Our Professional Experience Scheme (PES), in collaboration with The Royal Northern College of Music, has been a successful project for many years and aims to provide the best possible preparation for students to pursue a career as an orchestral musician or within the Arts.
Our scheme is open to third and fourth-year undergraduates and all postgraduate string students enrolled at the Royal Northern College of Music. Through an audition process, we recruit up to two violins, one viola, one cello and one double bass to take part in various activity throughout our season of work.
Our vision is to create a pathway for students at the Royal Northern College of Music that will see them experiencing our organisation as a whole, from performing diverse repertoire on the platform, experiencing some of the many projects our community work provides and understanding the challenges we face within the sector.
Approximately 80% of the current membership of Manchester Camerata studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and our Profession Experience Scheme has helped launch the careers of more than 60 young musicians studying at the same institution.
Scroll down to meet our current PES students plus hear from some of the alumni from the project.
This year’s students
Nyra Jain
Nyra Jain is a violinist from Mumbai, currently in her final year of undergraduate study at the Royal Northern College of Music, under the tutelage of Sebastian Muller and Tuulia Hero.
Nyra began playing the violin at the age of five with the Suzuki Programme. She then studied at the Symphony Orchestra of India Music Academy for eleven years, initially with Dina Semenova and then with Olga Lyapina, and graduated with their diploma in April 2023. She has performed with the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) on several occasions since 2019, working with conductors Zubin Mehta, Alpesh Chauhan and Martyn Brabbins and others, and has also joined the SOI on tour in India and the UK.
Since commencing her studies at the RNCM, Nyra has been part of a wide range of orchestral projects, most recently leading the Opera Orchestra in a production of Janacek’s ‘The Cunning Little Vixen’.
Last year, she earned a place on the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Professional Experience Scheme, through which she had the opportunity to rehearse and perform with the Orchestra at venues across the UK. She has since been invited back for freelance work with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Nyra is a keen chamber musician, currently part of the Aster Duo and Sage Quartet, who regularly perform recitals across the UK.
What are you most looking forward to?
I believe that the best way to learn about this profession is by slowly becoming part of it and experiencing it. I am really excited to have the opportunity to sit among the musicians of this orchestra and learn from and perform with them. I am also eager to explore how a leading chamber orchestra like Manchester Camerata functions within the wider musical community. I am intrigued by the range of projects and workshops part of the Scheme and want to make the most of it all!
What do you hope to achieve from the scheme
I believe the Scheme will provide me with invaluable experience and guidance on my development as a versatile musician. I have loved watching the Manchester Camerata perform on multiple occasions and am so excited to work alongside and learn from such inspiring artists.
Outside of classical music what else do you listen to?
Some favourites are Norah Jones, ABBA, The Beatles and 80s pop-rock, and recently I have been dabbling into instrumental Jazz!
Joanne Teo
Joanne is a violinist from Singapore, currently in her third year at the Royal Northern College of Music studying with Gina McCormack. A keen chamber musician, she is currently leader of the Kumori Quartet, which was established in the RNCM in 2024 and appointed 2025-2026 Studio Quartet Apprentices. The quartet has enjoyed many performances together, both in the RNCM and across venues in Manchester. The quartet has worked with ensembles including the NOVO Quartet and Chiaroscuro Quartet. Most recently, the quartet participated in the 5th International String Quartet Seminar in Guadix, Spain, where they were able to work intensively on the art of quartet playing alongside professional quartets from all around the world.
Having played in string ensembles since her school years, Joanne loves orchestral music and has performed with the Orchestra of the Music Makers in Singapore since 2022.
Throughout her studies, she has enjoyed performing music of all genres, from symphonies and operas to film and musical theatre. A recent highlight includes leading the 2025 RNCM Winter Opera, Prokofiev’s L’amour des trois oranges.
Looking forward, Joanne is excited to continue growing as a performer, whether in chamber, orchestral music or as a soloist. She also hopes for her music-making to benefit the community through using music to engage with young people and diverse groups.
What are you most looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to experiencing the behind-the-scenes of professional life with Manchester Camerata and performing incredible music alongside the orchestra in some iconic venues. I’m also excited to get a glimpse into how music touches the lives of the individuals that Camerata works with in the community.
What do you hope to achieve from the scheme?
I hope to push myself as a musician and violinist, to gain confidence through the fast pace of rehearsals and concerts, and to gather fresh musical inspiration. I would also love to hear
valuable feedback from members of the orchestra that I can apply to my own playing.
Outside of classical music what else do you like to listen to?
Outside of classical music, you can find me listening to lots of soft pop, pop rock, Christian
contemporary music and K-pop (my guilty pleasure).
Clara Bouch
Clara’s love for music began at the age of 4 with her first piano lessons. She was dabbling in composing by the age of 6 and was tackling Bach fugues by age 11. She also began violin lessons at age 9 and went on to thrive in multiple Philadelphia area youth orchestras throughout middle and high school. At age 17 she had the opportunity to switch to viola and study with Kerri Ryan, assistant principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. A year later, Clara packed her suitcase for Switzerland to play with the 2017 Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra. In 2018 she traveled to Taiwan, China, and South Korea with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States. She then moved to Los Angeles to study with renowned violist Paul Coletti at the Colburn Conservatory, where she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in 2022. During her undergraduate years she participated in the Taipei Music Academy and Festival (2021), Music Academy (2022), and was the only undergraduate violist to serve as principal of the Colburn Orchestra.
Post-college, Clara played from 2022-2026 with professional training orchestra Symphony in C, based in Camden, New Jersey. She also served on the teaching staff of Symphony in C and taught her own students privately.
Clara has played under the baton of numerous esteemed conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stéphane Denève, Leonard Slatkin, Valery Gergiev, Michael Tilson Thomas, Hannu Lintu, James Conlon and Xian Zhang. In the fall of 2025, she went on tour with The World of Hans Zimmer and performed 24 shows in arenas across the United States and Canada. In September 2026 she moved to Manchester to continue her studies as a violist for a master’s degree at the Royal Northern College of Music. She loves all the ways she gets to be involved with music (including spontaneous jam sessions with her siblings!), but her favourite activities are composing her own music and playing in orchestra. She looks forward to performing her own music in an orchestra one day!
What are you most looking forward to?
Getting to know my fellow musicians of the Manchester Camerata, learning from their experience as professionals, and discovering what they love most about their work with the Camerata!
What do you hope to achieve from the scheme?
I hope to expand my skills as an orchestral chamber musician, discover new career pathways as a violist/artist, connect and meet others who love music through the Camerata’s community projects, and have fun!
Outside of classical music what else do you like to listen to?
Get ready for a wide range of answers! I love soft, soundscape indie music, 2000s Christian alt-rock, Korean ballads, chill electronic/lo-fi music, and old Disney classics.
Gabriela Peres
Gabriela Peres is a Portuguese cellist currently studying with Professor Jacob Shaw and Professor Jennifer Langridge at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Master degree in Performance, on a full scholarship awarded by the ABRSM.
She has been a prize-winner at national and international competitions, including the Vasco Barbosa National String Competition, the Paços Premium International Music Competition, the Convimus International Chamber Music Competition and recently the Cavatina Chamber Music Competition in Wigmore Hall, together with the Chiarina Trio. She was part of the Manchester Collective RNCM Professional Experience Scheme in the 2025/2026 academic year.
Gabriela performs regularly across Europe in solo recitals and as a chamber musician. She has appeared at major festivals such as the Orlando Chamber Music Festival, Casa del Quartetto Residency, Milano Musica, Diotima Quartet Academy, Kammermusik Festival Stockholm, Steirisches Kammermusik Festival, and Budapest Festival Academy.
After graduating from her arts high school with a merit award and an exceptional merit scholarship from the Oliveira do Hospital City Council, Gabriela completed her bachelor’s degree in cello performance at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (ESMAE) in Portugal with Professor Jed Barahal, followed by an Erasmus exchange with a full scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague with Professor Larissa Groeneveld. Further studies took place at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Austria) with Professor Johannes Krebs, alongside masterclasses with renowned musicians including Frans Helmerson, Schumann Quartet, Kyril Zlotnikov, Valentin Erben, and Marc Coppey.
She performs on a 1778 Sebastian Dallinger cello (Vienna), kindly on loan from a private benefactor.
What are you most looking forward to?
I am very excited to play with the Manchester Camerata, as I have always admired this orchestra and its amazing musicians. I am also looking forward to performing great repertoire and learning more, as well as being part of the community projects!
What do you hope to achieve from the scheme?
I hope to develop my orchestral skills, find new ways of listening to and communicating within the music, and learn how the orchestra works from the inside perspective.
Outside of classical music, what else do you like to listen to?
I especially enjoy rock music, as I was a guitar player before I started to play the cello.
PES Alumni
Caroline Pether – Manchester Camerata Leader
When studying at music college we are analysing our playing in lots of detail and taking time to learn new techniques to ensure their full integration. These are positive and essential aspects of learning that help us to improve, but it can be quite a shock when we realise we do not have that kind of time once we are out of college and gigging professionally.
The PES scheme provides that crucial stepping stone from studying at music college to life in the profession. There is no substitute for being in amongst professionals and having to keep up. One of the things that is hard to replicate in the music college environment is the extremely fast pace of rehearsals and regularity of concerts. It is the kind of lesson that can only be learnt by doing.
The thing that I appreciated particularly about the Camerata PES was that it really felt like a safe space to experience this faster pace. As long as I came well prepared to the first rehearsal, I never felt disapproved of for the odd small mistake. Gábor Takács-Nagy created an environment of musical freedom, prioritising extremes of expression over perfection. And this philosophy didn’t stop with Gábor, the musicians embodied it also. Violinist Rebecca Thompson was my scheme mentor and she encouraged me to use more bow which helped me to contribute more to the section sound rather than hide behind it.
The PES is special to me because it introduced me to this wonderful orchestra’s musicians and management team, whose musical priorities are so closely aligned to my own. That first opportunity allowed me to recognise that I was amongst like-minded people and sparked a passion in me for this orchestra, setting me on a path to where I am today. I did the Camerata PES from 2011-2012, in 2013 I became a violin member, in 2016 I became one of three Co-Leaders, and in 2020 I became the Leader of the orchestra.
The last thing I’ll say about the PES is that I think it reminds students that ultimately the end goal of all our study/rehearsal is to perform for audiences and to make them feel something. After one or two days of rehearsals, the audience are there, ready to listen, eager to hear. When we are in the thick of studying, we can become so focused on the minutiae, that we forget to think about the bigger picture. Practising all of the technical aspects of playing is so important, but only with the goal to express more freely. Experiencing the excitement of concerts from within the orchestra for the first time, and hearing the appreciative applause from the audience, certainly reminded me of that 10 years ago.
Gemma Bass – Manchester Camerata Violin Member
The Camerata PES was the first time I had the opportunity to play with a professional chamber orchestra and, as rich and full as my college education was, nothing had really prepared me for that! It was incredibly valuable to have this experience whilst still studying and I learned a lot very very quickly!
I remember having a meeting with Rebecca Thompson, who was my mentor on the scheme. She had some advice and feedback which was really helpful. Her big tip that day was to prepare the music with the kind of energy and gusto you are going to need in a performance – great advice!
I was already very fond of the Camerata before the scheme, having seen concerts at the Bridgewater Hall, but I was blown away when I got the chance to sit in and be part of that sound. I fell completely in love with the orchestra and with the Chamber Orchestra generally as a genre – amazing repertoire and a wonderful balance of ensemble and soloistic playing. I was chuffed to bits when the job came up the following year and I managed to get a trial. It was a lengthy and nervy process (2 1/2 years!), but I am so proud to be part of the Camerata and still find every project a real thrill, 10 years on.
I would recommend the professional experience schemes to anyone. They are so incredibly valuable as a way of gaining real life experience in a real-life orchestra. Sitting and playing alongside established professionals, learning from them on and off the platform, there is really nothing else that can prepare you in the same way.
Alex Mitchell – Manchester Camerata Principal Viola
The Camerata PES was a very important part of my student years, as it gave me a taste of what it was like working with an orchestra and let me meet people who had been working for a long time. I also got to work with amazing directors like Gábor Takács-Nagy and Giovanni Guzzo, who were incredibly inspiring to be able to play with. These are some of many reasons why schemes like this are really important for students, and I would whole heartedly recommend applying!
