SINGING

Bryan Husband GRSM (Hons), ADWCMD

Bryan studied at the Royal College of Music, London, and the Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. He spent much of his performing career living abroad, performing in continental opera houses and concert venues; he and his partner now have homes in Hertfordshire and Malvern.

For 18 years Bryan was a Vocal Lecturer on the Musical Theatre BA programme at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, and a Music Examiner for one of the top music examining boards for 14 years; he now runs a private practice, gives workshops (‘belting’ to audition techniques), performs, adjudicates, and works as a ski instructor! Performances include tv and radio broadcasts, opera, oratorio and recital.

Having enjoyed a lifelong association with competitive performance festivals, and being a passionate advocate for education and opportunity in this widest sense Bryan was selected to become an adjudicator for The British and International Federation of Festivals in 2005. Since then adjudication has since taken him to many Festivals around the UK and Ireland, also to Hong Kong, Gibraltar and Trinidad & Tobago. Examining took him all round UK and Southern Ireland, and further afield to hear instrumentalists and vocalists in classical, Musical Theatre and Rock & Pop, from beginners to Fellowship diplomas.

In his spare time, Bryan spends time with his grandchildren (and their parents, of course!), attends a lot of diverse theatre, volunteers with various environmental Trusts, and enjoys gardening, skiing and walking.

PIANOFORTE

Joseph Tong MMus, MA(Cantab), DipRAM, LRAM, ARAM

Joseph Tong has established a reputation as one of the most versatile and imaginative pianists of his generation. He studied at Wells Cathedral School, Cambridge University and at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Christopher Elton. Much in demand as a soloist, duo pianist and chamber musician, Joseph made his Wigmore Hall recital debut in 1997 as winner of the Maisie Lewis Young Artists Award and now gives regular recitals throughout the UK and Europe.

Joseph Tong has been particularly associated with the piano music of Jean Sibelius, having recorded three discs of a complete cycle for the Quartz label to critical acclaim and performing regularly in Finland over recent years. He has twice been invited to play at the Korpo Sibelius Festival, taking part in a Sibelius piano ‘marathon’ with five other pianists in 2019, and has given several recitals on the composer’s original Steinway at Ainola. Joseph has also performed at the Helsinki Musiikkitalo (Camerata Hall), Hämeenlinna City Hall, the Sibelius Museum in Turku and, most recently, at the 2024 Joensuu Music Festival.

Other recent projects have included a new commission from the British composer David Matthews, a set of Five Trees which Joseph premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in 2022. He also performed the new work at the Sibelius Museum in Turku as part of a collaboration with the Åbo University Foundation, recording a third album of Sibelius’s piano music which was released in 2023.

Joseph has made several critically acclaimed recordings as a soloist and chamber musician including a disc of Schumann, released in 2019 on the Quartz label, which was awarded Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine. Much in demand as a collaborative pianist, his recording of Sibelius works for violin and piano with the British violinist Fenella Humphreys on Resonus Classics was selected as ‘Chamber Choice’ in BBC Music Magazine in 2022 and featured on BBC Radio 3’s Record Review programme. Joseph has also made piano duet recordings of Schubert, Debussy and McCabe in his longstanding duo with Waka Hasegawa, with whom he performed at Wigmore Hall in London, at Music Festivals including Cheltenham, Buxton, York and Oundle as well as in Japan and USA.

He also performs regularly with his brother Daniel, having appeared on Radio 3’s In Tune together and giving recent piano duet recitals at Conway Hall in London, St David’s Hall Cardiff, and the Laidlaw Music Centre at the University of St Andrews.

In 2022 he returned to Wigmore Hall to give a solo recital featuring Schubert’s Wanderer Fantasy, marking 200 years since the work was written. Other recent highlights have included solo recitals in Spain and Germany including the Sendesaal in Bremen and Kloster Konzerte in St. Blasien, St George’s Bristol, Chichester Cathedral, Hatchlands in Surrey and the Presteigne Festival in Wales.

A passionate advocate for new music, Joseph gave the world premiere of Lara Poe’s Koivunrungot Kaarella at Presteigne last summer and has recently commissioned a new work, The Willows Suite, from the Finnish pianist-composer Terhi Dostal.

Joseph was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) in 2008 and has been a music adjudicator for the British and International Federation of Festivals since 2019. He is one of the senior piano tutors at Wells Cathedral School and coordinator of the Wells International Piano Summer School. Joseph will also be joining the faculty of the Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in 2025 and has recently been invited to adjudicate piano prizes at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

WOODWIND AND BRASS & EDNA HEAD AWARD FINAL

Rosie Whitfield Dip RCM Performers, ARCM Teachers, PGCE

Rosie’s experience as a performer, teacher, examiner and presenter, teamed with an innate love of music, underpins her drive for music in education. Her ability to captivate audiences and inspire young musicians to achieve their dreams stems from a belief that music can change lives.

As an experienced adjudicator for The British and International Federation of Festivals, Rosie is called upon to adjudicate in the UK and abroad and has forged long-standing links with specialist music schools and festivals across the world.

As Director of Music at Whitgift School, Rosie devised numerous projects and regularly presented interactive concerts and masterclasses to thousands of primary school pupils. Developing the prestigious Whitgift International Music Competition in 2013, she continues to support and mentor young musicians hoping for a career in the profession.

As Head of Junior Guildhall since 2020, her knowledge and experience in the specialist music sector is invaluable. Her revolutionary PLAY2ME service encourages young performers to perform to her or one of her team for constructive feedback before a major performance.

As Executive Director for Scolimus, Rosie and her team of consultants provide a bespoke service for Young Musicians, Festivals and Music Schools across the world.

STRINGS

Elizabeth Brazier GRSM, LRAM, ARCM, PGCE, DipEd

Elizabeth was born in London and is a Graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied piano with Guy Jonson and ‘cello with Derek Simpson.

Her first teaching post brought her to Cornwall and she has lived in Truro ever since. It is as a ‘cellist and ‘cello teacher that Elizabeth has become principally known, although she is also a pianist, and was one of the founder members of the leading local opera company, and sang principal roles in its early productions.

She has taught in many schools and has a thriving practice at home, teaching both ‘cello and piano. She plays in orchestras, ensembles and chamber groups around the Southwest.

Her work as an Associated Board Examiner has taken her all over the world, an aspect of her profession that she particularly enjoys. In nearly thirty years’ examining she has gained experience in Britain, America, Bermuda, Scandinavia, Iceland, South Africa, Mauritus, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong and she is an adjudicator member of The British and International Federation of Festivals.

Of her three sons, two, Ben and Daniel, have followed her into music. This has been a satisfying bonus to a lifelong love and enthusiasm for performing and teaching.

SPEECH AND DRAMA

Rebecca Vines Freelance Theatre Practictioner MA, BA, FRSA, FVCM, LLAM, LALAM, LGSMD, ALAM, ATCL, ANEA, CertGSMD

Rebecca read journalism at Cardiff University, during which time she wrote a weekly column for The Guardian newspaper. She continues to work for a range of publications as a features writer, ghost writer, and theatre critic.

Rebecca then studied as an actor at the London Centre for Theatre Studies; and her theatre credits include off-West End, Fringe, tour, educational theate and voiceover. Favourite roles include Maggie (Dancing at Lughnasa); Elizabeth (The Crucible); Beverley (Abigail’s Party); Madame Arcati (Blithe Spirit); Martha (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)

Rebecca trained as a specialist drama teacher at The Guildhall. She has taught in a range of primary, secondary and tertiary educational institutions for the last twenty years; and is the Principal of her own drama school, which operates internationally. Rebecca’s pupils have been awarded places at major conservatoires and bodies such as RADA, LAMDA, Central, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, Guildhall, Bristol Old Vic, Mountview, East 15, Guildford, AADA, Royal Birmingham, the Oxford School of Drama, National Youth Theatre, and the National Youth Music Theatre. Their work can be seen on the BBC, ITV, Sky, C4, E4, Netflix, Working Title, National Theatre, RSC, and with countless touring theatre companies in the UK and abroad.

Rebecca chairs the Adjudicator’s Council for the British and International Federation of Festivals; sits on the Awards Panel for the UKPA; and is a LAMDA, GCSE and A level examiner.

In 2014, Rebecca was awarded the prestigious Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of her work in the youth theatre sector. Rebecca is passionate about helping performers take their first professional steps, and helps emerging talents to form and manage their own theatre companies. As such, Close Up Theatre, No Prophet Theatre, and Eleventh Hour Theatre have all played to critical and commercial acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: kickstarting careers and forging critical industry networking opportunities.

Rebecca’s productions have played to critical acclaim and commercial success at the Edinburgh Fringe since 2003. In addition to directing and producing over thirty thirty sell-out shows at the Fringe; Rebecca has adapted classics such as 1984, Jane Eyre, Emma, and Pride and Prejudice for the stage; and has written the original works More Myself Than I Am, Torn, Coward Conscience, and OTMA.

Rebecca is currently working on a PhD based around Shakespeare’s history plays; and she is passionate about inclusivity and diversity in the Arts, spending her free time ‘making things happen’ for people who would otherwise have no agency within the creative sector.

EDNA HEAD AWARD - PRELIMINARY ROUND

Graeme Humphrey ARAM

Graeme has been a teacher of piano all his professional life, both at the Royal Academy of Music for thirty-six years from 1974 – 2010, and privately. He has also been very actively involved in festival adjudicating and examining – work which has taken him all over the world.

He was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship on the piano from New Zealand to study at the Royal Academy of Music. He regularly teaches in Hong Kong, and was external examiner at National Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore from 2009 – 2011.

In 1988 he founded the Blackheath Music Festival in London. From 1993 – 2010 he tutored at the Shrewsbury International Summer School and was Music Director of the Summer School from 2004 – 2010.

In 1997 he was elected Warden of the Private Teachers’ Section of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and in 2002 was elected President of the Royal Academy of Music Club.

Graeme has recently been involved in the selecting and editing of a major new piano duet project that is republishing long out-of-print beginner and intermediate level duet material, primarily for the pupil/teacher. This can be seen at www.fourhandsplus.com.

Graeme is both a Fellow and an adjudicator member of The British and International Federation of Festivals.