We are delighted to introduce the inspiring team leading our Creative Orchestra workshops: Erin, Naomi, and Amy. Each brings a wealth of experience as composers, educators, and community musicians, united by a shared passion for creativity, inclusion, and empowering young people through music.
Together, they will be leading our monthly Get Creative Orchestra workshops this year, a creative music making programme for young people in North East Scotland aged between 8-11 years.
Get Creative Orchestra offers young people the opportunity to explore new music and develop their own musical creativity through playing, improvising, and creating.
Erin Thomson
Erin is a Scottish composer and educator whose passion lies in building relationships with fellow composers, musicians, audiences, and the wider community. She has worked extensively with sound over the past decade, beginning her journey as a Go Compose participant and later receiving commissions, with her music performed by numerous artists at soundfestival. Since completing sound’s Engaged Composer scheme in 2021, Erin has led the Creative Orchestra and supported the delivery of the Go Compose! composition course.
Her music has been performed by renowned orchestras including Britten Sinfonia and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. She was awarded the Musicians’ Company Silver Medal in 2022 at their installation dinner in Goldsmiths Hall, London
Her recent commission "On Green Hill" will be premiered at the upcoming Cumnock Tryst festival, led by renowned composer Sir James MacMillan.
Naomi McGillivray
Naomi is a composer and educator from the North East of Scotland. Naomi recently completed her MMus in Composition from the University of Edinburgh, kindly supported by The Cross Trust, with supervision from Dr Gareth Williams and holds her BMus Music from the University of Glasgow. She has had work performed at Nordic Music Days, Klangwerkstatt Festival (Berlin), soundfestival and has worked with ensembles including Hebrides Ensemble, Red Note Ensemble, Plus Minus Ensemble, KNM Campus, CoMA Glasgow, CoMA London and Any Enemy.
Naomi's work is inspired by her natural surroundings and culture. Language, landscape, nature and architecture all feed into the influence of her music. She currently works as a Music Teacher in West Lothian and regularly leads creative music making workshops around Scotland.
Amy Simpkin
Amy Simpkin is an enthusiastic composer, workshop leader, piano tutor, and Christian worship leader. She graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2023, where she studied a BMus composition with tutors David Fennessy and Ailie Robertson. Amy tends to write for chamber groups, and has written for multiple ensembles including The Marian Consort, Juice Vocal, Atelier Ensemble and Red Note Ensemble and Live Music Now Scotland; and has had performances at ‘The Night With…’ UK tour, ‘soundfestival’ Aberdeen, and ‘Music at Oxford’.
Amy is passionate about music-making and education in community settings, helping people unleash their creativity. This year she worked with St Andrews University Music Participation and ABRSM on a composition project with a local Fife primary school. Amy regularly works with sound to deliver their ‘Get Creative’ workshops to primary-aged children in Aberdeen. Amy is currently facilitating her own music-making group in Queen’s Park to help children explore their creativity through sound and music, involving field recording sessions and electro-acoustic composition.
