ADJUDICATORS FOR 2011
Robert Codd, wind
Lucy Gould, strings
Gerard McChrystal, saxophone
John Senter, strings 
Zoe Smith, junior classes
Frank Wibaut, piano

The Festival will be timetabled according to adjudicator availability.
ALL INSTRUMENTS classes may be given to any of the adjudicators

Robert Codd, of Welsh extraction, was born in Bristol.  He first took up the bassoon at Clifton College, Bristol and then read Music at University College, Cardiff, where he graduated in 1966 and also, gained the LRAM (Performers) diploma on the bassoon. He won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London studying with Geoffrey Gambold. After his studies Robert combined college activities with classroom teaching, peripatetic woodwind teaching and chamber music with the London Harpsichord Ensemble, Galliard Ensemble and Van Walsum Ensemble.  He spent several years freelancing, especially with contemporary music and wind chamber groups, as well as working at the London Festival Ballet (English National Ballet).  In 1973 he joined the BBC Welsh Orchestra (now the BBC National Orchestra of Wales) as principal bassoonist. Now retired, he is still involved in chamber music, adjudicating, teaching as a member of the University of Bristol (Dept of Music) visiting teaching staff, providing master-classes and other education work.   He is married to Jean Marsden, an oboist, who was a member of the BBC Concert Orchestra and London Festival Ballet.  They have two children, Rhodri and Rosalind.

Lucy Gould  studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Gyorgy Pauk where she won many prizes including the prestigious Queen’s Commendation for Excellence.  She then studied at Indiana University Bloomington, the Yale Summer School and the Banff Centre for the Arts.

She has performed much of the concerto repertoire with orchestras such as the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Bournemouth Sinfonietta and the English String Orchestra.   She has been invited to lead the Academy of St-Martin-in the-Fields, Halle, BBC Philharmonic, BBC NOW and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.   She holds the position of principal 2nd violin of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. 

Lucy founded the Gould Piano Trio whilst studying at the Royal Academy.   The Trio has won international competitions in the UK, Australia, Italy and Holland, and performs all over the world, broadcasting regularly for BBC Radio 3. Since 1999 the Gould Piano Trio has presented its own chamber music festival in Corbridge, Northumberland.  Lucy Gould lives in Cardiff with her husband, clarinettist Robert Plane, and three children and teaches at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Gerard McChrystal comes from Derry, N.Ireland.   He took up the saxophone in 1983 and by 1989 had performed as soloist with The Philharmonia in London and the RTE Concert Orchestra in Dublin.  He has performed with many orchestras and in many concert halls in 30 countries.  In 2003 Gerard became the first saxophonist from the UK/Ireland to give an orchestral concerto performance at the World Saxophone Congress in Minneapolis, USA and again in 2006 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  Later he performed at the BBC’s Proms in the Park. 

Gerard has premiered concertos by Sir Malcolm Arnold, John Metcalf, Michael Kamen and Dave Heath.  He has collaborated with artists, composers and ensembles in many parts of the world.  These include Philip Glass,The Soweto String Quartet, South Africa, The State Orchestra of Azerbaijan, Baku, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korea, The Karol Szymanowski String Quartet from Poland, Scottish tenorist Tommy Smith, percussion group Ensemble Bash, Irish vocal group Anúna and Australian guitarist Craig Ogden. In 2008 he won a Creative Leicestershire Award to develop his new solo project Stand Up. Recent albums have included CDs with Craig Ogden, The Smith Quartet and BBC NOW for labels Meridian, RTE LyricFM and Signum Records.

John Senter was born in Norfolk.  He studied the cello with Derek Simpson at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he won several prizes including the Suggia Award.  While at the Academy he became a founder member of the Arditti String Quartet – a quartet specializing in the performance of contemporary music.  On leaving the Academy he joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra before moving to Wales in 1977 to take up his current position of principal cello in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with whom he has also appeared as soloist.  He has also played with many other orchestras including the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic and London Mozart Players. He is also a member of staff of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and is married to Cathy, an oboist, with one son.

Zoe Smith    M.A. (Oxon) ALCM 
Head of Interdisciplinary Practice (Music) at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

As an accompanist, Zoë Smith has worked extensively in the UK and internationally with both singers and instrumentalists. A graduate of Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Music, she has developed strong links with Mexico, where she frequently performs and teaches. She has received prizes in song accompaniment and has also specialised in flute repertoire, working in master classes and recitals with many leading flautists and recording three CDs. She is a member of Altitude, a viola and piano duo, with Philip Hyman, Principal Viola of the WNO, and together they are actively commissioning new works by Welsh composers.
 

Frank Wibaut  Based in London, Frank is a well-known international pianist and teacher, who was first-prize winner in many major piano competitions. He has a performing repertoire of over 50 concerti and has worked with all the leading British orchestras and many international orchestras around the world. He tours in over 30 countries as both soloist and chamber musician and has made many distinguished recordings.  EMI, Hyperion, Chandos, Hugo, Bongiovanni and Polydor are among his recording labels.    

Frank was Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music, Professor of Piano and Head of Postgraduate Performance Studies at the Royal Academy of  Music, Director of the Australian National Academy of Music and Artistic Director of the Salzkammergut International Summer Course in Austria.   He is a visiting Professor in over 10 countries including Japan and Austria, where he is a regular performer and teacher at both the Kirishima International festival and the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg.