Staff A-Z

They are part of the lecturing team for BA Performance (for Deaf and HoH Actors) – having previously helped to revise the course curriculum. They lecture in theatre making techniques as part of the Performance Maker module and they are module coordinator for Professional Presentation – guiding our graduates into the industry.

Music has always been central to Kate’s life, and most of the jobs she has done have had the arts woven through them. Her first role during and after college was with a Jazz Festival, where she looked after everything from admin to press and marketing.

Since then, Kate has worked as a Marketing Officer in London for a major charity and at a Theatre and Arts complex in Surrey, and in corporate PA roles where event management was a big part of her day. She also spent many years as Strings Administrator at RCS, often stepping up as a coordinator to help bring projects together.

Kate has picked up a mix of qualifications along the way — an HND in Communication Studies, an Advanced Diploma in Arts Management, and a NEBOSH certificate in Health and Safety — but she likes to remind people that not every career path is straightforward or planned.

Here at Fair Access, Kate loves organising the events you come to, whether that’s an Open Day or a weekly workshop, and making sure you feel welcome. Outside of work, you’ll usually find her at a gig, in a dance fit class, or outdoors as much as possible.

Jess Thorpe is a Lecturer in the Arts in Justice at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she designs and delivers creative projects in prisons and with communities impacted by the criminal justice system.

Josh Thorpe is a Lecturer and Effective Learning Advisor. He is author of AI for Students (Bloomsbury 2026) and Don’t Study, Do Something (Bloomsbury 2027). He is a writer, musician, visual artist, and host of Unusual Music Exchange on ResonanceFM. Learn more at joshthorpe.com.

MA (Oxon), MLitt

Pippa currently plays as Principal Harp with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and appears regularly with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

She is a Harp Lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has over 20 years of experience as a teacher at various institutions and privately at all levels. She is a regular coach for NYOS.

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.

Helen is Principal Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bones Apart and Septura.

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 was 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.