Dunlop

Finchcocks Appoints a New Course Director: Andrew Dunlop

Andrew was born in 1985 in the Scottish west highland town of Oban and grew up in the nearby village of Connel, gaining his formative education at Achaleven Primary School and Oban High School respectively.

Andrew is an energetic and charismatic young performer with an impressive CV including BBC radio and TV performances, Celtic Connections Festival and the winner of many music prizes.  He has an interest in a broad range of musical genres, which embraces both his commitment to his Scottish musical roots and a passion for the challenge of the piano concert repertoire.

Equally at home in chamber music, song, and solo recitals, Andrew is a versatile musician who has performed across the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Switzerland and New Zealand. 

He received his Doctorate from the Eastman School of Music in New York, where he studied as a Fulbright Scholar under the guidance of Professor Barry Snyder. Andrew previously studied at the RNCM with Carole Presland, Alexander Melnikov and Mark Ray where he graduated with the Masters of Music in Performance with Distinction and the Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours, in addition to the Alfred Clay Scholarship and the Hilda Anderson Dean Award for the highest recital and academic marks. During his student career, he was awarded scholarships from numerous organisations including Fulbright, Eastman, RNCM, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Craxton Memorial Trust, Musicians’ Benevolent Fund, Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship Trust and the Doris Strake Prize from the Worshipful Company of Musicians. He was also a prize-winner in the RNCM Concerto, Ravel, Recital and Weill Prize for Chamber Music. From 2011-2012, Andrew served as the John Wilson Junior Fellow in Collaborative Piano at the RNCM.

In addition to his work with Northern Ballet, he regularly works as a staff pianist for Lake District Summer Music, the National Children’s Choir of Great Britain, the Geneva International Summer Festival and Academy of Music and is an examiner for the ABRSM. Andrew is the Artistic Director of ‘Lorn Live’ Chamber Music Festival in Oban, Argyll. Previously, Andrew has worked as a Staff Pianist/Coach for Leeds College of Music and taught Keyboard Skills at the RNCM. Andrew is a Samling Scholar and Concordia Artist.

Andrew also enjoys working in the field of Traditional Music and reached the finals of the BBC Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2013. He has represented Scotland twice at the Pan Celtic Festival in Ireland where he won First Prize in the New Song and International New Song Competition and Second Prize in the International Harp Competition. More recently, Andrew has served as an adjudicator for the Royal National Mòd in both Scotland and Canada. Frequently working with his sister, Gaelic Singer Joy Dunlop, Andrew can be heard on both her albums Dùsgadh and Faileasan.