Naho Hayashi and Valerie Lim are final year and graduate performance masters pianists of the Royal Conservatoire Scotland based in Glasgow. Naho and Valerie will both be playing solo pieces and will team up with a Rebekah Lesan on cello and Michael Burslem on clarinet for some exciting chamber music.

The confirmed programme is as follows

• Robert Schumann - Three Romances Op.94
• Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Sonata Op.120 No.2
• Eduard Grieg Lyric Pieces Op.62  (1. Sylph 2. Gratitude 3. French Serenade 4. Brooklet 5. Phantom 6. Homeward)

(Intermission)

• Frederic Chopin - Nocturne Op.27 No.2
• George Gershwin/E.Wild - Virtuoso Etude No.4 Embraceable You
• Ludwig Van Beethoven - Piano Trio Op.11 “Gassenhauer”

We look forward to welcoming these fabulous musicians to Dunoon. 

Naho Hayashi started taking piano lessons in Japan at the age of three, and played throughout her childhood.  Her piano studies were interrupted by college and career:  she holds a degree in economics from Kyoto University, and was a management consultant at Deloitte in Tokyo.  However, after a 17-year absence, her love of the piano was re-ignited, following a trip to Valldemossa, in Mallorca, where Chopin spent the winter of 1838/1839.  She is currently in her final year of master's degree in music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Graeme McNaught.  When not playing or teaching the piano, Naho enjoys time with her family: her husband, their 12-year-old son - who speaks with a lovely Scottish accent - and Kuro, the French Bulldog.

Valerie Lim is an Indonesian pianist who is currently doing her postgraduate study at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, under the tutelage of Aaron Shorr and Nicholas Ashton. She recently graduated her Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree with First Class and had also studied under Fali Pavri and Jonathan Plowright in RCS. She has been a recipient of the RCS Trust Scholarship throughout her time in Scotland. Valerie has participated in masterclasses and has been active in competitions and festivals. She was also chosen to perform twice in the keyboard showcase in RCS. Some recent achievements include Winner of the Tony Tania Webster Prize, Winner of the Bach Prize, 2nd Prize in the Peter Lindsay Miller Prize for Piano Duo, 2nd Prize in the Classical Concerto Competition and 3rd Prize in the Lamond Competition in RCS. She also achieved the Gold Medal in the WPTA Indonesia International Piano Competition in 2021. Alongside her solo performances, she enjoys playing chamber music with other instrumentalists too.

Rebekah Lesan is a Slovak-American cellist who is all about working outside the box. She delights in music from ancient to modern, with a current attention to contemporary pieces through her work with emerging composers exploring music and electronics or music and visual media. Though classically trained (currently nearing the end of her bachelor’s degree in cello performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), she believes in crossing genres, having both engaged with Slovak and Scottish folk music and rock. She has performed numerous solo recitals in the United States and Slovakia, has won three all-Slovak competitions for cello solo, and has played in classical music festivals and concerts in the Czech Republic, Scotland, and Poland, as well. Passionate about chamber music, she is a prizewinner at multiple chamber music competitions, including a laureate winner in a cello trio at an international music competition in Hungary. Throughout all her work, she strives to create beauty with authenticity and help people of all ages understand and value the meaning of life.

Michael Burslem is a clarinettist based in his home city of Glasgow. He began his musical studies through access to free clarinet lessons thanks to Glasgow City Council’s Instrumental Music Service. He went on to complete a BA(Hons) degree in Music and Spanish at Bangor University in North Wales, completing a dissertation on the piano music of Catalan composer Frederic Mompou whilst also gaining a distinction in clarinet performance. Returning to Glasgow, Michael continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2022 in Clarinet Performance, where he studied with Yann Ghiro. Throughout his degree at the conservatoire, he discovered his passion for chamber music and went on to reach the final of the Governor’s Recital Prize for Chamber Music. Upon graduation, Michael was fortunate to receive a full scholarship from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to continue his studies with John Cushing and Tim Orpen for the academic year 2022/23. Alongside performance, Michael is also a keen music teacher, currently working with community music organisations such as Big Noise to share music-making with a wider audience