About the performers . . .

Iain Ward is a student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he studies cello with Louise Hopkins.  He started playing cello at the age of 6, taking lessons from Catriona Hetherington in Dunfermline.  He then entered the Junior Academy of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where he studied firstly with Tim Paxton and then with Robert Irvine.  Whilst at the Junior Academy, Iain participated in masterclasses with a number of eminent musicians and, in his final concert with the Junior Academy Orchestra, he was the soloist in a performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto.  Further performances of that work were given by Iain and the Junior Academy orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival and also at the Glasgow Festival of Youth Orchestras.

A keen orchestral player, Iain has co-led the cello section of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and, earlier this year, he led the cello section of the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra on its tour of Scotland with Nicola Benedetti.  Iain was the most outstanding performer at the 2005 Glasgow Music Festival and was awarded the coveted Ailie Cullen Memorial Prize.

Frazer Scott is currently in his first term at the Birmingham Conservatoire where he studies with Henry Herford.  Prior to this, he attended the Music School of Douglas Academy studying voice with Ruth Dean and piano with Claire Haslin.  He has sung with a number of choirs including Ayrshire Voices, Kilmarnock Choral Union and the National Youth Choir of Scotland Training Choir. Frazer has performed in The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and Stirling Castle and recently completed a tour of the Czech Republic.

At the 2005 Glasgow Music Festival, Frazer was awarded the Agnes Duncan Trophy for the most outstanding vocal performer under 18 years of age and also the Gavin Settle Memorial Prize which is awarded for male voice solos.

Walter Blair is one of Scotland's most versatile musicians, combining 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.  Walter has a long association with Glasgow Music Festival, most recently as an official accompanist and also as an adjudicator.