Olivia Darling graduated from Anderson University, South Carolina, in 2022 receiving a Bachelor of Music and Vocal Performance. During her studies she sang in many NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competitions in USA both as a classical and music theatre singer. In opera Olivia performed the role of Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in the Anderson Opera workshop with Dr Seth Killen and was also chosen as a soloist to sing Donizetti arias with the Anderson University Symphony Orchestra. As a concert singer Olivia, along with her professor Deirdre Welborn, created a recital of works by lesser-known female composers, and was also chosen to be the soloist with the university choir in Anderson University of Ola Gjelo “Dark night of the soul”. She then subsequently sang the same piece as a chorister in the university choir at the Carnegie Hall, New York. A major Anderson scholarship enabled Olivia to pursue her under undergraduate studies during which time she also received the “Outstanding Music Performance Award”. Olivia enjoys collaborative performances singing with the Anderson Jazz Band and the GLO Harmonic String Quartet. Since graduating in 2022 Olivia has been teaching voice, piano, guitar whilst working on her voice and giving it time to develop and mature. In 2025 she participated in the first Bel Canto in Todi Summer programme in Italy where she worked on her Italian language and gained valuable performing experience singing in all 3 public concerts of art song, oratorio and the final opera gala. As a result of this, Olivia is now studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on the M Mus vocal performance course with Kathleen McKellar Ferguson having just relocated from USA to Scotland with her husband and 3 dogs!
Joel Gutierrez is a 20-year-old pianist from Edinburgh, currently studying Piano Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Saša Gerželj.
A prize-winning musician, Joel was awarded First Grand Prize in the Young Artist Award at the Manhattan International Music Competition (2026), leading to his debut performance at Carnegie Hall, New York on August 1st. He has performed as a soloist with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Symphony Orchestra, presenting Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 under the direction of Dionysis Grammenos.
Joel has competed internationally, including appearances at the Beethoven Intercollegiate Piano Competition in London and the Bartók International Piano Competition in Graz, Austria. He has performed across the UK, Spain, Australia, and the United States, and has worked with the Scottish Opera Orchestra on Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Alongside performing, Joel is dedicated to music education, improvisation, and composition and hopes to inspire his generation and beyond to appreciate classical music and its hidden gems.
Aiden Macdonald, 20, began his musical journey through Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise programme in Govanhill where he started playing the viola aged seven, under the tutelage of Simon Rawson. Through his involvement with Big Noise, Aiden has participated in side-by-side concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and has performed at the Scottish Parliament on multiple occasions, including during the televised royal visit for the Parliament’s 25th Anniversary.
In 2019, Aiden began studying at the Junior RCS with Dr Lev Atlas. During his time at the juniors, Aiden enjoyed growing success as a soloist, having performed the Bohuslav Martinu Rhapsody-Concerto with the RCS Juniors Symphony Orchestra after winning the 2023 Juniors RCS Concerto competition.
As an orchestral player, Aiden has played principal viola in RCS Junior Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra, principal viola in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and was a ‘String Leader’ in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain where he performed under Sir Mark Elder, and at the BBC Proms with Alexandre Bloch.
Aiden finished his sixth year in the Music School of Douglas Academy, where he performed the Stamitz Viola Concerto with the orchestra in May 2024, and he is now continuing his studies at RCS, undertaking a BMus in viola performance.
in November 2024, Aiden won 1st Prize in the RCS Watson Forbes viola competition and in January 2025, was competed in the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition.
Aiden is also a keen chamber musician. He is member of the Waverley Quartet, who competed in the 2025 CAVATINA Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition at Wigmore Hall, and he is also a 2026 Scottish Ensemble Young Artist.
