About Music Aberdeen

History & background

Like many initiatives, Music Aberdeen was born out of a sense of frustration. Frustration that so many excellent musicians and friends keep leaving Aberdeen. This becomes exacerbated by the fact that they move for “more opportunities” but ultimately often find themselves with fewer; trying to break into a music scene in a large city can be challenging. What can we do to change this? How can we show people how much Aberdeen and the North East has to offer?

Aberdeen is sometimes perceived as being too remote from cultural centres to support a thriving music scene. We believe the very opposite is true. Aberdeen’s relative geographical isolation forces local amateur and professional musicians to create their own opportunities.

In larger cities, it may be easier to be a cultural consumer; but in Aberdeen, there is more freedom to be a cultural creator, which, in our view, is far more rewarding. Each bit of support someone contributes to the sector, whether that be attending an event, providing a donation, or helping run an ensemble, makes a small but significant difference to the whole music ecosystem, much greater than the equivalent act in a larger city.

Purpose

Promote the quality and breadth of music in the North East of Scotland
Connect musicians with groups and support cross-ensemble collaboration
Reach new audiences through our website listing local concerts and events

How will we achieve this?

Three Stages:

Music Aberdeen aims to be a one-stop shop for local classical musicians and audiences to connect with each other.
Working closely with partner organisations, we want to champion our rich and diverse classical music scene, encouraging locals to stay and enticing others to move here and help it grow. People need to know just how much is going on in Aberdeen.
We see Music Aberdeen working closely with other organisations to support and promote all types of music across the whole of the North East of Scotland.

People

Aden and Sam, founders of Music Aberdeen, have known each other for over a decade and are highly invested in and care passionately about the classical music in the NE.

Aden Mazur

Aden studied music at the University of Aberdeen, graduating in 2015, and holds an LRSM in Violin Performance with Distinction. He is now a professional musician who enjoys performing with many local orchestras, including the Aberdeen City Orchestra and the Inverurie Orchestra, alongside his work as a collaborative pianist with Any Enemy (the North East New Music Ensemble) and freelance for exams, festivals, competitions and concerts. Aden is also a founding member of the Aurora Quartet and the newly formed Granite Ensemble, founded to produce high-level performance opportunities and concerts for local players and audiences.

Alongside his performing commitments, Aden is extremely passionate about education, working as an upper string instructor for Aberdeenshire Council, St Margaret’s School for Girls and his private music school, the Wee String School. He is also the current manager for the Grampian Youth Orchestra and has established a Youth Ensemble through ACO. Aden is on the music committee of the North East of Scotland Music School and, in the past, has been on the committee of North East of Scotland Performing Arts, which organise and host the annual local music festival.

Sam Paul

Sam grew up in Aberdeen, where he studied French horn with Kevin Cormack and piano with Morag Simpson and Joseph Long before going on to study chemical engineering at the University of Aberdeen. During his time at school, he enjoyed several years in the National Youth Choir of Scotland and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

As part of the larger Aberdeen music community, he sings with Con Anima Chamber Choir and the St Machar’s and St Andrew’s Cathedral Choirs. He is a director of the Grampian Youth Orchestra, and manager of Aberdeen City Orchestra. He conducts the University of Aberdeen Concert Band and the University of Aberdeen Chamber Choir. Outside of engineering and music, Sam is fond of hillwalking, photography, sound engineering, and the occasional whisky.