Tutors – Deeside Cello Project

Rebecca Gilliver

Rebecca Gilliver is Principal cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra and plays in the European Camarata.

Early success in national and international competitions led to critically acclaimed debut recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London and Carnegie Hall, New York. Rebecca has performed in major music festivals such as Bath, Bergen, and the Manchester International Cello Festival.

A keen chamber musician, she has collaborated with international artists including Nikolai Znaider, Sarah Chang and Roger Vignoles with whom she recorded for BBC Radio 3. She is a regular participant at IMS Prussia Cove. She has appeared as a soloist with the Halle and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and is also featured on a CD of Enescu chamber music for the Naxos label.

Originally joining the LSO as Co-principal in 2001, Rebecca was promoted to Principal in 2009. She has played guest principal with orchestras all around the world, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, New Sinfonietta Amsterdam and most recently the World Orchestra for Peace. She is Professor of Cello at the Guildhall School of Music.

Philip Higham

Philip Higham enjoys a richly varied musical life: a passionate chamber musician, who is also at home in concerto, duo and unaccompanied repertoire, he has performed extensively throughout the UK – including solo recitals at Wigmore Hall, Cheltenham, Bath, Salisbury and Lammermuir Festivals – and in Europe, as well as notable performances in Tokyo, Istanbul and Washington D.C. Since 2016 he has been principal cellist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with whom has also performed frequently as soloist. His two solo recordings for Delphian Records, of Britten and Bach Suites, have received considerable praise, the Britten chosen as Instrumental Disc of the Month in Gramophone Magazine during 2013. He also premiered and recorded John Casken’s Stolen Airs (2015) with pianist Alasdair Beatson, and has enjoyed collaborations with the Navarra, Heath, Maxwell and Benyounes quartets.

As cello professor Philip has worked at RNCM, RCS and Birmingham Conservatoire, and has been a member of the Aboyne Cello Festival faculty since 2013.

Philip was born in Edinburgh and studied at St Mary’s Music School with Ruth Beauchamp and subsequently at the RNCM with Emma Ferrand and Ralph Kirshbaum. He also enjoyed mentoring from Steven Isserlis, and was represented by YCAT between 2009 and 2014. He plays a cello by Carlo Giuseppe Testore, made in 1697. He is grateful for continued support from Harriet’s Trust.”

Martin Storey

Martin Storey has performed in many countries around the world as a soloist and chamber musician and has served as principal cellist with many British orchestras such as the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. For eight years he held the position of Principal Cellist with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and from 2019 to 2025 he was principal cellist of Scottish Opera.

Martin was a founding member of the Gould Piano Trio which won three international chamber music competitions. During his fourteen years with the trio he toured to many countries playing in major concert halls, radio broadcasts and music festivals including the BBC Proms Chamber Series.

Martin has broadcast chamber music many times on BBC Radio both in live concerts and studio recordings. He has recorded several CDs of chamber music for labels such as EMI, ASV and Naxos and his recording of the Brahms cello sonatas was released on the Oxford Classics label. He has given masterclasses at the Royal Academy and Trinity College in London, and in the USA, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, and the Czech Republic.

From 2001-2010 Martin lived in Kansas City, Missouri in the U.S. where he had an active career as a soloist and member of several chamber ensembles and was the cello professor at Park University in Parkville, Missouri.

James Halsey

Whilst still a senior student at the R.C.M. in the early 1980’s, James joined the Auriol String Quartet and was straightaway involved in more than 40 recitals each season. This love of chamber music stayed and developed through his career and he is now cellist of the Bingham String Quartet, the Tagore String Trio and the Dartington Piano Trio. With these ensembles he has played all over the world, broadcast frequently, and made numerous recordings. At present he coaches on ten annual chamber music courses.

As a solo cellist James has performed widely in the British Isles, and has played Beethoven sonatas and unaccompanied Bach in Japan and Australia. He is much in demand as a teacher and is Professor of Cello at the North East of Scotland Music School and the Royal College of Music Junior Department, as well as being director of the Aboyne Cello Festival.

Joshua Lynch

Recipient of the Freda Dinn and Ida Marbett Award, St James Chamber Music Prize and Prix de Musique de Chambre Festival Ravel, Joshua Lynch is a passionate devotee of chamber music and has already enjoyed a diverse and creative career. Joshua studied with Emma Ferrand and Gillian Thoday at the Royal Northern College of Music and then continued his studies with Ursula Smith at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He also enjoyed mentoring by Peter Cropper, Oliver Wille and Simon Rowland-Jones.

Joshua is the cellist of the Cambridge String Quartet, who are ‘Quartet in Residence’ at Hughes Hall, Cambridge University. He has enjoyed several European tours as part of the ‘Le Dimore del Quartetto’ network alongside performing at the Wigmore Hall, The Crucible (MitR) and St Martin-in-the-Field. Joshua has also enjoyed performing with the LSO and Britten Sinfonia.

Away from performing, Joshua is a committed teacher with positions at the Stephen Perse Foundation and St John’s College School in Cambridge, as well as an extensive list of private students. He is a regular tutor at Aboyne Cello Festival, Cambridge Chamber Academy, NLMS Summer School and ProCorda. He is also on the Advisory Council for the London Cello Society.