RNCM Wind Orchestra with Kevin Gowland (flute) & Hilary Summers (mezzo-soprano)

Kevin Gowland is Head of School of Wind, Brass and Percussion-Director of Woodwind and Senior Flute Tutor at the RNCM.His career started at the age of 22 when he was appointed as Flute Section Leader with The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra by Sir Simon Rattle, a position he held for 17 years. From 2005 he was Principal Flute with The Orchestra of Opera North leaving in 2018 to take up the role of Deputy Head of SWBP, Director of Woodwind at the RNCM.

He has appeared as Guest Principal Flute with the LSO, RPO, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia, Halle, RLPO, RSNO, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra of Wales aswell as many session orchestras and appeared on screen in the first Downton Abbey film.

As a concerto soloist Kevin has collaborated with Sir Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramo, Valery Gergiev, Paavo Jarvi, Sir Mark Elder, Christian Gansch, Nicholas McGegan, Nicholas Kraemer and Richard Farnes, covering a wide spectrum of the flute concerto repertoire.

Kevin made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut in a live broadcast and has since appeared as a recitalist at the Purcell Room; Symphony Hall, Birmingham; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; The Cheltenham Festival; gave three recitals at National Flute Association (NFA) 2019 in Salt Lake City and gave the first solo recital in the inaugural week of events at The Howard Assembly Room, Leeds.

Kevin has given Masterclasses at RCM, RBC, LCoM, RWCMD and has been a panel member for many competitions including the NFA 2020 High School Soloist competition and televised Woodwind final BBC Young Musician of the Year.

Kevin joined the RNCM as a Flute Tutor in 2017, was appointed to the position of Deputy Head of School of Wind, Brass and Percussion- Director of Woodwind in 2018 and started officially as Head of School of Wind, Brass and Percussion-Director of Woodwind in September 2022 having covered the role for six months.

Born in South Wales, contralto Hilary Summers gained a BA in music from Reading University and continued her vocal studies at the Royal Academy of Music and the National Opera studio. She enjoys a busy international career and has recorded over forty CDs spanning works from the early baroque period to the present day.

Her three-octave range has excited the attention of many composers. She has sung in numerous world premieres including George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill at the Bastille, Paris; Elliot Carter’s What Next at the Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim; Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest and Alice’s Adventures Underground with the LA Philharmonic in Los Angeles; Peter Eotvos’ Le Balcon at the Aix Festival and Facing Goya and War Work by Michael Nyman.

Hilary worked closely with the iconic composer and conductor Pierre Boulez from 2004. With the ensemble intercontemporain, they recorded his masterwork Le marteau sans maître, for which she won a Grammy, and performed the piece worldwide. She also performed Le visage nuptial, Stravinsky’s Les Noces and Ligeti’s Aventures and Aventures nouvelles under his inspirational baton.

A regular soloist with leading European period instrument ensembles, she has a close rapport with Christian Curnyn and the early opera company with whom she has recorded Handel’s Semele, Partenope, Flavio, Serse, and Il trionfo del tempo. Other baroque highlights include Handel’s Orlando and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants.

Hilary sings internationally on the concert platform in a variety of repertoire from Bach to Birtwistle and has given over one hundred performances of Handel’s Messiah. Other concert works include Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and Mahler’s Symphonies 2 and 3.

Operatic roles include Sorceress; Juno; Jocasta, Cornelia; Polinesso; Amadigi; Tisbe (La Cenerentola); Gaea (Daphne); Geneviève (Pelléas); Baba the Turk/Mother Goose; Hippolyta; Mrs Sedley; Bianca; Mescalina (Le Grand Macabre); Diana Orsini (Bomarzo); Miss Prism.

Film soundtracks include Michael Nyman’s The Claim and The Libertine, Howard Shore’s The Fellowship of the Ring and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, andthe BBC tv series The League of Gentlemen by Joby Talbot.

Hilary regularly gives masterclasses and has run courses specialising in contemporary vocal techniques at Yale University and the Festival Aix-en Provence.  Since 2017 she has taught singing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

This autumn she makes her debut at La Scala, Milan in the World Premiere of Georgy Kurtag’s opera Fin de Partie. Other forthcoming engagements include Brescianello’s Tisbe at the Buxton Festival, Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten in Helsinki, a European tour of Handel’s Messiah and Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Underground at the Royal Opera House.

Mark Heron is a Scottish conductor known for dynamic and well-rehearsed performances across an unusually wide range of repertoire, and his expertise as an orchestral trainer.

As guest conductor he has appeared with the, BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Psappha, Meininger Hofkapelle, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, Pori Sinfonietta, St Petersburg Festival Orchestra and many more. He is the Music Director of the Nottingham Philharmonic and Head of Conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music where he works regularly with all of the College’s orchestras and ensembles and runs the renowned conducting programmes. Mark is the conductor laureate of the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra and for ten years was Director of Orchestras at the University of Manchester.

Dedicated to working with young musicians, in addition to his role at the RNCM Mark has conducted ensembles from the Royal Academy of Music, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Tilburg & Maastricht Conservatories, the National Youth Wind Orchestras of Great Britain, Wales and Israel, Slovenian National Youth Orchestra, and many more.

Mark has a keen interest in contemporary music and has given world premieres of many important works. He has collaborated with leading composers such as Kalevi Aho, George Benjamin, Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Unsuk Chin, Tansy Davies, Detlev Glanert, Heiner Goebbels, Anders Hillborg, Giya Kancheli, Magnus Lindberg, Sir James McMillan, Colin Matthews, Christopher Rouse, Kaija Saariaho, and Mark Anthony Turnage. In 2018 he gave the the world premiere of Adam Gorb’s opera The Path to Heaven, and in 2006 the European premiere of American composer Daron Hagen’s opera, Bandanna. He has recorded dozens of CDs with the RNCM Wind Orchestra featuring contemporary wind repertoire on labels such as Chandos, Naxos, NMC, ASC and Polyphonic.

Mark studied at the RSAMD and the RNCM. Following a successful chamber music career and freelance work with many of the UK’s professional symphony orchestras, he undertook conducting studies at the RNCM and in master classes with Neeme & Paavo Järvi, Jorma Panula, and Sir Mark Elder. He worked with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra on their mentoring programme for young conductors.

Alongside his conducting engagements, Mark is increasingly recognised as one of the world’s foremost conducting teachers, and students of his have achieved notable success. As well as his work across all of the RNCM’s renowned conducting programmes, he developed an elite undergraduate conducting programme at the University of Manchester, is a visiting professor to the Royal Air Force and appears often as a guest at conducting courses and master classes all over the world.

Matteo Dal Maso is an Italian symphonic and opera conductor. Before starting his conducting studies at the world-renowned conducting class at the Royal Northern College of Music (UK) he played as a clarinetist in top-tier orchestras such as the Orchestra del Teatro Regio in Turin (IT).

After serving as music director of the Filarmonica San Marco (2018/2022), Matteo gained his international reputation conducting many professional orchestras including the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, Dallas Winds, Orchestra Filarmonica Salernitana, Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Athens Philharmonia Orchestra, and Beogradski Simfoničari. In June 2021, Matteo made his Opera debut conducting Carmen at the JK Tyl Theater in Pilsen (CZ).

He has been selected to join several masterclasses around the world held by Cristian Măcelaru, Daniel Oren, Sir Mark Elder, Colin Metters, Michael Sanderling, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Michalis Economou, Mark Chichon, Mark Shapiro, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Mark Heron, and Marco Zuccarini.

During his studies in the UK, Matteo has been assisting the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic working  with conductors such as John Storgards, Elena Schwarz, Antony Hermus and Mark Wigglesworth. In the upcoming season, Matteo will debut with the Nottingham Philarmonic and the Stockport Symphony Orchestra and he will work with Domingo Hindoyan assisting the opera production of “Gianni Schicchi” with Sir Bryn Terfel the Royal Liverpool Philarmonic.

Beside his conducting activities, Matteo is also known as a refined composer. His chamber music works has been performed in important venues such as the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Teatro Carignano in Torino, and the Bernie Wohl Music Center in Manhattan, NYC.

His sophisticated talent and dedicated passion are recognized by the Fondazione Cecilia Gilardi who supports him in his studies at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Ann Miller (2^nd year MMus) enjoyed music from a young age, studied flute with David Nicholson and joined the Royal Marines Band Service as a flautist and saxophonist at 17. After completing her BMus(Hons) degree she conducted a variety of Royal Marine Bands and local ensembles gaining her LRSM in Musical Direction in 2010.

She has experienced a varied career showcasing worldwide with many musical highlights including a flute solo performance in the Royal Albert Hall and as a Royal Marine Bandmaster, conducting concerts throughout the UK and Europe. After achieving her commission to RM Officer in January 2021, she is now studying conducting at the RNCM whereupon completion, she will become a Director of Music of a Royal Marine Band.