John and Margaret Hearne - Readers

John Hearne was born in 1937 in England to Welsh parents, but has lived in Scotland since 1970. After a short career as a teacher, he studied at University College of Wales in Aberystwyth in the 1960s. Here he gained a First Class Honours degree and a Masters degree. He then spent a year teaching music in Iceland before moving to Aberdeen to teach in the College of Education for 18 years.

During this time he continued as a professional singer and composer, and since 1987 has worked free-lance as a composer, conductor and arranger. He has served on a number of important committees and boards, including the Composers' Guild, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, the National Youth Choir of Scotland, and Enterprise Music Scotland. He has received numerous commissions and his works receive performances in many countries, from Albania to Australia. Several of his works have appeared on CD, and have been broadcast internationally. John conducts The Stonehaven Chorus, one of Scotland's most enterprising and accomplished choral societies.

In 2004 John was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Wales for a portfolio of his compositions, the first time this degree had been awarded for more than 30 years.

Recent commissions include songs for the National Youth Choir of Scotland, for "Songbooks 2", several choral pieces, and a short piece for youth string orchestra. Some of his arrangements of Icelandic folksongs were featured in Europa Cantat 2009.

 

Margaret Hearne has enjoyed a successful career as a Specialist Teacher of Drama.

Now freelance, she works as a director and practitioner, most recently producing 100 children in Aberdeenshire in a re-enactment of The Battle of Harlaw!

For many years she led the Aberdeen Children’s Theatre organisation and currently is involved with Scottish Youth Theatre, Aberdeen International Youth Festival and Gordon Forum for the Arts.