Speech and Drama         Fiona Strachan

Vocal                                       Nicola-Jane Kemp

Piano                                       Dennis Lee

Scottish Instrumental     Paul Anderson

Strings                                    Anita Burrowes-Strevens

Recorder                               Elizabeth Childs

Woodwind                             Elizabeth Childs

Brass                                      Charles Foster

ELIZABETH CHILDS  is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied flute with Gareth Morris and piano with Graeme Humphrey. International engagements have taken her to the USA and many parts of Europe, and she has performed extensively throughout the UK as soloist, recitalist and orchestral player. From 1987 to 1994, Elizabeth was principal flute with the Sinfonia of Scotland, Dundee Opera and Dundee and Perth Light Operatic Company which complimented her work for „Travel Scotland‟ and a busy teaching schedule. She has successfully prepared pupils for scholarships to leading public schools, Junior Conservatoires and Specialist Music Schools and has many ex-students working in the profession. She directs summer schools and other courses for young wind players.

Currently, Elizabeth, as well as being a mother to three musical children, is engaged in a busy teaching schedule which includes UEA in Norwich. She is also flautist in Quintessimo, plays with the Aurelian Ensemble, is part of the management team for Harpenden Musicale, flute tutor for The National Children‟s Wind Orchestra of Great Britain and directs several successful flute choirs. She aims is to provide as many performing opportunities for her pupils as possible and firmly believes that encouraging children to perform enhances and benefits all areas of their education. Elizabeth is much in demand as an adjudicator and is enormously privileged to sit on the Board of the British & International Federation of Festivals.

CHARLES FOSTER  After graduating with First Class Honours in Music from Aberdeen University, Charles Foster worked as a Brass Instructor in various Aberdeen City Schools for 36 years, directing many Concert Bands and Brass Ensembles. His former pupils include several professional players and brass adjudicators in this Festival, as well as many players in the various National Youth Orchestras of Scotland. His interest in Early Music, historic woodwind and brass in particular, led him to form the Kincorth Waits, initially drawn from pupils at Kincorth Academy. This group was awarded top prizes at the National Festival of Music for Youth in London. The Waits performed concerts throughout Britain, with many television appearances, including several in BBC‟s Blue Peter.

Charles Foster reconstructed many Renaissance wind instruments, which were used by the group during its 25 years of performing. These are now housed in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Instruments. He has also contributed articles on early wind instruments in the New Grove Dictionary of Music. In 1994 Charles Foster was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the Robert Gordon University.  Having retired from teaching in 2008, he still resides in Aberdeen.

DENNIS LEE was born in Malaysia. On an Associated Board scholarship he studied piano and violin at the Royal College of Music in London, where he gained honours diplomas in both instruments and the Tagore Gold Medal for the most outstanding student of the year. He subsequently gained a Bachelor of Music degree with First Class Honours from London University and a Master of Music degree from the Royal College of Music. An Austrian Government scholarship took him to the Akademie in Vienna where he won the Stepanow Prize. He subsequently studied in Milan, Italy.

Dennis has performed with most BBC orchestras, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Halle orchestras as well as major orchestras throughout the world. He has appeared at major concert halls in London and overseas, and worked with Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Colin Davis and Sir Andrew Davis, to name a few. Dennis Lee‟s recording of Szymanowski’s works aroused much international acclaim. Overseas concerts have included recitals at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC and Merkin Hall, New York. He is in constant demand as an adjudicator and for lectures and masterclasses throughout the world. Dennis Lee is a Steinway artist.

FIONA STRACHAN  Having studied Drama at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Fiona commenced her career as a lecturer in Drama at the Brycbox Arts Workshop in Kingston upon Thames. Marriage brought her home to Scotland where she has enjoyed a full and varied career in Speech and Drama as a teacher, adjudicator, director, author and SQA assessor, as well as working in professional theatre.

ANITA BURROWES-STREVENS’ career is a mixture of performance, teaching and adjudicating. She gained a degree in music from the University of Exeter, after which she moved to Northern Ireland where she played in the Ulster Orchestra, the Ulster Sinfonietta, performed solo recitals and taught cello at Queen‟s University, Belfast. Since moving to London she has pursued a career as a free-lance cellist, played in the Hart Piano Trio and worked with several of the leading chamber orchestras, including London Mozart Players, Orchestra of St. John‟s, Smith Square and City of London Sinfonia. She has also played baroque cello with Amici Musicale, Baroque Encounter and Zefiro Consort and tours internationally with her piano trio – Trio Rosario of London – an exciting ensemble whose performances of Piazzolla conclude with the tango danced by Anita and her violinist, as the pianist plays on.

Anita also teaches Dalcroze Eurhythmics (a training using movement to enhance all aspects of musicianship) at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and at Pro Corda, the International Chamber Music Academy. Here she directs two chamber music courses, and teaches talented mainstream children and those with Special Educational Needs. She adjudicates for the National Chamber Music Festival and teaches cello at Sevenoaks School and Junior Trinity. She has had articles published in Primary Music Today, NAME and Music Teacher magazine.