Biography
Nicola Turner was born in Edinburgh and began playing the clarinet when she was 11. Graduating from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with a BMus(Hons) in 2007, where she studied with Maximiliano Martin and Simon Butterworth, she moved to London where she completed an MA (Distinction) at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of Tim Lines, Angela Malsbury and Richard Addison.
Nicola has always been a keen orchestral player and has performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the London Contemporary Orchestra, RSAMD Orchestras, RAM Orchestras and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland under the baton of Ilan Volkov, Lutz Koehler, Diago Masson, Yan Pascal Tortellier and Tadaaki Otaka. She has gained Apprenticeships with the RSNO (2005/06), the BBCSSO (2007/08) and recently took part in the LSO/RAM Scheme playing 2nd clarinet. Nicola was also 2nd clarinet of the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra with whom she performed and toured for two years (2006-08).
Always a proactive and dedicated chamber musician, Nicola is the recent winner of the Nicholas Blake Ensemble prize from the Royal Academy of Music. She is currently the clarinettist of “Quintet Zambra”, a wind quintet who are members of Enterprise Music Scotland and regularly perform together across the UK. They were awarded Highly Commended in the RSAMD Governors Recital Competition 2007 and also won the Mary D Adams Chamber Music Prize in 2007. Nicola is also a member of the newly formed Cameo Clarinet Quartet.
As a soloist, Nicola has performed Crusell’s Clarinet Concerto, Op.5, in The Central Hall, Edinburgh, and on tour in Spain (including venues in Cordoba, Granada and Seville). She has also performed in public masterclasses all over the UK with many prestigious players including Michael Collins, Joan-Enric Lluna, Anthony Pay, Andrew Marriner, Cristo Barrios, Barnaby Robson, Mark Van der Weill and Nick Cox.
Nicola is thoroughly active in the education system and has over 10 years experience teaching clarinet, saxophone, piano, recorder and music theory to students of all ages and standards in both solo and group contexts. Her students currently have an 100% ABRSM pass rate.
