Associate Head of Musical Theatre & Co-Ordinator of MA & PGD Musical Directing Strands
Learn about David Higham
David Higham
Associate Head of Musical Theatre & Co-Ordinator of MA & PGD Musical Directing Strands
David Higham is a Musical Director based in Scotland. He currently co-ordinates the MA and PGD Musical Directing strands on the Musical Theatre programme at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland as well as working in many theatres across Scotland as a Musical Director/Orchestrator and Vocal Coach.
Matthew James Higham was born in 1998 in London. Shortly after taking up the flute, he was awarded a place at The Purcell School for Young Musicians. During this time, Matthew won first prize at several competitions, including the Alexander and Buono International Competition and the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition. He continued his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln with Prof. Robert Winn and the Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main with Thaddeus Watson.
As a soloist, Matthew has played in halls such as the Carnegie Hall, the Wigmore Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields. In 2019, Matthew joined the academy of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and was awarded a contract as assistant principal flute from 2020 until 2022. He has been Section Principal Flute of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra since 2023. Matthew is also a member of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra and has played as a guest with several leading orchestras across Europe.
Lee Holland has a successful and varied freelance career involving performing, and performance psychology coaching throughout the UK. Currently as a freelance orchestral flute player Lee performs regularly with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Orchestra of Scottish Ballet.
Dr Sarah Hopfinger is a Lecturer in Research at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She is a practitioner-researcher with specialisms in disability dance, chronic pain and crip theory, ecological performance, and intergenerational practice.
Roy Howat studied at the RSAMD and Cambridge University, where his doctorate formed the basis of his 1983 book Debussy in proportion. He combines international concert performance with research, which has included revelations about musical structure, performing and editorial issues. Among his publications are acclaimed critical editions of major works by Debussy, Fauré, Chopin and Chabrier, the book The Art of French Piano Music, chapters in numerous other books, and a wide range of CD recordings.
Edward Howat
Teaching Artist (Props), Production Arts and Design
David Hubbard is a lecturer of bassoon at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and the bassoon tutor at the Music School of Douglas Academy. He regularly coaches the bassoon section of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He has been invited on several occasions to give masterclasses at Wells Cathedral School and Chethams School of Music, and is an examiner for the Royal Northern College of Music.
Tom Hunter is a percussionist and timpanist based in Scotland, performing with top orchestras and playing new music as soloist and chamber musician. He is currently a percussionist of Red Note Ensemble and freelance and former Assistant principal Timpanist and percussionist for Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Norway
Jane Irwin studied music at Lancaster University and sang at the Royal Northern College of Music as a mezzo. As a concert and recital singer, she has appeared regularly in Britain, Europe and America. In 2002 she made her Carnegie Hall debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Mariss Jansons. She has sung for the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Berlin Festival, the Concertgebouw and the Musikverein.
Maya is the Leader of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since 2011. Before that, she served as Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra for 18 years, leading for many illustrious conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Gustavo Dudamel and Andris Nelsons. Solo highlights include performances with the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, Philharmonia Orchestra and RSNO. Her chamber music activities have taken her to the IMS Prussia Cove, Wigmore Hall in London, Edinburgh Festival and BBC broadcasts. She is Co-Artistic Director of the Hellensmusic Festival. She studied with Alice Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California and Rodney Friend at the Royal College of Music. Sharing good food and wine with others is one of her greatest pleasures.
Bojana is an artist and researcher working at the intersection of performance, participation and migrant rights. Her performances, installations, texts, and non-denominational works have appeared in physical and digital spaces in the UK, Serbia, and internationally, including in Tate Modern (London), Center for Art on Migration Politics (Copenhagen), and in collaboration with Home Live Art (Hastings) and Performing Arts Hub (Norway). Bojana frequently collaborates with audiences excluded from cultural institutions, investigating what audience agency can mean institutionally. She thinks of migrancy as a method and art practice, not just a lived reality.
Award-winning violinist Gongbo Jiang regularly performs with orchestras across the UK, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Scottish Opera.
