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About the adjudicators . . .
Fiona Chryssides comes originally from Clydebank and has fond memories of performing in Glasgow Music Festival every year in the 1950s and 60s when it was held in the St Andrew's Halls. She took part in solo and duet piano classes and also with her school choir. She claims she still has the certificates and adjudication sheets to prove it! Fiona studied piano firstly with Lorna MacDonald (now Graham) and subsequently with Raymond O'Connell. At Glasgow University, where she studied for a degree in modern languages, she became an organist, an interest she maintained during further studies in Paris. She then completed a music degree and worked as a piano accompanist and coach for singers prior to becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists.
After her children were born, Fiona continued to pursue a musical career. She has given organ recitals in cathedrals throughout Britain and worked locally for choirs and choral societies. She was the first director of music for the University of Plymouth, in charge of its Choral Society and Orchestra and MD for the Musical Society; until recently, wherever she has lived, she has always been a church music director, beginning all these years ago in Partick East (now Partick Trinity) Church.
Fiona is Managing Editor of Organists' Review magazine, an associate lecturer of the Open University and an examiner for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. She adjudicates at British Federation music festivals in the UK and abroad. She lives now in Herefordshire and is really thrilled to be part of Glasgow Festival once again.
Walter Blair has a long association with Glasgow Music Festival, most recently as an official accompanist and also as an adjudicator. Walter combines a career in music education with that of a performing musician in the profession. He received a Fellowship from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, having been Associate Director of Music there for a number of years.
Isobel Mieras studied clarsach in Edinburgh with the late Jean Campbell and voice with her mother, Ella Lamb, from whom she inherited her love of Scottish song. She has made significant contributions to the field of Scottish harp music as a singer, composer, arranger, teacher and adjudicator. She has actively encouraged many of the talented young players of today by her teaching in schools, colleges, and universities in Scotland.
She directed the Scottish Harp Orchestra, "na Clarsairean" in concerts throughout Scotland and toured with them in Europe and USA. They have appeared three times by invitation at the World Harp Congress in Seattle, in Prague and in Geneva.
As a solo performer, Isobel has played at most major Arts Festivals in Scotland including the Edinburgh International Festival and its Fringe and has toured extensively throughout UK, Europe, Asia and USA - literally from Troon to Tokyo!
She is an experienced adjudicator at Music Festivals, the Royal National Mod and provincial Mods. Recently, she advised on the clarsach syllabus for the new RSAMD examinations in traditional music and is currently artistic adviser to the Edinburgh International Harp Festival.
Timothy Dean is Head of Opera at the RSAMD in Glasgow where he is in charge of new postgraduate courses in opera training for singers and repetiteurs. Since moving to Scotland in 1994, he has worked with the RSNO, the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, The Paragon Ensemble, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and Edinburgh Choral Union, as well as giving concerts with the Symphony Orchestras of both the Junior and Senior Academy, and conducting over twenty-five opera productions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. From 2000 - 2006 he was Artistic Director of British Youth Opera, of which he is now a Vice-President. He has recently been appointed as Chorus Director to the RSNO and continues to be active as a coach, accompanist, adjudicator and conductor.
Eoin Millar is a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and Jordanhill College. After playing double bass with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, he entered the field of education where, after becoming Principal Teacher of Music at Williamwood and Johnstone High Schools, he became Adviser of Music in Glasgow. He has lectured in music at Strathclyde University and served on various music committees including the Scottish Music Information Centre and the Glasgow International Jazz Festival. Eoin has been Musical Director and conductor of the St.James' Orchestra, the Coats Memorial Choral Society and the Glasgow-Islay Gaelic Choir. He has adjudicated throughout Scotland from Stranraer to Stornoway and the Shetland Isles.
Margaret Tomlinson trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and taught in primary and secondary schools. She joined the drama department of Jordanhill College of Education, now merged with the University of Strathclyde, where her work included organising in-service courses in Scotland, and in Hamburg and Zurich. She also spent two years working for the British Council in Malawi and Zambia.
The Educational Institute of Scotland awarded Margaret the English Speaking Union's Page Scholarship to study education practice in the USA.
For many years Margaret served on the board of Glasgow Citizens Theatre and remains very involved with theatre as an actor, director and adjudicator. She is currently working with various universities and businesses providing courses on presentation skills. Margaret has adjudicated extensively throughout the UK and in Zimbabwe. She has also been invited to adjudicate many times at the world's largest festival in Hong Kong and we are delighted to welcome her back to Glasgow Music Festival.
Jackie Bird is one of the best-known faces in television in Scotland. She presents BBC Scotland's flagship nightly news programme Reporting Scotland and also hosts other key programmes including the Hogmanay Show and BBC Children in Need.
Jackie writes and produces for TV and radio. Her comedy series The Lewis Lectures, and a six part sitcom Having It All were recently broadcast on Radio Scotland.
Jackie began her journalistic career in magazines, went on to work in radio news and current affairs and then to newspapers including the Evening Times and The Sun before working as a television journalist in the south of England. A busy newspaper columnist and contributor, Jackie is in high demand as host of corporate events including conferences and after dinner speaking.
She is a keen runner and patron of JogScotland. She is also a swimmer and all-round sports enthusiast.
Helen Frame has been dancing and teaching for many years. She is an official Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Teacher, Adjudicator and Examiner, and has served as Chairman of RSCDS Ayr Branch, as well as on RSCDS Headquarters' Examinations Committee and the Management Board. She has taught all ages, and also taught all over the world. Helen has always been interested in Scottish Country Dancing and maintains that the main reason for dancing is to enjoy it and for dancers to be the best that they can be.
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