Peter Nelson was born in Glasgow, and studied English Literature and Music at Glasgow University. After further study at the University of Edinburgh and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was appointed to lectureships at the Universities of Glasgow, then Nottingham, and since 1986 has taught in Music at the University of Edinburgh.

Through the 1980's he worked closely with the composer, Iannis Xenakis and his UPIC computer music system, composing a number of works for the UPIC. He also founded Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust (ECAT), with his colleague Geoffrey King, presenting a regular season of new music concerts in Edinburgh, bringing most of the leading international performers, composers and ensembles to Scotland. He is editor of the international journal, Contemporary Music Review published by Routledge.

Recent compositions include a concerto for cello/electric cello, for Frances-Marie Uitti and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and MerzMusic for soprano and ensemble, on texts by Kurt Schwitters, commissioned by Paragon Ensemble for the 2004 Edinburgh International Festival.

Peter Nelson's work Palm Wine was commissioned by the Meadows Chamber Orchestra and was performed by the orchestra most recently in May 2003, with the composer conducting. That concert was also notable for his direction of James Macmillan's 'Veni, veni Emmanuel', undertaken at short notice, with Joby Burgess as the soloist.
 

One of Britain’s most diverse percussionists, Joby is one half of the innovative duo new noise, and a member of Britain’s leading percussion quartet ensemblebash. Since the year 2000, Joby has been involved in premiering more than 150 new works, collaborated with artists including Django Bates, Nitin Sawhney, Hilliard Ensemble and James Wood, and has notably performed to an audience of some 60,000 with Stewart Copeland at la Notte della Taranta, Italy.

As a soloist Joby has made several broadcasts for BBC radio, and given performances in London, Europe and the USA. Recent highlights have included a UK tour of Bach’s The Art of Fugue with Joanna MacGregor, Andy Sheppard and the Britten Sinfonia; concerts with Sarah Leonard and John Kenny at the New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas, USA and Celtic Connections, Glasgow; and with Ixion at the Gaudeamus New Music week, Amsterdam.

Joby has also worked with the London Sinfonietta, Endymion, Composers Ensemble, National Theatre Ensemble, Gemini, ECAT Ensemble, Sculpted Sound, Brunel Ensemble, Continuum Ensemble and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Joby’s recording work has included albums with ensemblebash, Michael Finnissy, Robert Tear, Stewart Copeland, Joanna Macgregor, Ixion and Lontano. In 2003 Joby co-founded NNL records, launching with the release of new noise’s debut album Insomniac.

As an educator Joby currently teaches at Junior Trinity College of Music and at Radley College, Oxford. Each year Joby is involved in numerous education events, including workshops focussing on composition, rhythm, West African music and improvisation; at institutions including Dartington International Summer School and Goldsmiths College University, London. He is also an adjudicator for the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. Joby studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London.

Joby appeared as soloist with the Meadows Chamber Orchestra in 2003, playing James MacMillan's percussion concerto "Veni, veni Emmanuel".
 

Karen L. Francis (b.1974) began studying composition at Chetham's School of Music, Manchester and later at Edinburgh University under Nigel Osborne and Peter Nelson. She graduated in 1997 with a First Class Honours degree in music, winning the Tovey Memorial prize for composition, the Fraser-Bucher Scholarship and Richard Brown Scholarship. She completed a Masters in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in 1997 studying with Paul Patterson and went on to study with Sir Harrison Birtwistle at Kings College London. In 1998 she took part in the Young Musician of the Year Composers Workshop, broadcast on BBC2 and Radio 3, and has received a number of awards and scholarships including the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust. Performances include the London Sinfonietta and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Karen currently lives in Philadelphia, USA, with her husband Michael.
 

Garry Walker was born and educated in Edinburgh. He took up the cello at the age of seven and became a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. He was offered a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music but opted to take up a scholarship on the prestigious joint course at the Royal Northern College of Music and Manchester University. He graduated in 1995 with first class honours and now holds graduate and post-graduate diplomas from the RNCM as well as several prizes for chamber music and conducting. At University Garry Walker conducted the Chamber Orchestra for two years and commissioned several new works from student composers.

The award of a Junior Fellowship in Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1997 to study with Edward Warren and Timothy Reynish enabled him to conduct a wide repertoire from the baroque to contemporary, performing with many celebrated musicians. In November 1998 he conducted a highly acclaimed performance of Henze's opera Pollicino which opened the 'Henze at the RNCM' Festival and conducted the RNCM Sinfonia at the Montepulciano Festival in Italy.

In May 1999 Garry Walker completed his Junior Fellowship in conducting gaining the first distinction ever awarded by the RNCM for conducting. In July 1999 he won the sixth Leeds Conductor's Competition.

October 1999 saw his notably successful London debut replacing at very short notice an indisposed Daniele Gatti in the Royal Philharmonic's opening concert of their season at the Barbican. He has since worked regularly with the Orchestra.

In January 2000 he took part in a masterclass with Pierre Boulez and the London Symphony Orchestra as a result of which he was invited to take part in the Conducting Academy with Pierre Boulez at the Aix en Provence Festival in the summer of 2000.

In the UK Garry Walker has worked with such orchestras as the Halli, BBC Philharmonic and Scottish Symphony Orchestras, National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, English Northern Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. Chamber orchestras that he has conducted include the Northern Sinfonia, Paragon Ensemble, Ensemble 10:10, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. In 2002 he made three appearances at the Edinburgh Festival conducting concerts with the Edinburgh Festival Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He returned to the Festival in 2003 for concerts with Paragon Ensemble and a performance of Mahler's Symphony No 2 with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

In Germany he has conducted a tour with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and a series of concerts with the Bochum Symphony Orchestra. He returned to Germany at the beginning of 2003 to make his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.

In the 2005-2006 season, Garry's engagements include appearances at the 2005 Edinburgh International Festival and concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales, in addition to his regular appearances with the RSNO, RPO and Paragon Ensemble

Garry Walker is Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Paragon Ensemble.

Garry previously conducted the Meadows Chamber Orchestra in November 2003 and November 2004.
 

Rosie was brought up in Yorkshire, where she was encouraged to take up the oboe at the age of nine. She read modern languages at Oxford University before being awarded a post-graduate scholarship to The Royal College of Music, where she studied with Michael Winfield and John Anderson. Further scholarships from the Countess of Munster, Ian Fleming and Martin Trusts enabled her to continue her musical studies with eminent oboist Maurice Bourgue at the Geneva conservatoire (where she gained a first class Virtuosite diploma) and, subsequently, the Paris conservatoire, on the prestigious Troisieme Cycle programme.

Rosie has won numerous prizes at international competitions and has made many concerto performances, including Mozart in Geneva, Strauss in Leeds and Vivaldi in Edinburgh. She has launched a highly successful orchestral career and freelanced with most major UK orchestras before accepting a permanent position with The Scottish Chamber Orchestra in 1998. In 2003 she was appointed to the teaching staff at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama where she enjoys passing on her skills (from audition techniques to reed-making! ) to up and coming oboists.
 

Peter Evans enjoys an exceptionally varied career as solo pianist, chamber musician, conductor, teacher and performer on early instruments. He studied at Edinburgh University and the Vienna Hochschule and, since returning to live in Scotland, has given concerts throughout Great Britain as well as in the Republic of Ireland, Austria, France, Spain, Germany, Holland, Poland, the USA, the former USSR and Japan. He has also given masterclasses at festivals in both Britain and the USA.

Peter has made over 70 broadcasts for BBC Radio, several appearances on BBC Television and commercial recordings for Hyperion, Unicorn-Kanchana, BMG Classics, Linn and ASV Records. He has been Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Meadows Chamber Orchestra since its foundation in 1972.
 

Born in 1978, Marina Nadiradze studied at the State Conservatoire in Tbilisi in her native Georgia and, as a precocious nine-year-old, won the first of her many international awards in Vilnius, Lithuania. Since then she has gone on to amass an impressive list of competition successes, including 2nd prize in the inaugural Tbilisi International Piano Competition in 1997, 1st prize in the LASMO Staffa Award in 2000 and 2nd prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition in 2001.

Her exceptional talent was recognised immediately when she first played in Glasgow in 1998 and led to the offer of a postgraduate scholarship at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama to study with Philip Jenkins. While at RSAMD, Marina won many important prizes including the Peter Morrison Prize for overall excellence and an outstanding contribution to the life of the institution. She graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma and a Master's Degree in Performance, both with distinction, and since, with scholarships from the Myra Hess Trust and the Craxton Memorial Trust, she has gone on to pursue a flourishing solo career in many countries.

"The power and beauty of such exquisite artistry was the kind of heavenly experience to make you feel better about the world around you" Jack Webster, The Herald

"Marina Nadiradze chose the most daring concerto of the evening, Mozart's D minor K466. The many facets of Mozart are notoriously difficult to fathom, but here, there was poise and stylish acumen, fluency and elegance" Geoffrey Norris, Daily Telegraph

"A fresh sense of wonder penetrated the raw emotion of her performance" Carol Main, The Scotsman

"Marina Nadiradze whose fine dynamic control and masterly layering of detailed textures were put to mesmerising use in Prokofiev's Second Sonata" Michael Dervan, Irish Times
 

Born in Cyprus in 1980 Eleni Mavromoustaki showed an exceptional and precocious talent from an early age, winning numerous awards and prizes. She studied for four years at the Royal College of Music with Yonty Solomon during which time she was awarded the Cornelius Fisher prize for her performance of Scarlatti Sonatas and the Ellen Marie Curtis Prize for Haydn Sonatas.

Eleni went on to complete her Masters degree at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, studying with Fali Pavri, which was made possible by a full scholarship from the Leventis Foundation. At the RSAMD she was awarded the prestigious "Governors Recital" prize and the "Bach" Prize and also won the 2nd prize at the Patras International Piano Competition and the audience prize at the George Themis competition.

Eleni has given performances in St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Southwark Cathedral, the Tabernacl and major venues in Scotland, Iceland, Greece and Cyprus including frequent engagements as soloist with the Chamber Orchestra of Cyprus which are always broadcast on CYBC radio. She has recently given a private recital for the president of the Republic of Cyprus. As a chamber musician Eleni has toured Europe and the Far East with her duo partner violinist Harry Kerr.

In the coming season Eleni will be involved as a soloist in the World Premier of the Cypriot composer Savvas Savva's 'Concerto for Ten Pianos' accompanied by the CCO and the subsequent CD recording which will be distributed worldwide. Other events include a concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of Thessaly, performances in Scotland at venues such as the Queen's Hall and the Cathedral of St.Giles and frequent tours for 'Live Music Now'. Eleni's repertoire embraces a wide range of styles and eras with a particular interest in the music of Spanish and Latin American composers.
 

Haflidi Hallgrimsson was born in 1941 in the small town of Akureyri on the north coast of Iceland and began playing the cello at the age of ten. Among his music teachers were the Italian cellist Enrico Mainardi in Rome and British composers Alan Bush and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in London. He settled down in Britain in the sixties and made his home in Edinburgh in 1977. After a successful career as cellist, including periods with the English Chamber Orchestra and as Principal Cellist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Hallgrimsson devoted himself full-time to composition in 1983. He achieved international recognition for the highly successful Poemi for solo violin and string orchestra, awarded the prestigious Nordic Council Prize in 1986, as well as other prizes. Poemi has been followed by other works for soloist and string orchestra: Rima for soprano and string orchestra, commissioned for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, the cello concerto Herma (1994-95) and the viola concerto Ombra (1999).

Hallgrimsson's music shows a sensitivity to line and colour, shape and texture, which can undoubtedly be traced in part to the composer's interest in the visual arts. In 1996 he was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to write Still Life, in conjunction with a specially commissioned painting by the Scottish painter Craigie Aitchison. Aitchison's work is also an influence behind the major orchestral piece Crucifixion, commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Chamber music is an important part of Hallgrimsson's oeuvre. Among his compositions in this field are two string quartets, Offerto for solo violin and Solitaire for solo cello, that all testify to Hallgrimsson's deep understanding of string music. He has also written several pieces for choir, including some arrangements of Icelandic folk songs and Passia for choir, orchestra and soloists.