Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Tutors and Staff (A to Z)
-
Anna Cooper
Cor Anglais Tutor
Anna Cooper studied at Chetham's School of Music, and continued her studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with James Brown and Jane Marshall. Shortly after leaving Guildhall, Anna was appointed Principal Cor Anglais with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1998 Anna left the RLPO to pursue a freelance...
-
Caroline Costello
Piano Tutor
Winner of many awards and prizes, Caroline was educated at Chetham's School of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire (formerly Birmingham School of Music) and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London where she specialised in Accompaniment. Caroline’s early career was as a freelance repetiteur and accompanist based initially in...
-
Louise Crane
Vocal Tutor
Louise Crane studied at the Guildhall, gaining her AGSM Diploma and subsequently won awards from Clonter Opera Trust and the Peter Moores Foundation, as well as a college scholarship, to study at the RNCM. After a season with Glyndebourne Festival Opera Louise won the Peter Stuyvestant Foundation Scholarship to the National...
-
Rita Cullis
Vocal Tutor
Rita Cullis was born in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music . She made her debut with the Welsh National Opera with whom she sang an extensive range of roles including The Countess, Tatyana and The Marschallin, and subsequently she moved on to The Composer, Fiordiligi, Donna Anna...
-
Prof Joe Cutler
Head of Composition
Joe Cutler has been described as ‘writing music of quirky dancing energy and humour mingled with mystery’ (Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph). For more than 20 years, he has been a distinctive figure on the contemporary music scene, often exploring the spaces between genre. His music has been performed in over 40 countries and...
-
Ben Davies
Cello Tutor
Ben Davies was brought up and went to school in York, followed by studies at the University of Manchester and the Royal Academy of Music. He was fortunate in his teachers, Ioan Davies, Bernard Gregor-Smith and Derek Simpson, all fine quartet cellists who studied with Douglas Cameron at the Royal Academy of Music. Whilst...
-
Anne Dawson
Vocal Tutor
Anne Dawson studied at the Royal Northern College of Music , Manchester (PPRNCM Dis:) after gaining a Scholarship from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. She was the winner of the John Ireland Festival Centenary Competition, the Gerald Finzi Song Award, the Prize of the City of s'Hertogenbosch - Holland, the...
-
Simon de Souza
French Horn Tutor
Simon was brought up in Henley-on-Thames. He studied horn with the virtuoso Ifor James at Colchester Institute , winning several prizes for chamber music, and gaining a Cert.Mus and G.Mus (CNAA) and then undertook postgraduate studies at Trinity College of Music in London. Since graduating he has developed a busy schedule...
-
Max de Wardener
Composition Tutor
Max de Wardener studied music at York University and Guildhall School of Music & Drama initially working as a bass player, recording and performing with artists such as Tom Arthurs, Plaid and Chartwell Dutiro. Live electronics performances have included appearances at the Stavanger Nu Music Festival in Norway, Sonar...
-
Kirsty Devaney
Young Composers Project Leader
Kirsty Devaney is a British composer based in Birmingham where she completed her studies at Birmingham Conservatoire with Joe Cutler, Ed Bennett and Howard Skempton. Kirsty received the ‘Principal's Award’ and a Junior Fellowship from Birmingham Conservatoire in 2013. In 2011 Kirsty was shortlisted for a British Composer Award...