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HARROGATE SAXOPHONE SUMMER SCHOOL FACULTY

Gillian Blair is an award winning classical Saxophonist from the Wirral, UK.

Praised for her ‘flawless and accomplished’ performances (Peterborough Telegraph) and ‘honest and genuine music-making’ (D’Addario Competition), Gillian Blair enjoys a varied career as a classical saxophonist, chamber musician and educator. She has won first prize in competitions including the International Young Musician Competition at the Llangollen Eisteddfod, the D'addario Single Reed Competition, the RNCM Woodwind Competition, the Charles Scarratt Award for Young Musicians and the RNCM's Sir John Manduell Prize.

As a soloist, she has performed around Europe, North America and Asia at festivals and concert series' including the BBC Proms, EurSax, Koganei Miyajigakki Hall (Tokyo), PepsiCo Recital Hall (Texas), University of Arkansas, World Saxophone Congress, Oklahoma State University, North American Saxophone Alliance Conference, the Palaver Festival and several broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. She has appeared as a guest soloist with ensembles including the Band of the Coldstream Guards, Commonwealth String Orchestra, Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra, University of Arkansas Saxophone Ensemble, City of Peterborough Symphony Orchestra, Wirral Symphony Orchestra, Bolton Chamber Orchestra, the RNCM Percussion Ensemble and the RNCM Saxophone Orchestra. Future concerto appearances include the premieres of new concertos by Natasha Senanayake and Paul Carroll which have been commissioned for her and the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra, as well as a new commission from Lucy Armstrong which will be premiered in 2020.

Gillian is a keen advocate of new music and has commissioned numerous works as a soloist and for her various chamber ensembles from emerging and established composers including Gary Carpenter, Zack Browning, Andrew Boss, Lucy Armstrong, Tom Harrold, Lucy Pankhurst, Paul Mitchell-Davidson, Grace Evangeline Mason, Rob Buckland and Melissa Douglas. 

Gillian is passionate about chamber music and performs regularly with the Polaris Duo (saxophone and harp) and the Borealis Saxophone Quartet. Both of these ensembles have enjoyed competition success and have performed in some of the UK's most prestigious venues as well as performances overseas in Croatia and Serbia. A recent collaboration with American Saxophonist Nathan Mertens has led to joint commissions of music for 2 saxophones and piano from composers Lucy Armstrong, Zack Browning, Rob Buckland and Andrew Boss. They have given performances and masterclasses in Japan, the UK, the USA and Croatia and are looking forward to releasing their debut album in 2020. 

Larger ensembles that Gillian has worked with include the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Manchester Concert Orchestra, European Union Youth Wind Orchestra, the Piccadilly Symphony Orchestra, the Soundscape Chamber Orchestra, the Tenor Saxophone Collective and she has performed, recorded and given workshops with the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and the Band of the Coldstream Guards. 

Gillian holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the Royal Northern College of Music where she studied with Rob Buckland, Carl Raven and Andy Scott. During her studies she was a finalist in the RNCM’s prestigious Concerto and Gold Medal competitions and she received scholarships from the Oglesby Charitable Trust, the Helen Mackaness Award and the Countess of Munster Trust. Upon graduating, Gillian was awarded the Timothy Reynish Award for outstanding contribution to the RNCM. She has received tuition and appeared in masterclasses with acclaimed international artists and studied at the renowned 'l’Université Européenne de Saxophone' in Gap, France. 

Gillian is an active educator and is on the faculty at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music and the Universities of Sheffield and Huddersfield. She has presented masterclasses around the UK and USA and enjoys leading workshops for woodwind days and summer schools throughout the UK. 

Gillian is a Henri Selmer Paris Artist and a Vandoren UK Artist.

Sally MacTaggart is an award-winning saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and teacher. A versatile performer, her work has taken her from Wigmore Hall recitals through to the BBC Proms, West End theatre and UK tours.

Sally has performed with some of the country's leading orchestras including the Royal Opera House, Britten Sinfonia, Opera North, Welsh National Opera, Manchester Camerata and Chroma Ensemble. Recent work includes recording the solo theme for BBC drama The Trial of Christine Keeler, performing with the Royal Opera House on the multi-award-winning opera 4.48 Psychosis, Britten Sinfonia’s televised Philip Glass/Ravi Shankar BBC Prom, as a soloist with Manchester Camerata for International Women’s Day, Opera North’s acclaimed production of Kiss me Kate.

As a multi-instrumentalist, Sally is a versatile and sought-after pit musician with the ability to play saxophones, flutes, clarinets and oboe. She performs and deputises in the West End and UK and International tours. Recent productions include Billy Elliot, Motown, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Big Fish, Addams Family, Dusty, Shrek, Elf, Grease and Book of Mormon.

Sally is a member of award-winning chamber ensemble Kaleidoscope. Described as “irresistible” by The Times, the ensemble has won awards from the City Music Foundation, Worshipful Company of Musicians, Hattori Foundation, Tunnell Trust and Park Lane Group. Highlights have included performances at the Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Bridgewater Hall and the Purcell Room. They released their critically acclaimed debut album Oil in July 2016.

Sally studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating with first class honours, followed by a Masters at the Guildhall School of Music. She won numerous internal prizes for both concerto, solo and chamber music performances and was supported during her studies with scholarships from the Philharmonia's Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and the Countess of Munster Trust. 

Sally’s teaching commitments have included working for numerous private schools and organisations, delivering high-level tuition to players of all abilities. Her students have gone on to win scholarship places at music conservatoires, universities, junior music college departments and scholarship places into some of the top private schools in the country, as well as being accepted into the National Youth Wind Orchestra, National Youth Wind Ensemble and National Children’s Orchestras. She has led workshops for Live Music Now and the Worshipful Company of Musicians, and given masterclasses at numerous schools and colleges across the country. Outside of term time, she coaches on the Harrogate Saxophone Summer School.

Carl Raven is a freelance saxophonist, improvisor and educator. He performs regularly with the Halle, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Scottish, RLPO, RPO,  Manchester Camerata, Opera North, Northern Sinfonia. He is also a member of House of Bedlam, a UK based contemporary music ensemble and is a member of the Apollo Saxophone Quartet. He has solo recordings on Naxos and Odradek and appears regularly on BBC radio. Carl is a saxophone tutor at the RNCM, Manchester University and Chetham's School of Music.

He has performed with many top UK and US jazz performers: inc. Gwilym Simcock, Jason Rebello, Julian Arguelles, Brian Blade, Danilo Perez and John Pattitucci. 

During lockdown, Carl created a ground-breaking new education project, taken up by eight UK Music Centres. A series of on-line instruction videos triggers musical material from local students of all ages, this was then transformed into a unique musical and visual creation. The 'Biggest Big Band' project stretched students' listening, performing and creative skills and kept young musicians challenged during lockdown.

Carl's current project involves electronics, electronic sensors on the saxophone and MaxMSP programming. The project premiered at Dartington Summer Festival this year (2021).