We are delighted to announce the names of this year’s recipients of our Camerata 360° Ruth Sutton Fellowship. Created with the generous support of The Ruth Sutton Trust for Music, these five northern-based fellows will each receive a paid, year-long bespoke training programme – commencing September 24 – in which they will gain vital experience of all aspects of a musical career, our work and the impact it makes.
Alma Orr-Ewing
Having started out on violin, Alma fell in love with the viola as soon as she tried one at age 12. Since then, she has flourished as a chamber and orchestral musician. Alma freelances with many UK orchestras, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Welsh National Opera. She has played in Wigmore Hall with the Hestia Quartet and live on BBC Radio 3’s programme ‘In Tune’ with the Headrow Quartet, and she has performed Benjamin Britten’s Lachrymae as a soloist with the Taunton Sinfonietta.
Clara Hope Simpson
Clara is a creative and versatile cellist who has performed as a soloist in venues including Wigmore Hall, Stoller Hall, and Kodak Hall. She has won solo awards including the Sir John Barbirolli Prize for Cello and the Musicales Prize at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) as well as the cello concerto competition at the Eastman School of Music. In 2022, Clara was awarded the Exceptional Global Talent Visa from Arts Council England. Inclusivity and accessibility within music and education is also important to Clara. She volunteers to teach online with the ARCO Project in India and has been a Benedetti Foundation Ambassador. She has taught young cellists with Special Educational Needs (SEND) and helped to lead music workshops for children and adults within the SEND spectrum.
Elise Scheurer
Swiss-born violinist Elise Scheurer studied at Hochschule Luzern and Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has performed with ensembles such as Camerata Bern, Academy of Ancient Music and Kammerorchester Basel, and is a guest player with London Mozart Players.
What she most loves about her profession is being able to share wonderful moments in music with people from all walks of life. When Elise is not busy playing her violin, she can be found either with her nose buried in a book, hiking in the mountains or working with her neighbour’s
horses back in Switzerland.
Leda Mileto
Leda is a violinist, Dalcroze practitioner, and educator from Rome, Italy based in Manchester since 2021.
As a “Dalcroze baby”, Leda was educated in music from the age of two through the approach. Leda is currently training with Dalcroze UK towards the Professional Certificate. She began studying the violin at middle school and entered the Conservatoire in Rome at the age of thirteen. Leda graduated in 2020, having already been selected for Yair Kless’s studio at the RNCM – Royal Northern College of Music for her Masters. Here, she formed the awarded Aestus String Quartet.
Last year Leda was appointed Tutor in violin, rhythmics, singing, and improvisation of the Junior department of the RNCM and Trustee as well as Environmental Champion of Lake District Music, to develop their Environmental Policy.
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Sam Longbottom
Sam Longbottom is a composer and performer from North Yorkshire and currently based in Manchester. He studied at Leeds College of Music and then at The Royal Northern College of Music. He makes notated and non-notated experimental and improvised music for himself and others to perform using found, homemade, and traditional instruments. He also makes sound installations, often collaboratively, that centre around the automation of acoustic instruments. He has previously written music for Contemporary Music for All (CoMA) Manchester, The Ligeti Quartet, Rosie Middleton, Opera North, and Psappha. His music has been performed at the University of Leeds, University of Sheffield, University of York, the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, the RNCM, and Leeds Conservatoire.