Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Tutors and Staff (A to Z)
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Philippe Schwartz
Euphonium Tutor
Born in Luxembourg in 1985, Philippe began playing the Euphonium at the age of eight at the Conservatoire de Musique de la Ville de Luxembourg. In 2004 he decided to further his musical education at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where he completed both a Bachelor and a Master’s degree with distinction...
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Joanne Sealey
Head of Piano Accompaniment in Wind and Brass Studies
As well as her role as Head of Piano Accompaniment in Wind and Brass Studies, Joanne Sealey is also a Senior Tutor in Accompaniment and Coaching. Jo has become widely recognised in the UK as a specialist in woodwind and brass accompaniment and currently holds the position of Head of Accompaniment in Wind and Brass Studies at...
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Dave Sear
Visiting Tutor
Dave was born and raised in Luton through a musical family. He picked up the trombone aged 8 and had lessons throughout his school life. Receiving grade 8 distinction in year 12, Dave then went to study at the prestigious Birmingham Conservatoire on the Bmus Hons Jazz course. He gained the lead trombone chair of the Jazz...
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Imogen Seth-Smith
Baroque Cello Tutor
As a Baroque cellist and gambist, Imogen works for a number of period instrument orchestras and is also active as a chamber musician. She is sub-principal cellist in both the Academy of Ancient Music and the Symphony of Harmony and Invention (the orchestra working with the choir of The Sixteen ) and also works with the ...
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Dr Luan Shaw
Associate Professor (Music Education), Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music), and Associate Head of Junior Conservatoire
Dr Luan Shaw is Associate Professor (Music Education) and Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music) at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where she has taught since 2011. She is also Associate Head of the Junior Department and leads Pedagogy provision across BMus 4 and postgraduate courses. She is a Senior Fellow of the...
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Neil Shewan BMus Hons AGSM
French Horn Tutor (CBSO)
Neil is presently Principal 2 nd Horn of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He previously spent over fifteen years as Principal 3 rd Horn of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He studied for his BMus at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and during his final year there, won the prestigious International Paxman...
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Stephen Simms
Vice Principal - Acting, Professor of Actor Education
Stephen is the Vice Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - Acting, one of the UK's leading conservatoires of acting, where he is also the Head of Acting. He is also Professor of Actor Education, the only person to hold this position in the country. He directs and teaches on the acting courses at Royal Birmingham...
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Howard Skempton
Lecturer in Composition
Howard Skempton was born in Chester in 1947, and has worked as a composer, accordionist, and music publisher. He studied in London with Cornelius Cardew from 1967, who helped him to discover a musical language of great simplicity. Since then he has continued to write undeflected by compositional trends, producing a corpus of...
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Jeffrey Skidmore OBE
Artistic Director of Early Music
Jeffrey Skidmore OBE is one of the country’s foremost choral conductors and is highly regarded by instrumentalists, singers and audiences for the high quality of his performances. He is well-known for exciting programming which is often challenging but always accessible. Jeffrey read music at Magdalen College, Oxford, before...
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Marika Slater
Visiting Lecturer Piano
Marika began playing the piano at the age of four and graduated from the E. Darzinsh Specialist Music School at Latvia State Conservatoire in Riga. Continuing her studies at the conservatoire, she gained a triple Diploma of Distinction in piano, accompaniment and teaching as the top student in her cohort and the winner of...