Alba was born in Madrid and started playing cello at the age of eight with Jose Miguel Gomez Diaz at the Conservatorio Joaquin Turina. Whilst in Spain she was invited to perform for the Contemporary Music Academy, JONDE (National Youth Orchestra of Spain) and later on by the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain to take part in the International Contemporary Music Festival of Alicante. She won 1st prize in the Häzen Chamber Music Competition with her piano trio and was awarded the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit by the International Committee and Jury of the European Academy of Arts.

In 2004 Alba moved to London, where she began her BMus degree at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Stefan Popov and Leonid Gorokhov. During this time she was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (2007-8). After graduating she received a scholarship from the Royal Scottish Academy of music and Drama, where she obtained her Masters degree studying with Johannes Goritzki. During her time in Glasgow she won the 2010 Governors String Recital Prize and recorded for both BBC and Spanish Radios. She performed in concerts throughout Europe, as both soloist and chamber musician, including a performance of the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the RSAMD Symphony Orchestra, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Wigmore Hall, London. She has regularly worked playing in musical theatre. Alba was selected to play with the Scottish Ensemble in their 40th Anniversary Tour, 2009, and for the RSNO (Royal Scottish National Orchestra) apprenticeship scheme, as well as performing as an extra.

Future projects include performances with the LPO and musicians from its Foyle Future First scheme.

In her spare time Alba can be found hanging out with friends, shopping or watching the football!

Éanna, 25, is an Irish bassoonist. Having begun lessons at St. Malachy’s College in his native Belfast, he studied with Janet Bloxwich and Alan Warhurst at RSAMD and graduated with a BMus (Hons) in 2007. He was awarded the Gill Culpin Award for postgraduate study at the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with David Chatterton, Gareth Newman and John Orford, completing a Master of Arts in 2009.

Coming from a large musical family, he has known music from an early age and began playing traditional music at the age of 7. Through his early experience with the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, he grew to love the potential music has to bring people together, and to that end enjoys solo, chamber and orchestral music in equal measure.

Éanna continues to build his career as an orchestral musician and has performed to date with Camerata Ireland, NI Opera, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Opera and the Symphony Orchestra of India. He has worked with leading musicians including Barry Douglas, Yan Pascal Tortelier and Ilan Volkov, and as soloist and chamber musician he has performed regularly in Ireland, the UK and Europe.

He was awarded the Young Musicians Platform Award by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2008, which led to a performance of Gordon Jacob’s Bassoon Concerto with the Ulster Orchestra the following year. Eanna continues to travel abroad for lessons with Valentino Zucchiatti and Laurent Lefevre.

Éanna gratefully acknowledges the support of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Loan Fund for Musical Instruments, The Finzi Trust and Muintir Bhéal Féírste.

Away from music, Éanna loves most sports, unspoilt landscapes, tea and old cars.

BMus (Hons), LRAM, PGDip (Perf)

Born 1987 in Cheltenham, Edgar Bailey studied at Chetham’s School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. He has studied with Gillian Bradley, Wen Zhou Li, Mateja Marinkovic, Madeleine Mitchell and David Tekano.

In 2007 Edgar won the Chandos Symphony Orchestra and the Gloucestershire Young Musician Competitions and in 2010 was a prize winner at Haverhill Sinfonia Competition. Edgar has performed Bruch violin concerto no.1 with the Cheltenham Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven violin concerto with Chandos Symphony Orchestra. He has given recitals at Cheltenham Town Hall and Making Music venues in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, as well as recitals at the Cheltenham International and Stratford-upon-Avon Music Festivals. Edgar has also had extensive orchestral experience with professional orchestras such as RLPO, Halle, CBSO and the RPO.

Emma studied at the Junior Guildhall School of Music for four years with Graham Hobbs, where she won the Barbican music shop prize and the John Myatt Bassoon scholarship. She went on to study on the BMus course with a scholarship entrance, and graduated in 2009 with first class honours. Whilst at the Guildhall she enjoyed the inspirational teaching of Meyrick Alexander, Daniel Jemison and Gordon Laing for contrabassoon. As part of her course, she took an ERASMUS exchange to the Geneva Conservatoire in 2008, studying with Afonso Venturieri. She has performed in masterclasses for Robin O’Neill, Helen Simons, Graham Sheen and Roger Birnstingl. In August 2010, she took part in a ten day masterclass in Sweden at the Aurora chamber festival with Ole Kristian Dahl.

During her studies Emma has been in sessions for BBC Radio 3 with Guildhall New Music Ensemble and for Dutch radio 4 with the Nationaal Jeugd Orkest of the Netherlands in the Concertgebouw, conducted by Oliver Knussen. She also played principal and contrabassoon with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra in the Barbican Hall conducted by Vasily Petrenko, and principal bassoon in Guildhall Chamber Orchestra.

Since graduating, Emma has had a wide variety of freelance work, including a chamber recital for the Countess of Munster trust, concerts with Sinfonia Cymru, Orpheus Sinfonia, and a UK tour with the Heritage Orchestra and comedian Tim Minchin. She teaches bassoon and singing for the Da capo foundation, and enjoys giving educational workshops in primary schools and care homes with the Obassno Trio. In addition to being a member of Southbank Sinfonia 9, she is currently on trial for the position of 3rd bassoon doubling contrabassoon in Malmo Opera Orchestra, Sweden.

In her spare time Emma likes watching jazz, movies, travelling and drinking unhealthy amounts of coffee with friends.

Welsh clarinettist Hannah Morgan began her studies at the RWCMD Junior Department at 14. She then went on to study both for a Bachelors and Masters degree at the Royal College of Music under a Leverhulme and Richard Carne scholarship where she was awarded Distinction in Advanced Performance. While at college, Hannah received tuition from Richard Hosford, Janet Hilton, Tim Lines and Bob Hill. In her third year Hannah took an ERASMUS exchange to Vienna where she studied with the world renowned Ernst Ottensammer.

Hannah has performed with several of the UK’s leading orchestras including a BBC 3 Broadcast with BBC Symphony Orchestra, the last night of the Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and whilst still in college she was on trial for a position with the Welsh National Opera.

Hannah works regularly throughout the UK and Europe with pianist Thomas Besnard as part of the Glendower Duo. Over the last four years this ensemble has achieved great success and has appeared in many festivals including Leeds, Monmouth, Penkhull and Cheltenham. In 2010 the Glendower Duo won the International Contemporary Chamber Music Competition duo section held in Krakow and have consequently been invited to play in the Warsaw Autumn Festival. In January the same year they gave a world premiere at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room as part of the Park Lane Group Artist Series.

As a soloist, Hannah has performed concertos with the Milton Keynes City Orchestra and the RWCMD orchestra. Recently she won the 1st Wind Prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Concert Artist Competition. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe Scholarship and the RCM Selmer Clarinet Prize. She is a member of the Concordia Foundation Artist Scheme and regularly works with her duo for the outreach program, Live Music Now!

The Countess of Munster, Ian Fleming Award (MBF) and the Elisabeth Evans Trust have supported Hannah’s studies.

Ed Mills took up the Horn at the age of seven, having already spent a year learning the Piano. He first started playing with wind bands in the Greenwich area of south east London before moving to Sussex, and then continued his education just across the border in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. It was during his time here that his life as an orchestral musician began, by joining ensembles such as West Kent Youth Orchestra and Kent Youth Wind Orchestra. He, then aged 16, won an audition to become Principal Horn of The London Schools Symphony Orchestra.

In 2005 Ed took up a place at Trinity College of Music. During his studies at Trinity, Ed performed a huge range of repertoire. Highlights include recording The Rite of Spring as Principal Horn under the baton of Edward Gardner, performing the Obbligato Horn part to Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s third and fourth Horn concerti (the latter on both modern and natural Horn) and recording the Notturni and Scherzandi of Haydn for the Haydn Society of Great Britain on period instruments (conducted by Denis McCaldin).
Whilst at Trinity, Ed studied with Martin Owen (Principal, BBCSO), Mike Murray (2nd Horn, BBCSO), Jeff Bryant, Stephen Stirling (Principal, CLS) and natural horn with Roger Montgomery (Principal, OAE and Co-Principal, ROH).

In September 2009, Ed attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studied with Hugh Seenan, Richard Bissill (Principal Horn, ROH), Jonathan Lipton (4th Horn, LSO) and natural horn with Andrew Clark (Principal, OAE). During his time at Guildhall, Ed was able to work with some of the finest musicians in the country and played with ensembles such as the English Classical Players and the New London Sinfonia. In August 2010 Ed performed Telemann’s Concerto in Eb for two horns with the Dartington Baroque Orchestra.