Young Musicians’ Academi

Meet Giordano, one of our three piano teachers…

Born in Rome, Italy, he began playing piano at an early age with Michele Massaro. He gained a place at the ‘S. Cecilia’ Conservatoire in Rome at the age of 10 and graduated with honours from the ‘A. Casella’ conservatoire in l’Aquila under Maria Mosca. He graduated from the Royal College of Music in London studying with Ashley Wass and Sofya Gulyak, and completed his postgraduate studies at the Royal Welsh College of Music with Graham Caskie, generously supported by the ‘Mary Rees’ Scholarship and continued his studies in Cardiff with Alison Bowring. He has performed as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist in Italy, Germany, the UK, Isle of Man and Romania and has performed L. v Beethoven’s concerto no. 3 in C minor for piano and Orchestra in St. Barnabas church, London and F. Chopin concerto no.1 in E minor with the RepCo Symphony Orchestra under Tianyi Lu. A prize-winner in National and International competitions: 2nd prize at ‘Riviera della Versilia’ International competition, 2nd prize at ‘Città di Asti’ International competition, 2nd Prize at ‘Città di Rocchetta’ International Competition, 1st prize at ‘Città di Rieti’ National competition. He has taken part in masterclasses with Internationally renowned artists such as Peter Donohoe, Ian Jones, Dorian Leljak, Freddy Kempf, Jeremy Denk, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Tamara Stefanovich. His interest in contemporary music has led to regular collaborations, recently giving the first performance of Mario Riberio’s concerto for piano, saxophone and string orchestra with the Vision Ensemble in the Dora Stouzker Hall. In November 2019 he performed in Cardiff University Concert Hall together with the Mavron quartet the new project LUDWIG composed by Charlie Barber, the project was later repeated at the Three Choirs Festival in 2021. In May 2019 Giordano was accepted onto the Live Music Now scheme in Wales with Mezzo- Soprano Nicole Boardman with whom he regularly performs. He is the Musical Director of Serenata Singers and worked as a piano and chamber music tutor at the RWCMD Junior Conservatoire.

Meet Anya, one of our violin teachers…

Anya’s mum was her first violin teacher; she then went to Junior Guildhall, followed by study in Madrid, Spain. Lastly, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Anya is a member of the 1st violin section of the orchestra of Welsh National Opera. Before joining WNO in 2018 she lived and worked in London, playing with many of the UK’s finest symphony and chamber orchestras, touring both nationally and internationally all across the globe! Anya also loved performing in the pit for numerous West End shows including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Little Night Music.
Alongside this, Anya also worked for Live Music Now! and Superact; devising and performing educational outreach projects and gave concerts in a wide variety of settings such as special educational needs schools, hospitals and prisons. She has always enjoyed teaching and having taught at the Junior Department of the RWCMD for 6 years is now delighted to join the team at the Young Musician’s Academi in Penarth- the seaside town in which she lives with her family (including twin toddlers!) and cat Manuel.

Meet Rob, our trumpet teacher…
Rob graduated with a Masters in Music from RWCMD in 2004, where he studied with Andy Everton. Since then he has been a busy freelance trumpeter player all over the UK. Rob works with Welsh National Opera regularly with whom he has been lucky enough to tour all over the world. He also works with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and The Philharmonia Orchestra. Rob compliments his playing career with teaching at Monmouth School and Howells School in Cardiff. He is very much looking forward to building an exciting trumpet department at Cardiff Academi.

Yesterday we opened our Academi! It was so lovely to see everyone back together for the start of our Autumn term 🍁🍂 Have you signed up yet?

Meet Becca S, our Mini Music and musicianship teacher…
Rebecca studied music at Birmingham University. She went on to train at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), joining the acclaimed specialist strings PGCE course whilst simultaneously continuing her post-graduate viola studies with Louise Lansdown. It was during this time that Rebecca discovered Dalcroze. Along with her PGCE, she gained a distinction for both her viola postgraduate Diploma recital and her Dalcroze certificate. Rebecca has taught Dalcroze for the last 16years. She worked at Junior RNCM and Young Strings at RNCM for 12years, and also at Yorkshire Young Musicians. She set up Manchester Young Musicians, running musicianship classes to integrate Dalcroze with instrumental playing.

Rebecca moved south in 2019 when she married and is now living in Cardiff with her wife and two young children. She taught musicianship through Dalcroze and Kodaly at the Junior Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD). Rebecca teaches Dalcroze and pedagogy to undergraduate and post graduate students at RWCMD. She has also been a guest teacher on the MA Strings course at Limerick University and recently wrote a Dalcroze curriculum for their course.

Rebecca has developed many strategies to integrate Dalcroze into her string pedagogy and teaching. She has taught Dalcroze on many nationally renowned string residential courses, including National Youth String Orchestra, Pro Corda, Con Corda, Suzuki International Summer School UK, New Virtuosi, Chetham’s Summer School.

Rebecca was the viola player in the Unthanks, a contemporary folk band 2009-19. They were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in 2009, won Best Album at the BBC Folk Awards in 2016, and are the only British folk representation in The Guardian’s and Uncut’s best albums of the last decade.

Meet Matt, our guitar teacher..
Matthew is a dedicated guitarist with a strong passion for teaching and sharing his experience with others. An active performer, he spends a lot of time arranging, researching and sourcing new music and ideas, all of which helps him to be an informed, responsive and communicative teacher. Matthew specialises in classical guitar and teaches all other types of guitar to a highly advanced level.

Growing up in Berkshire, some of Matthew’s most formative musical experiences were playing in ensembles. Whether this was with his local guitar orchestra, playing in bands as a teenager or the National Youth Guitar Ensemble (NYGE), they all contributed to his great passion for the guitar and the versatility he possesses with the instrument. Nowadays he tends to be on the other end of the baton and leads multiple ensembles including the very same NYGE he used to be a member of.

As a performer Matthew specialises in chamber music, with a particular focus on playing in a guitar duo. As a pair, The Abeto Guitar Duo have performed all over the U.K., recorded with Deux-Elles records and become artists in residence at the Dillington Guitar Festival. Matthew also works with guitar quartets and has performed in locations such as the Wigmore Hall, King’s Place and Royal Festival Hall, as well as multiple locations in Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Germany.

Matthew has a keen passion for arranging which led him to create his own publishing company. With the goal of expanding the limited repertoire the guitar has, Matthew often incorporates these arrangements into his own teaching. He also has experience as a music examiner.

Meet Craig, our French Horn teacher…
Craig started learning the Tenor Horn aged 10 before switching to French Horn at 16 and studying with (then RSNO 5th Horn) Ken Blackwood. At 18 Craig started his studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama,
studying with David Flack and Hugh Potts and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama four years later with Hugh Seenan, Jeff Bryant and Richard Bissil.
As a freelance musician, Craig has worked with many orchestras throughout the UK and abroad. These include BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Welsh National Opera, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestrar, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, English National Ballet, Manchester Camerata, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.
Craig is also currently 2nd Horn of both the
English Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra of the Swan. As a teacher and passionate advocate for
youth music, Craig regularly tutors on the ESO and Orchestra of the Swan Youth Orchestras and held the position of French Horn teacher at the prestigious Shrewsbury School for five years.
Craig is delighted to be asked to tutor for the Academi and can’t wait to build an exciting French Horn department.

Meet Kyle, our cello teacher…
Originally from Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Kyle studied cello at RWCMD under the tutorage of Penny Driver, Nicholas Gethin and Nicola Thomas. During his studies he was awarded the Year Prize for highest overall marks, was twice the recipient of the Vera Smart Scholarship for Chamber Music, and twice a finalist in the annual RWCMD Concerto Competition performing the Dvorak and Elgar Cello Concertos.

Kyle has a wealth of experience as an orchestral player having performed for numerous orchestras throughout the country including Welsh National Opera, The National Symphony Orchestra, Welsh Sinfonia, British Sinfonietta, British Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, Bristol Ensemble and Sinfonia Cymru. He has performed in countless venues from the Barbican to the Ritz, and even Stormont in Belfast, and for artists such as Katherine Jenkins, Paul Potts, Jamie Cullum and Dizzy Rascal throughout a varied freelance career. As a chamber musician and a member of The Hillman Quartet, he regularly played for the Live Music Now and Night Out chamber music schemes across Britain as well as recitals in music festivals such as Brighton, Monmouth, St Ives and Hay-On-Wye.

Kyle has a passion for cello ensembles as performer, arranger and director and is a member of the cello quartet Cellini. Having founded the Pembrokeshire Schools Cello Orchestra, he arranged for and conducted the ensemble for over a decade. He is also dedicated to music education as a long-established cello teacher at St John’s College in Cardiff, the Junior Conservatoire at RWCMD, Cardiff University and lecturer on the Undergraduate String Teaching Skills course at RWCMD.

Meet Rebecca T, one of our violin tutors…
Rebecca was born in Basingstoke, and studied at Junior Guildhall, followed by seven years in the class of Prof. Serguei Fatkoulin at the Escuela Superior de Musica FAMA in Madrid. She has been a member of Welsh National Opera Orchestra since 2013 and regularly plays with BBC NOW; but previously freelanced around the UK, working with English National Opera, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English National Ballet and the orchestra of the Royal Opera House. She has been passionate about teaching for nearly thirty years, working in schools such as The Abbey and Queen Anne’s in Reading, and Junior Guildhall as well as spending a decade teaching at the junior RWCMD. She is a qualified yoga teacher and brings these skills into her violin teaching in a way which is holistic and wellbeing focused.