Homegrown talent is welcomed on stage

May 5 2009 by Alison Anderson, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

PERTHSHIRE has produced many fine musicians who have flown the nest to become professionals of international acclaim.

Perth Festival of the Arts has always recognised this and given local audiences the opportunity to enjoy this home-grown talent. And in this year of Homecoming, it’s appropriate that a double helping of young Perthshire musicians, brought up in Scone and educated in Perth, will perform in St John’s Kirk on Saturday, May 30.

Brothers Lawrence and Michael O’Donnell will be joined for Music on a Saturday Morning by two other young up-coming musicians, James Burke (clarinet) and Alexander Karpeyev (piano).

“We’re all really looking forward to playing in, and watching, some of the festival this year,” said Lawrence.

Lawrence began studying the bassoon at Perth Academy with Philip Alexander before going on to study at the Junior Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where he won the Gilbert Innes Prize for Woodwind, and graduate from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Lawrence played in the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and is currently principal bassoon of Camerata Scotland. A keen chamber musician, Lawrence has appeared in the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Cadogan Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and taken part in the Paxos International Festival in Greece and the Ryedale Festival.

Lawrence is generously supported by the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship and the John Lewis Partnership, enabling him to appear as a soloist in far-flung countries including China, Estonia and, most recently, India where he is just completing a 10-day engagement.

Michael also received his musical grounding at Perth Academy with Philip Alexander before gaining piano and oboe scholarships to attend the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama junior department. During these years he played principal oboe and cor anglais with the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland and Great Britain.

Michael moved to London in 2002 to study with Christopher Cowie and Gareth Hulse, and he graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2006 with first-class honours. Whilst at the RCM, Michael won the Knights of the Round Table Prize and the Wind Chamber Music Prize.