Finlay Hetherington / trumpet

 Finlay trained at both Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music studying trumpet under John Miller and the late John McMurray.  In 2005 Finlay completed a postgraduate degree in music education at Edinburgh University and has since worked as a musician and educator across the UK, Far East and USA. Over the last few years Finlay has composed and arranged numerous works for solo trumpet and brass ensemble, including improvisations for an award-winning feature film soundtrack, producing music for BBC education at the Edinburgh Fringe, arranging music for BBC One’s Rillington Place and he has been commissioned to write several bespoke fanfares, including celebrating the switching on of Edinburgh’s West End Christmas lights and a centenary birthday in Iowa, USA.  Finlay remains dedicated to music education and coaching groups and was the first musical director for the Edinburgh Military Wives’ Choir, worked at St Mary’s Music School as a trumpet and brass chamber music tutor and is a brass teacher in a number of Edinburgh City Schools.

 

John Sampson / trumpet

John studied at Napier College in the 1970s and has two diplomas in trumpet. As a freelance player his television credits include six series of ‘Rab C Nesbitt’, ‘The Baldy Man’, ‘The Big Picnic’, ‘Border Warfare’, ‘John Brown’s Body, ‘The Satire of the Fourth Estaite’ and the South Bank Show. He was composer and musical director on numerous BBC radio plays including the five episode adaptation of the Bride of Lammermuir . He has performed in nearly every theatre in Scotland from Wick to Berwick.

He has completed more than thirty tours of Europe from 1985 – 2000 with ‘Scarlatti’s Birthday Party’ performing in many top concert halls and theatres. As a session player he has performed across many different genres from folk music to reggae and is a member of the Royal Society of Musicians. For the last 14 years he has collaborated with Carol Ann Duffy the Poet Laureate and toured extensively in the UK and also in UAE, Europe and New Zealand.

 

Fiona McLean / trombone

Born in Edinburgh, Fiona began playing the trombone at the age of 12.  After leaving school, she gained 2 teaching diplomas from the London College of Music while studying at Stevenson College in Edinburgh.  In 2005, Fiona graduated from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a BMus Honours Degree on tenor and alto trombone.  In 2006 Fiona completed a MMus on bass trombone and in 2007 became a Guildhall Artist by undertaking a Masters in Musical Performance while her brass quintet ‘Brass Spectrum’ studied as ensemble in residence.  Fiona’s freelance work spans from early music through jazz, including orchestral, theatre and soul band work.  Since returning to Edinburgh in 2011 Fiona maintains a busy freelance career while having a keen interest in orchestration and arranging.  She has a particular passion for chamber music and is the founder of Castle Brass – a large chamber brass ensemble based in Edinburgh.  Fiona currently works as a brass instructor for the City of Edinburgh Council and is the trombone specialist for Napier University and Edinburgh College.

 

Robert Newth/ french horn

Robert graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2014 and enjoys a varied freelance career including chamber, orchestral and education work. He is the horn player for wind quintet Prismatic Winds, has recorded with rock band Mogwai, and has taught for North Lanarkshire Council. His orchestral experience includes touring the Netherlands with the Universities of Scotland Symphony Orchestra, side-by-side rehearsals with the RSNO and with the BBC SSO. He has extensive musical theatre experience with credits in London’s West End, UK tours, Edinburgh Fringe shows, and work for Cambridge University and the National Theatre of Scotland. Robert also works as an organist, sound designer, and is an award-winning screen composer. His music has been broadcast on Sky 1 and shown before film screenings in Vue Cinemas.

 

Robert Fraser /  tuba

Originally from Penicuik south of Edinburgh, Robert started playing a brass instrument at the age of 12.  In 2003 Robert Studied at Stevenson College Edinburgh before going on to gain a Bachelor of Education in Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Since graduating in 2008 Robert has held posts as a Brass instructor in Glasgow, Aberdeenshire and West Lothian and currently works for South Lanarkshire and Clackmannanshire Councils as a music instructor. As a conductor Robert has directed many ensembles in his career including Whitburn Heartlands to the 4th section Scottish Championship title in 2015 and then on to conduct the same band at the National finals later that year. As a Tuba player Robert has played with Whitburn Band since January 2004 where he has played at National and European events in London, Amsterdam, Belgium and France.  Robert joined ‘Brass Tracks’  in the summer of 2015