Richard Holloway (Chair)
Richard Holloway is the Chair of the joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen, and has had a varied career as writer and broadcaster. He was Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus (Archbishop) of the Scottish Episcopal Church until he stood down in 2000.
Richard was Gresham Professor of Divinity in the City of London 1997-2001. He was a member of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority from its inception in 1990 until 1997, and chaired its ethics committee. He was a member of the Broadcasting Standards Commission from 2000-2003. He became Chairman of the Scottish Arts Council in 2005. A frequent broadcaster, he has presented a number of television series, including Holloway’s Road and The Sword and the Cross and also BBC Radio Scotland’s flagship book programme, Cover Stories. He is in constant demand as a lecturer and after-dinner speaker.
Maggie Cunningham
Maggie Cunningham established her own executive coaching and media consulting business, Perform2Succeed, two years ago, after 20 years in senior positions in the BBC, including Head of Radio, Scotland and Joint Head of Programmes and Services. As well as being a founding board member of Sistema Scotland, she is a member of court of the University of the West of Scotland and a director of Sabhal Mor Ostaig, the Gaelic College on Skye. She is currently doing a Diploma in Advanced Executive Coaching with the Academy of Executive Coaching.
Nicola Benedetti began violin lessons at the age of five. In 1997, she entered the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with Natasha Boyarskaya. After leaving the Yehudi Menuhin School she continued her studies with Maciej Rakowski in London. She is currently taking lessons from Pavel Vernikov in Vienna.
In recent seasons Nicola has performed with almost all of the UK and Ireland’s major symphony orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony orchestra and the RTE Orchestra. She has received invitations to work with a list of international orchestras including the Deutsche Symphony Orchestra in Berlin, the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, NDR Orchester in Llubjiana, Het Brabants Orkest, the Orchestre de Picardie, KBS Symphony and the Japan Philharmonic. Nicola’s busy schedule has also seen her perform in North America with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and with the Vancouver, Colorado, Phoenix, Toronto and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestras.
In addition to her performance and recording activities, Nicola has devoted herself to humanitarian and educational causes. She is already involved with Big Noise as our “Musical Big Sister”. Since 2005, she has visited schools throughout the United Kingdom in conjunction with the CLIC Sargent Practice-a-thon, in which she encourages pupils of all ages to pick up their instruments and enjoy classical music. Nicola is also a UNICEF Celebrity Supporter.
Kathryn Jourdan studied music as an instrumental award holder at Clare College, Cambridge, then viola with Simon Rowland Jones at the Royal Northern College of Music. Whilst in Manchester she taught violin and chamber music at Chetham’s School of Music, and was a practice supervisor with special pastoral responsibility for 11-14 year olds. She freelanced with the Manchester Camerata, BBC Philharmonic and various chamber ensembles and on leaving college in 1990 she joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where she was a member for five years, taking an active role in the outreach work of the orchestra in the inner city education and community settings.
On leaving the orchestra Kathryn returned to Cambridge to train as a secondary music teacher whilst playing in a London-based string quartet for three years. In 1998 she moved to Edinburgh, where she freelances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and other chamber groups. Kathryn coaches chamber groups at St Mary’s Music School, teaches the viola at George Watson’s College and trains junior choristers for Old St Paul’s Church. She is currently completing a PhD in music education based in the Faculty of Education, Cambridge University.
Paul Jourdan studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and then violin
with Roger Raphael at RNCM in Manchester, teaching as Roger’s assistant at Chethams School of Music, where he also coached chamber music and conducted the school’s string ensemble. Having worked with Manchester Camerata, Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic, he went on to join the first violin section of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1990-94, where he was also involved in the orchestra’s community and educational outreach work in the inner city area. From 1995-98 he completed a PhD at Clare College, Cambridge on Mendelssohn’s Visits to England, 1829-37, looking at the early development of the modern music profession, whilst also performing regularly with the Jourdan String Quartet, including a South Bank debut concert and a residency series at Highmore Hall.
Paul was a founding board member of the Dunedin Consort, and in 2010 he became a director of Hebrides Ensemble. After a few years on the Strings Advisory Board Paul was appointed a Governor of the RSAMD.
Since 1998 Paul has also worked extensively in the Edinburgh financial sector. In January 2010 he led a management buy-out to acquire Noble Fund Managers, and re-named the company Amati Global Investors.
Horn player Fergus McWilliam was born in Scotland and grew up in Canada where he began his musical studies. Further studies were undertaken in Amsterdam (Adriaan van Woudenberg) and Stockholm (Wilhelm Lanzky-Otto). From 1972 to 1979 Fergus was a member of several Canadian orchestras and chamber music ensembles before joining the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under Antal Dorati. From 1982 to 1985 he was a member of the Bavarian Radio Symphony under Raphael Kubelik and Leonard Bernstein.
In 1985 Fergus was appointed to the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan. In addition to the orchestra’s two most recent Musical Directors, Claudio Abbado and Sir Simon Rattle, he has also performed as a Berliner Philharmoniker with Carlos Kleiber, Günter Wand, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Eugen Jochum, Klaus Tennstedt, Sergiu Celibidache, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, Pierre Boulez, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, James Levine and Daniel Barenboim. Other historical figures with whom he performed, collaborated, or by whom he was personally influenced include Aaron Copland, György Ligeti, Leopold Stokowski, Mstislav Rostropovich and Glenn Gould.
Fergus also teaches students from around the world and he has given master classes at a number of leading music schools in many different countries. Not only has he taught at both the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Academy and the Hanns-Eisler-Musikhochschule in Berlin; he has also been a visiting lecturer at, for example, the Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall School in London, the Paris Conservatoire and the Tokyo University of Fine Arts. He currently maintains a teaching commitment at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and continues his decade-long active involvement with El Sistema’s brass programme.
He has been active in orchestra politics for over 20 years, chairing and serving on commitees responsible for the Berlin Philharmonic’s famous self-administration and as a member, both of the orchestra foundation’s Board of Trustees, as well as of the Board of Directors of the Berliner Philharmonie GmbH.
Donald Lamont
Donald Lamont’s experience as former Ambassador to Venezuela has been invaluable. He has also worked as the Chief of Staff to the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1997-99. He was Governor of the Falkland Islands and Commissioner for South Georgia and Sandwich Islands from 1999 – 2002, and was Ambassador to Uruguay from 1991-1994. He has also served in Berlin, Moscow, and Vienna.
During his postings at the FCO in London, Mr Lamont’s jobs have included: Head of the Republic of Ireland Department from 1994 – 1997; Assistant Head of United Nations Department from 1985 – 1988; Head of Section, later Deputy Head of Department, of the Falkland Islands Department, from 1982 – 1985; and Desk Officer, in the Marine & Transport Department from 1974 – 1977. Before joining the FCO, he worked in the motor industry.
Irene Tweedie
Irene Tweedie left BBC Scotland in 2006 after 12 years as Head of Finance, Property and Business Affairs.
Educated at Stirling University, she is a mathematics graduate who taught in secondary schools before moving to industry and training as a Chartered Management Accountant.
She gained broad experience working in London in the contracting and oil exploration industries then returned to Scotland to work in silicon glen before spending 6 years with Price Waterhouse as a management consultant.
As part of BBC Scotland’s Board, Irene has a proven track record in strategic planning and building and leading teams. Irene lives in Bothwell and is on the boards of 2 charities which work with learning disabled people: ProjectAbility and Indepen-dance. She is a board member of the National Theatre of Scotland.
Peter Stevenson
Peter has had a career in finance, principally as a director of Noble Grossart Limited. He was subsequently Chairman of the Paisley-based retailing group, Mackay Stores Holdings Limited. He is the chairman of The Really Terrible Orchestra.
