Staff A-Z

Fiona is a lecturer on the Traditional Music course. Learn more about Fiona on her Official Website

Ali is a lecturer on the Traditional Music course.

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.

Since her first concert at age five, Maya has enjoyed an international career as a solo violinist, chamber musician and orchestral leader. Her performances have taken her to major concert halls worldwide such as the Royal Festival Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York City and Suntory Hall in Tokyo name a few.

Highlights for Maya as a soloist include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonia Orchestra, and she has appeared in numerous renowned music festivals such as the BBC Proms, Aldeburgh, Bath and Chichester festivals, and the International Musicians Seminar in Prussia Cove. The Strad has hailed her playing as ‘simply brilliant’ and the Times ‘gorgeous’, and she continues to receive praise from the press.

A committed chamber musician, Maya has been a member of Mobius Ensemble since 2004, and she has also collaborated with artists such as the Vellinger Quartet, Steven Isserlis and Gil Shaham. Her recordings as part of Vikram Seth’s “An Equal Music’ CD compilation are regularly broadcast by the BBC and Classic FM. Maya has garnered much admiration in her role as leader from artists and critics alike and has been regularly invited to lead orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Cadaqués and the John Wilson Orchestra.

After 18 distinguished years, Maya ended her tenure as Leader of the Philharmonia Orchestra in 2012, having led major conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Gustavo Dudamel, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Kurt Sanderling. Since 2011, she has devoted her time as Joint Leader, along with James Clark, of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra whilst taking much pleasure from a renewed life in Scotland with her husband and many pheasants!

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.

Principal Trombone, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Scott Johnson was previously a tutor at the Conservatoire du Kremlin-Bicetre, Parisandalso at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD), London. He studied voice at the GSMD under David Pollard, graduating in 1997 and subsequently completed a PGCE and MA (graduating with Distinction) at London University, Institute of Education. He taught music in a secondary school for several years, and for 11 years was also organist and Director of Music at a parish church in Essex.

Peter is a Piano lecturer on the Jazz course at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Hilary lectures for The Centre for Voice in Performance CViP at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, having previously taught at a number of major UK drama schools including Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Mountview Theatre School, Rose Bruford College, and the Guildford School of Acting.

Stephanie currently plays Horn in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Alasdair is a freelancer and a Percussionist at RCS. They formerly performed with the Opera of Bologna, Italy. 

David is a professional freelance percussionist who frequently performs with Scotland’s top orchestras and touring productions. He has a passion for drum kit and world percussion and enjoys performing percussion in musical theatre and cabaret acts. David maintains a diverse teaching career.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Yoon-Kyung Kim enjoys her exciting career as a concert pianist based in London, UK. She studied piano with Jae-Hee Hyun and Hyoung-Joon Chang in Korea, and after graduating from the Seoul National University with Distinction, she came to the UK to pursue her study with a scholarship from the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) under Philip Jenkins at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (RSAMD), where she obtained Postgraduate Diploma and MMus, both with Distinction. Also Yoon Kyung received a scholarship from Yamaha in 2004-2006 and she was the first winner to receive this prestigious scholarship.

Since her UK début with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.1, she has also played with the Stirling Symphony Orchestra and RSAMD Symphony Orchestra. She has given numerous solo recitals in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Helensburgh, St Andrews and Stirling, in addition to Thessaloniki and Crete in Greece and her native South Korea.

When she was studying in Seoul, she won many prestigious prizes including the Samik Piano, Teenager, Young Artist Chamber Music, MBC TV and several newspaper publishing companies’ competitions. Her prize winning career has continued since she came to UK where she won the concerto competition, Peter Lindsay Miller prize, Bach competition, John Ogdon Foundation, Jacqueline McCarthy prize, Philip Halstead prize, John Ireland piano competition and the Jock Holden Memorial Mozart Prize. In December 2004 Yoon-Kyung won the First Prize and Gold Medal at the Beethoven Intercollegiate Competition in London and International Piano Academy Competition in Scotland 2005. Also she is the winner of the First Prize at the European Intercollegiate Piano Competition in Germany 2006.

In September 2006 September Yoon-Kyung Kim joined the department of Keyboard at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama) as a lecturer. She was also a tutor at the RSAMD Junior School (2006-2008).