James Carrabino

James attended St Paul’s School in London as a John Colet Academic Scholar and Music Scholar and was a member of The Royal Academy of Music’s Junior Department. He enrolled at Yale College Connecticut USA in August 2016 and in addition to his piano studies, James is interested in foreign policy and was involved in Yale’s Political Union and International Relations Association. James has also obtained a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music.

Katherine Clarke

Katherine has been a regular performer at our Lunchtime Concerts as a soloist and duettist. Katherine was a pupil at Wycombe Abbey School in High Wycombe before completing her undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music. She achieved a Masters in Performance with Distinction at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with scholarships from the Goldsmith’s Company and the Guildhall School Trust.

Hugo Lau & Karrie Kam-Yan Yip

Hong Kong-born clarinettist Hugo Lau completed his Postgraduate Advanced Diploma at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, supported by the Henry Wood Accommodation Trust Fund. He received his Masters of Music in Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Hong Kong-born pianist, Karrie Kam-Yan Yip is a student at the Royal College of Music with the support from The Croucher Hong Kong Charitable Trust and Sir Robert Black Trust Fund by the Hong Kong government.

Simon Pearce

Simon attended the Amersham Music Centre which was the main inspiration for his chosen musical direction. Simon was a soloist with the National Youth Guitar Ensemble before gaining a place to study at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama graduating with a first-class honour’s degree. He then completed his Master’s in Music at the Royal College of Music with a scholarship from the RCM.

Andrew Gallacher

Andrew lives locally and has performed on several occasions at our Lunchtime Concerts as a soloist and accompanist.  Andrew studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was awarded the prestigious ‘Concert Recital Diploma Award’. He then went on to achieve a Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music where he was supported by the ‘’Piano Cantabile Scheme’’.

Rustam Khanmurzin

Rustam began his piano studies in Russia followed by the Royal College of Music in London where he was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship and Ist Prize at the RCM Concerto Competition 2019. He also attained 3rd Prize at the Clamo International Piano Competition. In November 2019 Rustam joined the Young Artists’ Programme of the Worshipful Company of Musicians.

Sophie Steer

Sophie is a 23-year-old soprano from Gerrards Cross. This summer, she completed her four-year undergraduate training at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC) and achieved a first in her degree. During her final year of studies, Sophie worked for the Learning and Participation departments at RBC and at the Royal Opera House to help them set up the ground-breaking outreach programme, Opera Nation. Her experiences while working on this programme have inspired her to pursue a career in music-based outreach work and she continues to sing during her free time.