she was also a choral scholar. This was followed by postgraduate studies in harpsichord and piano with John Toll and David Willison at the RAM in London, where she won prizes for both Lieder Accompaniment and Continued Playing.

At the RCS, Jan teaches the wealth of keyboard music before 1750, takes sideways leaps into the Opera School (for baroque ‘style’) and to the Fair Access/Education departments for Coaching. She is also very interested in coaching as an aid to teaching; the questions we ask ourselves are vital for a musician’s progress. As a life-long meditator, Jan is also curious as to mental-emotional state when playing & how that can be developed best for each individual.

Ms Wells is an advocate for increasing access to musical training. She was involved with several inner city initiatives in Baltimore and served as Chair of the Board of TUBA: The Uganda-Baltimore Alliance, providing mentorship to a brass band project in rural Uganda.

Innes White teaches acoustic guitar and mandolin on the BMus Traditional Music Course.

Rebecca Whitener is a professional clarinettist, teacher, chamber music coach, mentor, music educator and conductor based in Scotland. She regularly performs with world class ensembles and is a founding member of Arctic Winds Wind Quintet, Sound Collective Scotland and Cameo Clarinet Quartet. Rebecca is an experienced teacher and mentor, having taught Clarinet and Chamber Music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior department since 2009. She has also guest tutored for the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Scottish Schools Orchestra Trust, and the Faroese National Concert Band Festival.

Bethany’s research focuses on the cultural and social analysis of participatory dance and dance organisations, often through ethnographic means. Since 2015, research activity has been closely tied to the Engagement work of Scottish Ballet, focused in two areas: a) Dance for Health, working with dancers with dementia, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s, and b) education opportunities for professional ballet and contemporary company dancers in the UK.

Carol has been a part of Fair Access team since it started at RCS and she has been able to watch what we offer grow and develop, learning from all of our students along the way.

Carole is a graduate of the Conservatoire where she studied Contemporary Theatre Practice followed by a Post Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Arts Education. She studied at RCS as a mature student where she was able to turn a lifelong passion for theatre and performance into a career. She considers herself to be a lifelong learner taking every opportunity to develop new skills.

Duncan has had a relationship with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for the last 20 years as both a teacher and visiting coach and has now taken up the post of full-time coach in the Opera Department.

Tom was born in Manchester in 1957. In the 1970s, he studied composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire with Andrew Downs. In the 1980s, as a student at Goldsmiths University of London, he spent five years studying composition with Melanie Dakin and Edward Gregson. For ten years he was Head of Woodwind and Tutor for Academic Music at Uppingham School in Rutland. Since 1989, Tom has lived in Glasgow and Musselburgh, where he teaches composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and St. Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh.

Fiona studied at the Juilliard School in New York, going on to become Principal Violist of the Royal Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras. As a chamber musician Fiona has appeared at halls and festivals all over the world, such as Carnegie Hall, Bargemusic, Lincoln Centre, New York, Festival da Camera, Lima, the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh International Festival, Singapore Esplanade Hall and the Banff Centre.