About Us
Formed in 2010 and originally a very popular woodwind trio, Cuillin Sound is now expanding and diversifying with new repertoire and innovative concert presentations. A whole new sound world is explored with the inclusion of alto and G flutes, piccolo, Cor Anglais, Oboe D'Amore, E flat and bass clarinets in addition to the standard quartet. Our core membership consists of four of the UKs most exciting wind musicians, drawing together a collective experience of solo, chamber, orchestral and west-end playing.
Dana Morgen (Flute / alto Flute / Piccolo)
Dana Morgan studied the flute at the Royal Northern College of Music before going on to study improvisation in Quebec, Canada.
She has won five star rave reviews for her playing as well as being the recipient of various prizes and accolades. Concerto performances include the Khachaturian flute concerto, Mendelssohn’s Violin concerto in E minor (transcribed by Andras Adorjan), Brandenburg concerto No. 4 and concertos by Nielsen, Ibert and Reinecke with various orchestras around the UK.
Dana has performed as a solo artist nationwide and in Europe, as well as chamber and orchestral concerts in France, Italy, the Netherlands and Quebec. She toured as a soloist with the pianist Charles Matthews around Australia and New Zealand and she has worked extensively on the classical and contemporary repertoire for flute and piano with pianist Antony Clare.
She is the flute tutor for the University of Nottingham and she teaches the flute scholarship students for the University of Leicester. She has lectured on performance techniques and she has given various masterclasses and workshops on contemporary flute methods throughout the UK.
She has had articles published most recently in Todo Flauta for the Asociacion de Flautistas de Espana, in Pan magazine for the British Flute Society and in Flote Aktuell for the German Flute Society.
Dana is the flute soloist and founder of Phileas Flute, a new collaboration with Charles Matthews, which takes the listener on a journey, through a dazzling array of pieces and eclectic flutes, on a whistle stop tour around the world. Future ventures include a solo CD recording and further solo projects abroad in addition to publication of some of her solo flute works.
Maddy Aldis-Evans (Oboe / D'Amore / Cor Anglais)
Maddy was born in Leicester, England. She studied Oboe and composition at the Birmingham Conservatoire obtaining a Postgraduate Diploma in professional studies, BA(Hons) degree, ABSM(merit) in Composition and winning the BA Course prize. She was also awarded the college prize for Orchestral Composition.
Maddy continued her studies at the Royal Northern College of music where she gained a post-graduate diploma in professional performance and Composition studying Oboe with Jonathon Small (Principal Oboe RLPO) and composition with Dr. Anthony Gilbert. “Claudia” for chamber ensemble was performed at the college and Maddy was awarded the Rawsthorn Prize for composition.
Until 2013 Maddy held the position of sub-principal oboist and Cor Anglais player with the Anhaltische Philharmonie in Dessau, Germany and from 2000-2004 was solo oboist with Kammerensemble Cologne with whom she performed concertos including those by Mozart, Vivaldi, Albinoni, Cimerosa and J.S. Bach. Maddy is now Principal oboe with Sinfonia Viva and performs as a guest with many orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, CBSO, Halle, BBCNOW, Birmingham Royal Ballet and WNO.
Always active as a composer, Maddy was commissioned by the IMPULS festival for new music in Saxon-Anhalt and the Anhaltische Philharmonie premiered “War-Torn and the angel” for string orchestra, solo flute and trumpet and actor in 2012. “River” was commissioned by TrevesPunkt Reed quintet based in Trier, Germany and premiered at the OPENING 2015 festival. “Ascendant in Taurus” was premiered in Dessau in November 2015 as part of the IMPULS Festival.
Colin Blamey (Clarinets)
Colin was born in 1976 and brought up in Lochgelly, Fife. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, graduating in 1999 with a B.Mus.Hons, a Postgraduate
Diploma and a Professional Performance Diploma (the College’s highest award).
Still based in the North West of England, Colin enjoys a varied freelance career. He is currently the clarinettist in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s International Tour of
Mary Poppins. Prior to this, he held the clarinet and bass clarinet seat in Cameron Mackintosh’s UK Tour of Barnum. Meanwhile, much in demand as an orchestral
musician, Colin has played as guest principal with Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, National Symphony Orchestra, Lancashire Sinfonietta, Carl Rosa
Opera, Welsh Chamber Orchestra and Manchester Concert Orchestra. He is also Principal Clarinet of the National Festival Orchestra, the resident orchestra of the
International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival.
A keen chamber musician, Colin is also a member of the award winning Fell Clarinet Quartet, with whom he has performed live on BBC Radio and at venues such as the
Purcell Rooms and Kings Place in London, and the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. With the Fell Clarinet Quartet he has released two CDs, Knotwork and Bohemian
Rhapsodies, for Delphian Records, which have met with much critical acclaim.
Other projects of note include performing for Katherine Jenkins’ tours, including the release of her Live at Llangollen DVD. He has also recorded Dallapiccola’s Goethe-
Lieder for Delphian Records and German’s operetta, Tom Jones, with the National Festival Orchestra for Naxos.
Laurence Perkins (Bassoon / Artistic Director)
Laurence Perkins has become one of Britain’s best-known solo bassoonists through his concert performances and numerous solo and orchestral recordings on CD. His solo recitals in the UK have included the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London, Dartington International Summer School, and live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, as well as recitals and concertos in several European countries.
He is Principal Bassoonist with Manchester Camerata, with whom he has made numerous solo and orchestral CDs, including concertos by Mozart and Weber conducted by Douglas Boyd (for Hyperion) which received a five-star rating in the BBC Music Magazine, with the Mozart Concerto being a top recommendation on BBC Radio 3’s CD Review programme. Another Hyperion CD, The Playful Pachyderm (with the New London Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp) has also received outstanding critical acclaim in the national and international press, and a new CD of trios by Beethoven and Glinka, alongside the Richard Strauss Duet-Concertino, will be released by Hyperion in 2017.
Laurence is a bassoon tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and has also worked as bassoon tutor at the Universities of York and Nottingham. His educational work has included a major nationwide project in Autumn 2015 to promote the bassoon to young musicians, with more than 50 solo concerts and presentations around the UK.
Laurence is also heavily involved in working with amateur musicians - since 2001 he has organised and tutored Wind Serenades chamber music courses throughout the UK. He has been a regular bassoon and chamber music tutor at many summer schools and courses in the UK and overseas, including Malvern, Aberystwyth, Sherborne, Dartington, Alston Hall in Lancashire, Kammermusik in Oxford, and Cubertou in the south of France. Laurence will be leading a special outdoor concert with amateur players (on behalf of the British Double Reed Society) on 3rd June in St. James’s Park, London, celebrating pop music of the ‘60s.