Who We Are Recorders
Find out more about the tutors and members of SYRA
South Yorkshire Recorder Academy are passionate about providing opportunities for young musicians and sharing their musical knowledge. Keep reading to find out more about the staff and members of SYRA.
Nigel Martin
In 1984, Nigel commenced studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire after winning the Evelyn Harrod Entrance Scholarship. His recorder tutor was Alan Davis. Whilst studying, Nigel gained the Conservatoire’s highest award, the ABSM diploma in recorder recital and graduated GBSM with distinction. Postgraduate study continued with Ross Winters at the Royal College of Music achieving the ARCM diploma in recorder performance. Nigel won Silver and Bronze medals with Trinity College of Music and the W.S Lloyd Webber Performance Medal with the London College of Music after gaining the FLCM recorder recital diploma.
Nigel’s work involves tutoring for the Sheffield Music Hub, and he has been promoted to a leadership role in delivering First Access/Progressional Routes to pupils in Sheffield Schools. Nigel is a life member of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Association and a member of the European Recorder Teachers Association (UK). He has given recitals, workshops and masterclasses in the UK and abroad.
Owen Smith
Currently studying BA(mus) at Leeds Conservatoire, Owen is recognised as a dedicated practitioner of music, who was awarded the Alan Hawkshaw scholarship upon entry into Conservatoire. Prior to studying at Leeds Conservatoire, he graduated from the Sheffield Music Academy, where he developed musicianship and performance with his teachers: Mary Nodan, Catherine Baker and Keith Slade.
Owen has a wide range of experience in the classical field; from playing solo and with ensembles including pit orchestra, symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, wind bands, and small ensembles. This has allowed him to tour up and down the UK as well as France, Germany and Italy. Owen delights in assisting people and making projects a success. One of the most interesting was being a section leader for the first orchestra to go 100% digital; where he worked with the likes of Esther Abrami, Stephan Hough and Ray Chen.
After achieving his ATCL diploma in recorder, Owen started teaching recorder in schools to entertain, collaborate with and inspire the next generation of musicians. Owen says, “I want to be able to make a difference in the field of music education and ensure that the musicians of the future are plentiful and have the opportunity to experience the same enjoyment in music as I have”.
Sam Honeybone
An 18-year-old student, Sam is headed to Jesus College, Oxford to read for a BA in Classics but remains an active recorder player, having studied under Chris Orton for five years at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music, where he also studied the bassoon with Rebekah Abramski – achieving ABRSM diplomas on both instruments – and received tuition in conducting, composition and chamber music.
As a recorder player, Sam has also studied and participated in masterclasses with Alan Davis, Anna Stegmann and Dorothee Oberlinger. A multi-instrumentalist, Sam holds ARSM diplomas on the tenor saxophone and clarinet, as well as grade 8 on piano, and in 2016 received the Trinity Exhibition Award for the highest mark in a UK Trinity exam series for his grade 7 recorder. In July 2022, Sam had the privilege to become the first recorder player since his teacher in 2004 to perform Thomas Koppel’s concerto ‘Moonchild’s Dream’ with the JRNCM Sinfonia, conducted by Eduardo Portal, and in 2021 performed Malcolm Arnold’s Recorder Concerto with the Stockport Youth Orchestra. He has also competed widely both at a local level, winning the Robin Hood Music and Drama Festival and the Don Valley Music Festival three times each, and further afield, taking part in the Amsterdam Open Recorder Days Festival 2019 and BBC Young Musician 2020 and 2022.
Sam is passionate about highlighting the variety of repertoire available for recorder players to bring the recorder to the forefront of the contemporary classical music world and believes that SYRA’s ethos of widening access will be instrumental in bringing this to fruition. To listen to Sam’s recordings or to keep up to date with any performances, please visit his website here.