2016
Alison Dixon - Opus 1
Alison Dixon began learning violin aged 7 in Orkney, first being taught by the owner of the local cinema. As a teenager she attended St.Mary's Music School in Edinburgh, studying violin, viola, piano and composition. During her final year, Alison took part in an exchange with the Gnessin Music School in Moscow.
She continued her studies at Glasgow University and RSAMD.
As a keen chamber music student Alison attended the Mendelssohn On Mull festival many times (as a pupil of its founder, Leonard Friedman). She also represented RSAMD with the Athenaeum Ensemble in a BBC Radio 3 masterclass with Peter Cropper on Beethoven's Septet.
As soloist, Alison performed at Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' 60th birthday concert at the 1994 St.Magnus Festival. She has also appeared as concerto soloist with the Scottish Bach Consort, Kelvin Ensemble, Edinburgh and Dundee Symphony Orchestras and has recorded violin solo in St.Kentigern Suite by Thomas Wilson with RSAMD chamber orchestra directed by Leon Spierer.
As an orchestral musician Alison performed frequently with Scottish Opera, Scottish Bach Consort, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia and Scottish Chamber Orchestra before joining the Orchestra of Opera North some time last century.
Rebecca Smith - Opus 2
Rebecca
is a violinist and violist based in Edinburgh. As a chamber musician
she has performed at venues such as St Martin in the Fields,
Aldeburgh, and Prussia Cove, as well as across Europe and on BBC
Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’. She has performed alongside musicians
including Tim Boulton, Steve Reich, and the late Peter Cropper, as
well as having received lessons and masterclasses from musicians such
as Gabor Takács-Nagy, Susan Tomes, and members of the Endellion and
London Haydn Quartets. Before moving to Edinburgh last summer,
Rebecca enjoyed passing on this passion for chamber music to young
string players at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester.
Rebecca
read music at Worcester College Oxford, before going on to complete
her MMus at the RNCM with Maciej Rakowski. She continues to play
frequently with Opera North, recently performing in the
much-acclaimed Ring Cycle under conductor Richard Farnes, and
this summer has also seen Rebecca perform as leader of the
Scarborough Spa Orchestra. As well as recent appearances with the
Edinburgh Quartet, Rebecca freelances with BBCSSO, RSNO, Scottish
Opera, and Scottish Ballet. She is currently enjoying playing viola
with the Roxburgh Quartet, and teaches violin at St Mary’s Music
School.
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