Tutor of Harp, Piano and Music Theory

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Rhiain is a professionally trained harpist and pianist. She holds a BMus(Hons) degree from the Royal Northern College of Music after entering with a scholarship and a MMus degree from Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, both in music performance. She has enjoyed performing from a very young age and has been teaching both harp and piano for the past ten years. Rhiain teaches students of all ages and abilities and has successfully taken many of her students through ABRSM exams. She is privileged to have spent nearly two years working at The Purcell School for Young Musicians where she taught music theory and aural one to one on a weekly basis, giving students an extra boost before their ABRSM exams. She prepared many sixth form students for their grade five theory ensuring that they gained this crucial qualification before entering conservatoire.   

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During her time at RWCMD Rhiain completed an instrumental teaching module which gave her the opportunity to learn more about different teaching techniques and approaches. Every pupil is different and learns in different ways and she believe that it is important to identify what each student responds to in order to get the best results. She believes that learning should be fun and engaging and works hard to identify the needs of every student.

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Rhiain holds a DipABRSM and an LRSM diploma and has enjoyed many successes in Welsh Eisteddfodau and festivals including first prize in harp competitions at the National Eisteddfod and the National Cerdd Dant Festival. She was also a finalist in the Pencerdd Gwalia festival in 2013 and received the Welsh Fusiliers prize at RWCMD. As a performer Rhiain has a variety of unique experiences, including duetting on early Erard harps with former Royal Harpist Catrin Finch, performing Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro and Paul Patterson’s Spiders Web at the Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall and being invited to perform with Catrin Finch at the World Harp Congress in Hong Kong. As well as teaching and performing as a soloist, Rhiain also enjoys creating music with others and is one half of harp duo Dwyres alongside her sister Elfair Grug. Dwyres are proud to have been a part of Osian Ellis' 90th birthday celebration concert at Pontio Bangor alongside Bryn Terfel and Hannah Stone, which was broadcast on Radio Cymru.

 

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Testimonials: 

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"My 5 year old daughter has recently started piano and harp lessons with Rhiain. Rhiain is always friendly and positive during the lessons, which help to put my daughter at ease and feel a sense of achievement. My daughter is also new to the harp, and Rhiain takes care to ensure the correct techniques are applied and at the same time keep the lessons fun for a young child. We have also received great help from Rhiain in looking for a harp, which she spent time to thoroughly research for us. We look forward to having more enjoyable lessons with Rhiain in the future!" - Iris Y

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"Great teacher. Confidence filling. Great with sorting your technique. Friendly." - Arabella M

 

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"I’ve been having piano lessons with Rhiain for a year now and I feel like I’ve improved a lot. Her lessons are always fun and effective!" - Jonathan J

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