John Cameron
Born in 1970, John’s early musical studies centred on the violin and viola, first at the RSAMD junior department and then at St Mary’s Music School in Edinburgh. Having been offered a scholarship to enter the Royal Northern College of Music, he continued studying viola with Simon Rowland-Jones and Nicholas Logie leaving to pursue other interests in 1991. He was then offered the chance to work in Denmark as an accompanist and coach and also as conductor for the Nordvestjyske Sinfonie Orkester.
John returned in 1996 to study piano accompaniment at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he won a Sir Henry Richardson Award in his first year. He was awarded a GSMD bursary and scholarship and a Geoffrey Parsons Memorial Award to continue at the Guildhall for a second year in which he won the schools Schubert and the Armourers and Brasiers Accompaniment Prize in 1998 and 1999.
John has taken part in masterclasses given by Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Sarah Walker, Iain Burnside and Robin Bowman and has performed at the Wigmore Hall, St.John's Smith Square, the Barbican Hall and at the Edinburgh and Cheltenham International Music festivals. He also took part in the Young Songmakers Masterclasses 1998 and again in 2000.
Highlights have included giving the opening concert at the Covent Garden Festival ‘99, recitals at the Wigmore Hall in September 2000 with Sally Matthews, and at St. John’s Smith Square. A performance of Messiaen’s ‘Harawi’ at the Cheltenham International Festival met with critical acclaim. John was the winner of the Megan Foster Accompanists Prize 1999 and has performed on BBC Radio Three, BBC4, Radio Scotland and S4C. Among others, he has worked with singers Sarah Walker, Gweneth-Ann Jeffers, The Dunedin Consort, Mark Stone, Stefan Loges, Sophie Karthauser and Matthew Brook. A recording of songs by Ronald Stevenson with the soprano Susan Hamilton was released in 2003 on Delphian records. As well as his recital work, John has worked with Grange Park and Birmingham Opera Company in 2001, and as the tour pianist and Music Director for the ‘Essential Scottish Opera’ 2002 tour.
Since joining the staff at St.Mary's Music School he has been active as a recitalist, accompanying both string players and wind players in concert and masterclasses as well as teaching piano and chamber music. He has worked with Mr McFall's Chamber, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Cadenza, Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and acted as repetiteur for Gennadi Rozhdestvensky (2008), Phillipe Herreweghe (2009), Donald Runnicles (2011 & 2013), Sir Roger Norrington and Robin Ticciati at the Edinburgh International Festival. John recently took part in the Edinburgh International Festival's 'Love in a Library/Bookshop/Flowerbed' series of concerts.
In 2014 he took over from Richard Beauchamp as Head of Keyboard at St Mary's Music School. In 2019 he was appointed Assistant Director of Music and in 2022 Acting Director of Music.
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