Staff A-Z

Neil Tarlton is Principal Double Bass at Philharmonia Orchestra.

Before becoming a full-time student with Adrian Beers at the Royal College of Music, Neil was a Junior Exhibitioner at the Royal Manchester College of Music and a member of the National Youth Orchestra.

He worked as Guest Principal Bass with both Scottish Opera and the Northern Sinfonia while still a student.

Percussion and piano were the vehicles which led Nigel Thomas (via Brass Bands and Youth Orchestras) to the Royal College Of Music (in 1978) as its first ever Timpani & Percussion Scholar. Soon to follow was being appointed timpanist with the European Community Youth Orchestra, winning the Shell LSO Music Scholarship (1980) and an invitation to join the London Philharmonic Orchestra (where he remained for 8 years). In 1988 Nigel was headhunted to be Principal Percussionist of the London Symphony Orchestra, whom he joined later that year.

Clare has been teaching for some twenty years and is currently a professor of violin at Trinity Laban. She has given masterclasses worldwide in such far-flung destinations as Sri Lanka and the Caribbean.

Since leaving the Philharmonia Orchestra, where she was Sub-Leader for over a decade, Clare Thompson is fast becoming one of London’s most sought after violin teachers. A longstanding professor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, she has also recently been appointed to the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music. Passionate about training young people, she has been a regular tutor for the National Children’s Orchestras of Great Britain since 2004 and was recently made an Interim Trustee. She has given masterclasses in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus under the auspices of the prestigious I, Culture Orchestra, the premier orchestra for eastern European young musicians, with whom she has been a tutor since 2012. In 2015 she was invited to Bayreuth to tutor the Bayreuth Young Artists Festival Orchestra.

Jonathan Tilbrook’s career to date has included conducting performances at major London and UK venues and abroad in East and West Europe, Scandinavia, and the Far East, in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to new commissions. Recent highlights have included his debut at Symphony Hall, Birmingham; appearances with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Centre; with the celebrated early music ensemble Florilegium in France and at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester, conducting the Verdi Requiem. In 1992, as prize-winner in the conducting masterclasses and competition in Zlín, Czech Republic, he was appointed Assistant Conductor with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic. Subsequent guest-conducting engagements in the region have included the Košice State Philharmonic (Slovakia), the Moravian Philharmonic, Janáček Philharmonic and the Olomouc and Kromeríž chamber orchestras. Equally active in the field of opera, appearances in recent seasons have included conducting productions at the Brighton, Holland Park, Kings Lynn and Cheltenham festivals and at London’s South Bank Centre (British Youth Opera).

Jonathan has also worked frequently as a musical assistant to Sir Charles Mackerras and presently holds the position of Mackerras Conducting Fellow at the University of Nottingham.

Martino Tirimo was born into a musical family in Cyprus and began piano and violin lessons with his father, a conductor and violinist. He gave his first concert at the age of six and when only twelve he conducted seven performances of Verdi’s La traviata, including soloists from La Scala, Milan. He has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including all the major British orchestras and those in Berlin, Cleveland, Dresden, Leipzig, Munich, Prague, Vienna and other centres, with conductors including John Barbirolli, Adrian Boult, John Pritchard, Kurt Sanderling, Kurt Masur and Simon Rattle.

Originally from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, saxophonist Jean Toussaint left Berklee College of Music, Boston in 1982 to join Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. It was the beginning of an inspired four and half years spent with musicians including Terence Blanchard, Mulgner Miller and others. While in New York, Jean also worked with Gil Evans, McCoy Tyner and Wynton Marsalis. In 1987 he left Blakey to come to England for a few months. He stayed. Jean has since toured with many visiting American bands including Max Roach, Cedar Walton and David Murray as well as with his own bands. The Jean Toussaint Trio, Quartet and Quintet play swinging, surging straight-ahead contemporary jazz with a strong emphasis on melody. Nazaire, his electrocute band, plays a blend of jazz funk and club music.

Joe is Head of the BA Music Performance and Industry, and the Head of CoLab at Trinity Laban He also leads the ground-breaking artist development work that prepares students for sustainable careers in the music industry. Initially a self-taught musician in the punk era, he later trained in Jazz on the violin at the Guildhall in the 1980s and then at Community Music with John Stevens, using improvisation as a tool for social change.

Violinist Lana Trotovšek has won admiration for her expressive playing and unique musicality. The Washington Post has described her as ‘Radiant’ and praised her ‘clean, refined tone with musical sense of phrasing and impeccable intonation’. She has captivated audiences with her ‘warm sound and formidable technique’ (La Vanguardia) and her talent of bringing ‘freshness, depth and insight’ (Broad Street Review) to her interpretations.

Praised for his ‘“astonishing technical facility” (Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Massachusetts), “engaging self-assurance” (The Washington Post) and “extraordinary calculation and tonal refinement” (The Irish Times), Peter Tuite has garnered international acclaim for his recital and concerto appearances throughout the world. From acclaimed performances of Beethoven Concertos to his joint traversal of the complete fifty-two Sonatas for Keyboard by Joseph Haydn, his engagement with the music of the 18th century in particular has been widely praised.

Described by The Independent as “a worthy champion” of contemporary oboe music, James has dedicated much of his performing life to promoting and extending the oboe repertoire. James has performed frequently throughout the UK and Europe, including solo recitals at the Wigmore Hall and live on BBC Radio 3.

Christopher Underwood’s Professorship at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland reflects his seventeen years there as Head of Vocal Studies and his career-long specialism in the study and performance of Mélodies Françaises. His studies in Paris with Pierre Bernac and Camille Maurane and in Switzerland with Hugues Cuenod, followed his previous appointment as Assistant Head of Vocal studies at the RNCM and his being awarded the Prix Mélodies Françaises at the Concours International de Paris. Further successes in the English Song Award, and the prestigious singing competition at Snape Maltings, led to a busy performing career throughout Europe. This took him to the Albert Hall, The Wigmore Hall, the Festival Halls and the Cheltenham Festival. He toured Italy with the Tölzerknabenchor and in France gave a recital in the Salon of the Princesse de Polignac and performed Fauré’s Chansons de Venise for Prince Louis de Polignac in his Chapel in Brittany.

Lilli Unwin is a singer & songwriter producing multi-genre music which fuses jazz, folk & pop amongst many others. Her EP ‘it may not always be so’ was described as “a beautiful collection of songs featuring a wide array of styles and soaring melodies that stay with you long after each listen” and Lilli “…a refreshingly authentic, tender, and fearless songwriter…” by Grammy-nominated US artist Becca Stevens.

American violist Stephen Upshaw regularly appears as a soloist and chamber musician in festivals around the world including the BBC Proms, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Lucerne, Huddersfield, Aix-en-Provence, Wien Modern and the Salzburg Chamber Music Festival.

Bulgarian violinist and conductor Vasko Vassilev is Concert Master of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. He joined the Orchestra as Concert Master in 1993, the first person to hold the position.

Vassilev was born in Sofia and first began studying the violin aged five. He trained at the Moscow Conservatory, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music. He was appointed super soloist at the Lyon Opera House aged 21 and appointed Concert Master at the Royal Opera house aged 23. In 2005 he made his British conducting debut at the Royal Albert Hall, and was appointed Creative Producer of the Royal Opera House. He is Artistic Director of Trittico, for which he produces and performs both traditional and contemporary repertory with numerous artists, groups and orchestras. He is also Artistic Director of the Soloists of Covent Garden, London Chamber Orchestra and Laureate, an orchestra he founded made up exclusively of international prize-winners.

Vassilev’s wide discography includes, with Laureate, Total Immersion and Virtuoso Vivaldi; with Covent Garden Soloists, Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and Andersen’s Fairytales; with Vanessa Mae The Original Four Seasons; and Voodoo Violin and Viva Vivaldi.

Singer/songwriter/pianist Paola Vera is a highly sought after and experienced performer, composer, musical educator, and vocal coach. She first started singing and playing the piano at the age of 13, later going on to continue her musical education at Trinity College of Music and then went onto graduate with Distinction in her Masters degree from The Royal Academy of Music after receiving the Elton John Scholarship.