Darwin Ensemble

Violin & Artistic Director

Alex Laing's musical education began at the Edinburgh Academy and at St. Mary's Music School where he studied violin with Warren Jacobs and worked closely with Lord Menuhin.

He then read music at Christ's College Cambridge, before going on to further his violin studies at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Conductor

Philip Scriven studied at the Royal Academy of Music, and held organ scholarships at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and St. John’s College, Cambridge.

Violin

Noriko is based in Elgar’s home town of Malvern.  She started playing the violin and piano from an early age, and attended the Junior Department at the Royal College of Music in London.  She gained a MusB (Hons) from the University of Manchester, followed by a Postgraduate Performance Diploma and MPhil in Performance from the Royal Northern College of Music.

Violin

Ali studied at the University of East Anglia, gaining a BA (Hons) in Music, before moving to Manchester to study Violin Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music where she was awarded a Post-Graduate diploma.

Viola

Neil is our tweed jacket sporting stalwart of the viola section.  He studied at Leeds University and the Royal College of Music. His second year of postgraduate study was made possible through a substantial scholarship awarded by the RCM.

Cello

Yorkshireman Peter started playing the cello at the age of seven.  He went on to study at the Royal College of Music gaining a BMus (Hons) and a PGDip in Orchestral Performance, supported by a Leverhulme Postgraduate Scholarship.

Cello

Rod Skipp is a New Zealand born cellist currently based in Manchester. He began his studies at The University of Auckland, graduating with a Bachelor of Music with first class honours. After moving to the UK to further his studies, he graduated with distinction from the Master of Music programme at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Flute

Clare grew up in Northamptonshire and in 2003 gained a scholarship to the Birmingham Conservatoire where she studied under Jonathan Rimmer and later Colin Lilley. Whilst at the Conservatoire she was a Chandos Young Musician finalist as well as performing solo recitals around Birmingham.

Oboe

Originally from the North East of England, Robin Crinson went on to study oboe and voice at the Royal College of Music, London. His oboe teachers included Michael Winfield, Sarah Francis and David Theodore.