It is with great pleasure that we introduce our adjudicators for 2021
June Armstrong and Nikolas Sideris
June Armstrong and Nikolas Sideris
June Armstrong is a composer and piano teacher living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. June has had compositions included in all the major UK and Irish examination board syllabi and has received commissions from ABRSM, Red Leaf Pianoworks in Canada, Hal Leonard in the USA. She specialises in composing music focusing on atmospheric playing, using colour, shape, and impressionistic sounds rather than traditional harmony.
Musical background
June Armstrong studied music at Queen’s University Belfast, graduating with a BMus and an MA in composition and twentieth century analysis. After working as a peripatetic violin tutor with the City of Belfast School of Music, she moved with her husband to the Albany region of New York State, where she lived for six years, during which time both her sons were born.
Piano Teaching
On returning to live permanently in Belfast in 1984, she began teaching both her sons to play the piano and discovered a previously unsuspected passion for the piano and for piano teaching. This quickly led to a diploma in piano teaching and a full-time career of over 30 years.
After beginning to teach the piano, she very quickly rejected the examination system, instead focussing on the development of informed stylistic playing and confidence in performing. Most of her pupils choose to sit one higher grade examination before leaving school.
EPTA Belfast
In 1994 she co-founded the EPTA (European Piano Teachers’ Association) Belfast branch, which is now a flourishing organisation providing CPD for local piano teachers, and performance and development opportunities for pupils, including one of the largest UK entries in the national annual EPTA UK Piano Competition. Her pupils are regular high achievers at the EPTA Piano Competition, music festivals and at examination level.
Composition
A desire to compose piano music focussing on atmospheric playing, developing both a tonal palette and pedalling technique led to the creation of Strangford Sketchbook, which was completed in 2010. She has now published 18 volumes of piano music from beginner to advanced level. June’s compositional technique is largely improvisatory, developing from experimentation with tonal effects and has been influenced by a passion for jazz and improvisation, to which she was introduced in 2003.
Interests
June also plays the violin and enjoys playing in the local community symphony orchestra and in the Belfast Bach Cantata Consort as well as being an avid chamber music player.
June's publications, all can be found on her website www.junearmstrong.com
Musical background
June Armstrong studied music at Queen’s University Belfast, graduating with a BMus and an MA in composition and twentieth century analysis. After working as a peripatetic violin tutor with the City of Belfast School of Music, she moved with her husband to the Albany region of New York State, where she lived for six years, during which time both her sons were born.
Piano Teaching
On returning to live permanently in Belfast in 1984, she began teaching both her sons to play the piano and discovered a previously unsuspected passion for the piano and for piano teaching. This quickly led to a diploma in piano teaching and a full-time career of over 30 years.
After beginning to teach the piano, she very quickly rejected the examination system, instead focussing on the development of informed stylistic playing and confidence in performing. Most of her pupils choose to sit one higher grade examination before leaving school.
EPTA Belfast
In 1994 she co-founded the EPTA (European Piano Teachers’ Association) Belfast branch, which is now a flourishing organisation providing CPD for local piano teachers, and performance and development opportunities for pupils, including one of the largest UK entries in the national annual EPTA UK Piano Competition. Her pupils are regular high achievers at the EPTA Piano Competition, music festivals and at examination level.
Composition
A desire to compose piano music focussing on atmospheric playing, developing both a tonal palette and pedalling technique led to the creation of Strangford Sketchbook, which was completed in 2010. She has now published 18 volumes of piano music from beginner to advanced level. June’s compositional technique is largely improvisatory, developing from experimentation with tonal effects and has been influenced by a passion for jazz and improvisation, to which she was introduced in 2003.
Interests
June also plays the violin and enjoys playing in the local community symphony orchestra and in the Belfast Bach Cantata Consort as well as being an avid chamber music player.
June's publications, all can be found on her website www.junearmstrong.com
Nikolas Sideris was born in Athens, Greece in 1977. He has been studying music since the age of 5, and holds a PhD in Composition from Royal Holloway, University of London. He received his Masters in Composition from the same university in 2005 with distinction and he also has a diploma in Piano with honors, and degrees in Harmony, Counterpoint and Fugue. His studies in the UK were funded by the National Scholarship Foundation of Greece (IKY).
Nikolas, as a pianist has performed in concerts all over Greece, in cities such as Athens, Ag. Paraskevi, Holargos, and Ioannina, as well as abroad in the USA and Syria.
His works have been performed in the UK, USA, Germany and greece and range from small works for solo instruments, to large works for string orchestras. His work Piano Stories for piano, 4 hands won the 1st prize in the Second International Composition Competition "Artistes en Herbes" in Luxembourg in 2013. His work for string orchestra (6-6-5-5-2) Exeliksis won the first prize in the Royal Holloway Composition Competition in 2005 and was performed live the next year in Egham, UK. He's received commissions by orchestras and soloists from around the world and his work The City Under Different Eyes for Solo Piano and Audio Manipulation was featured in an adaptive audio playback software system.
He is also active in the computer games industry, as a composer and sound designer and recently the game that he scored, Privates by Size Five Games won a BAFTA for best Educational - Secondary Game. He co-owns North by Sound, an Audio Production company based in Norway and Greece. He is a loving husband and father of two.
Nikolas' works that are being published by Editions Musica Ferrum:
Reflections for Solo Piano
Peculiarities for Flute and Piano
Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl of Fleet OST for Solo Piano
Fairyland in Treble for Piano, 4 hands
Piano Stories for Piano, 4 Hands
Perniciosus for Solo Piano
Sketch Music For Solo Piano
Non-Unique for solo Flute and Piano
Le Hasard et la Nécessité for String Orchestra
Superabimus for String Orchestra
Nikolas, as a pianist has performed in concerts all over Greece, in cities such as Athens, Ag. Paraskevi, Holargos, and Ioannina, as well as abroad in the USA and Syria.
His works have been performed in the UK, USA, Germany and greece and range from small works for solo instruments, to large works for string orchestras. His work Piano Stories for piano, 4 hands won the 1st prize in the Second International Composition Competition "Artistes en Herbes" in Luxembourg in 2013. His work for string orchestra (6-6-5-5-2) Exeliksis won the first prize in the Royal Holloway Composition Competition in 2005 and was performed live the next year in Egham, UK. He's received commissions by orchestras and soloists from around the world and his work The City Under Different Eyes for Solo Piano and Audio Manipulation was featured in an adaptive audio playback software system.
He is also active in the computer games industry, as a composer and sound designer and recently the game that he scored, Privates by Size Five Games won a BAFTA for best Educational - Secondary Game. He co-owns North by Sound, an Audio Production company based in Norway and Greece. He is a loving husband and father of two.
Nikolas' works that are being published by Editions Musica Ferrum:
Reflections for Solo Piano
Peculiarities for Flute and Piano
Nelly Cootalot: The Fowl of Fleet OST for Solo Piano
Fairyland in Treble for Piano, 4 hands
Piano Stories for Piano, 4 Hands
Perniciosus for Solo Piano
Sketch Music For Solo Piano
Non-Unique for solo Flute and Piano
Le Hasard et la Nécessité for String Orchestra
Superabimus for String Orchestra
