Alma Cope

Alma co-founded the music school with husband Brian in 2005 and for the past 12 years, in addition to maintaining a full-time career, has dedicated her every Saturday morning to the smooth running of the school.  Alma's sunny and engaging personality has helped foster a real sense of community in the music school, creating a safe and welcoming environment for children to thrive.

Alma is available in the main waiting area from 9.00am until 1.00pm and can help with all enquiries relating to music school matters.

A few fun facts about Alma:

• Alma is from Albania and is often mistaken for being Spanish
• 3 scoops of ice-cream: raspberry ripple, pistachio and Ferrero Rocher
• She loves to sing
• She speaks Abanian, English, Italian and French and will pretty much have a go at any language!

Kerry Turnbull (BA Hons)

Kerry is originally from Edinburgh where she studied for an honours degree in music at what was then Stevenson College. She has completed
ABRSM graded exams in piano, violin and music theory and has attended several training courses in early years music and singing with NYCoS, Colourstrings, Singing Mamas and RSNO.

Kerry has done a lot of work with children over the years in various roles from After School Club Assistant to Beaver Scout Leader
to Holiday Club Coach where she ran music activities for 3-12 year olds. Kerry has been teaching piano and violin since 2008 and running baby and toddler music classes for over 10 years, first in Edinburgh and now in the Scottish Borders where she lives. She
also enjoyed providing music for her local dementia support group for many years and is grateful that she can share the joy and benefits of music with people of all ages.

Some fun facts about Kerry!

• Kerry’s love of music started at 4 years old when she was allowed to play on her Nana’s keyboard.
• She has a dog called Rowan who is a border collie. Rowan loves country walks and playing with her ball or stick!
• Kerry loves singing and dancing and has performed in lots of different musicals on stage in Edinburgh.
• Likes: Strawberry ice cream, ham and pineapple pizza, going to the beach and gardening.
• Dislikes: seafood, being cold, big spiders!

Amy Sims BA (Hons), MMus

Originally from Devon, Amy started learning the violin at the age of 7 and the cello from the age of 13. In 2010, she graduated from Trinity College of Music with a Master of Music in Performance.  Amy has over 20 years’ experience teaching beginners to advanced players of all ages. Her teaching approach focuses on building good technical foundations and developing all-round musicianship skills. She always enjoys exploring new ways to make string playing a fun, inclusive and interactive experience for all of her pupils.

As a member of the European String Teachers Association, Amy finds researching new materials and discussing different approaches to string pedagogy a constant source of inspiration for teaching and daily practice. Amy has performed in venues in London and on cruise ships around the world. In the past, Amy performed regularly with the Arion Orchestra. She would love to establish a new string ensemble with friends and colleagues in the future.

A few interesting facts about Amy:

• Amy is a keen hiker, runner and rower.
• Her favourite food is dark chocolate.
• Amy could chat all day about football, her most recent obsession.
• Amy loves weather, especially rain and thunderstorms!

Megan Porter BMus (Hons)

Valentin Danisevicius DEM, DipABRSM

• I love boardgames, my favourite is Everdell
• I used to play lead guitar in metal bands
• I studied Opera singing as a tenor for 3 years
• I could eat curry almost every day!

Dominique Boeynaems BMus MMus

Dominique started his practice of the classical guitar at the age of 8. After several years of private lessons, he attended De! Kunsthumaniora, high school for the arts in Antwerp, Belgium, where he graduated with distinction. In 2017, he completed his undergrad at the Royal Conservatoire of Ghent in guitar performance, where he studied with Johan Fostier and Yves Storms. He recently graduated with a Masters Degree in Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he received classes with Scottish guitarist Matthew McAllister.

Dominique is very passionate about teaching guitar and music in general to the next generation. He also enjoys being involved in chamber music as well as working with other musicians, and is always looking towards new projects to take on. One project that Dominique is currently leading is the second season of the Glasgow Guitar Nights, giving a stage to young and upcoming guitarists.

Olivier Julien

Olivier has been playing drums for close to 20 years and teaching with charities/secondary school educational programs and privately for close to 10. He studied for a BMus in Popular Music Performance at the Institute for Contemporary Music Performance in London and went on to complete a Masters Degree in Sound Design and Audiovisual Composition at the University of Glasgow. Olivier has performed throughout the UK and Europe with Maz and the Phantasms, as one half of Cabaret comedy duo Buff Daddy and as a drummer for French Chanson band L'air de Rien'. Olivier has continued into new areas of activity throughout the last 5 years in Scotland creating audio collages, essays and abstract theatre that has been shown with Radiophrenia at Glasgow's CCA, LightsOutListening group, To A Passer By, Sound Thought, Strangefield @ French Street and at exhibitions in varying educational institutions such as Glasgow University, GSA and Goldsmiths in London. His main passion is for performance and utilising the drum kit and it's languages as a craft that leads, builds and creates new pathways for discovery.'

Louise Martin MMus, PGCE, BA (Hons)

Louise spent eight years as a high school music teacher before running away with the circus, where she branched out from classical cello and piano into rock, punk, ska, country, theremin, musical saw and stilt-walking. Following postgraduate MMus study in Ethnomusicology, and Music in the Community, she settled back in Edinburgh.

She now works as a freelance musician in a variety of contexts: she has led creative music projects for East Lothian and Highland Councils, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble and Royal Lyceum Theatre; has taught Music in the Community at Napier University and (currently) the University of Edinburgh; has been privileged to study djembe techniques at Alla Leake Percussion (The Gambia); has organised education work for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; works with adult leisure-time musicians as Musical Director of the Merchant Sinfonia (Glasgow) and Stockbridge and New Town Community Orchestra (Edinburgh); and has led community choirs for the Royal Lyceum Theatre and Stellar Quines theatre company. Alongside her freelance work she is Director of Access, Engagement and Participation with Scotland’s exciting contemporary classical music group Red Note Ensemble.

A few fun facts about Louise:

• If she was an animal she'd like to be a Friesian cow – just mosey-ing along, grazing all day. Mmmmoooooo!
• Her favourite day out in Edinburgh a walk along the River Almond walkway, ending up at the ice-cream van at Cramond harbour
• 3 scoops of ice-cream: Belgian chocolate, blackcurrant sorbet, raspberry sorbet
• She started to play the Recorder when she was 8
  Piano when she was 9
  Violin when she was 10
  Cello when she was 11
  Musical Saw when she was old enough to know better!

Emma Cairns BMus (Hons)

Emma joined Portobello Music School at age 7, when she began learning the violin. A few
years later she started attending piano and ensemble lessons as well. Emma recently graduated
from the University of Edinburgh with an Honours degree in music. In her final year, she focused
on a community music/music education project which sparked her interest in working with
children. She is currently employed by Sistema Scotland as a support musician and teaches the
violin privately.

Emma also loves to play, particularly in ensemble settings. She has played the violin in pit bands
for multiple 5 star productions at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She is also a member of the Gal
Trio, a two violin and flute ensemble who focus predominantly on creating and performing unique
arrangements of folk music. Although Emma was trained classically, she has developed a love for
both folk music and improvising, which she frequently implements in her teaching.

Here are some interestng facts about Emma:

• If I could choose any instrument to master it would be the drums
• I have two very fluffy cats who I love to hang out with in my spare time
• I speak two languages, English and Czech
• My biggest fear is snakes

Marianna di Costanzo, MMus, PGDE

Marianna started playing the piano when she was 4 years old, using the Yamaha method. She studied at the Conservatory of Music in Aosta, Italy, and graduated with honours in 2017. During her studies at the Conservatory, Marianna focused on chamber music and piano accompaniment for singers and instrumentalists. She performed at several venues and events throughout Northern Italy, in a piano-clarinet duo.

For 3 years, she was a piano accompanist for the CantoLeggero choir, providing accompaniment for numerous concerts and seminars, as well as for dance lessons and exams through the UK-based Royal Academy of Dance. In 2017, Marianna took part in the Festival Suoni d’Abruzzo, an international chamber music and orchestra festival, where she attended the chamber music course held by clarinettist Andrea Massimo Grassi.
To further her professional studies, Marianna earned a MMus in Piano Accompaniment, and a PGDE in Music, both from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has gained valuable experience as a music educator both in a classroom setting, and teaching private piano lessons to children of all ages.

With dedication and passion, Marianna brings an open-minded approach to children’s piano education. Her lessons include focuses on improvisation, aural-training, and singing, to engage and support the student’s learning development.

A few interesting facts about Marianna:

• Marianna speaks English, French and Italian.
• She loves baking and her mission is finding the best bakery when visiting new places.
• Her first piano teacher discovered that Marianna has perfect pitch.
• She would love to learn how to play the Harp.

Eleftheria Vogiatzaki, MSc, BA

Eleftheria started her piano and music theory studies at the age of 5. After graduating from High School, Eleftheria continued her music studies at the University of Macedonia's  department of Music Science and Art. Eleftheria was one of the piano students of the piano soloist Alexandra Papastefanou and performed in Athens at several Musical Theatre shows. She has a special interest in using music as a tool for communication and expression and the power of music for bringing people together. She received a scholarship from the University of Edinburgh to further her professional studies to MSc level and graduated from the department of Music in the Community.  Eleftheria is also a certificated Kodaly Musicianship Teacher and has over 15 years' experience working as a music teacher in Scotland, including Primary and Secondary Schools as well as in Special Education.

Here are some interesting things about Eleftheria:

• She is a great believer that life without music would Bb
• She speaks Greek and English and is trying hard to learn Spanish.
• If Eleftheria was an animal she would like to be a turtle.