Sage Gateshead

Since 1998 Roger has been a member of the North East based jazz trio The Bicycle Thieves. He has many years of experience as a specialist drum and percussion tutor, being a founding member of the BMus degree team and Percussion Studies Leader at the Centre of Advanced Training. He has also delivered workshops and masterclasses at Northumbria and Sunderland universities. Over the years he has taught many of the country’s brightest percussion stars, including the jazz drummers Cheryl Alleyne and Seb Rochford. His publications include Jazz Drums 1 and Jazz Drums 2 (International Music Publishers), an analysis of the playing styles of the great jazz percussionists from Baby Dodds to Steve Gadd. For many years he wrote an influential column on rhythm for Keyboard Player magazine.

Teaches on: Centre for Advanced Training

Alan has enjoyed a long association with Royal Northern Sinfonia (RNS) as a timpanist, percussionist, keyboard player and conductor. He is also the founder and former Chorus Master of the highly successful RNS Chorus. He has been an Artistic Advisor to the Young Musicians Programme and has worked with several of its Youth Ensembles, including Young Sinfonia.

Teaches on: Centre for Advanced Training

Lizzie started playing steel pans at the age of 12 in a local steel band after seeing the fun her siblings had in the band. She then started teaching steel pans as a young leader at the age of 16 and then as a trainee at Sage Gateshead from the age of 19. She has worked at Sage Gateshead from then on as a Project Musician and has had the chance to compete in the national steel pan competition, ‘Panorama’ in London and once in Trinidad in 2009 for their international competition. Having recently joined a percussion group called Spark! who travel all over the world with their show she has started learning drum kit to improve her rhythmic skills and pass on these skills to all she teaches.

Teaches on: Centre for Advanced Training

Teaches on: Centre for Advanced Training