GALSI COURSE 2026

Join us for the Gender and the Large and Shiny Instruments young persons’ brass and
percussion course on Tuesday 27th & Wednesday 28th October, 10.30 - 16.30, presented in partnership with the Royal College of Music, London.

WHO IS IT FOR?: This two day course is open to anyone who plays a brass instrument or percussion/drumkit, is from age 8 - 18 years old, and identifies as female or non-binary. Expect a fun and interactive course that celebrates playing large and shiny instruments!

TUTORS: The course is led by brass and percussion tutors who are leaders within the
profession including percussionists Kyomi Seed and Alice Angliss, trumpeters Kaitlin Wild and Katie Smith, and French horn player Zoë Tweed (scroll down for more info!).

ACTIVITIES: The participants will be split into junior, intermediate and senior ensembles, and will work on ensemble playing, technique, and learn more about being a professional performer from their tutors. The junior and intermediate group additionally take part in an interactive improvisation/composition workshop whilst the senior group take part in a round table discussion and masterclass, and all musicians will finish by playing side-by-side in big piece all together!

REQUIRED STANDARD: This course is designed for a range of standards: for the junior group participants should have been playing their instrument for at least a year, and have their own instrument for the brass players, or sticks for the percussionists. The senior group is appropriate for students Grade 6+.

SIGN UP: Please book your place via the RCM website. The deadline for sign up is 16th October but some groups may close earlier if capacity is reached.
For queries about registration or payment please contact the RCM Sparks team directly: sparks@rcm.ac.uk

Note: participants must be available for both days of the course.

COST: Pay-what-you-can model with the median suggested payment of £85 total for the two days. There are also some subsidised places available for qualifying families - details are on the booking page of the RCM website.

TRAVEL BURSARIES: We have travel bursaries available for participants traveling from outside of London & home counties. If you would like to apply for this please send us an email telling us a bit about yourself, where you live, and your estimated costs - largeandshiny@gmail.com

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Download a PDF flyer for the course

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

Thank you for creating such a wonderful space to play music at all levels and to have important, supportive conversations. I really enjoyed the course and felt like I was a part of something really important and special. Also, a huge thanks for making the course such an inclusive space. Coming into unknown situations as a disabled person can be really challenging and scary but all the staff and tutors were so kind and patient - I felt so comfortable and like I was no different to anyone else.

Meet the Tutors

Senior Brass

Zoë Tweed

Zoë grew up in Wells, Somerset and began playing Euphonium at age 6 before switching to the trombone, then settling on the French Horn at age 9. She moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music for both her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, where she was supported by the Elton John Scholarship.

Zoë joined the RPO as 3rd Horn a year after finishing her studies in December 2023, at the time becoming the youngest member of the orchestra. She continues to work with various orchestras and ensembles and has appeared as guest Principal with the Aurora Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and Knussen Chamber Orchestra, the Jules Buckley Orchestra and, a particular highlight, the Barbie Land Sinfonietta.

As a soloist she has performed concertos with Fantasia Orchestra, Hereford Symphony Orchestra, Oxford Sinfonia and Surrey Philharmonic Orchestra, and performs in duo recitals with Mark Rogers across the UK.

Zoë also has a passion for chamber music and is a member of the award winning brass quintet Connaught Brass, and a founding member of the London Horn Quartet alongside Annemarie Federle, Jonathan Maloney and Diego Incertis. She enjoys a wide variety of musical genres and this is reflected in the music she has written and arranged for solo horn and piano, horn quartet and brass quintet.

In 2024 Zoë became a professor of horn at the Royal College of Music.

Junior Percussion

Kyomi Seed

Kiyomi Seed, native of Japan, is an accomplished orchestral and solo percussionist. She holds a masters degree from the Juilliard School in Music Performance - timpani and percussion. She has performed internationally in countries including USA, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan before becoming the Assistant Principal Timpanist / Percussionist with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur. During Kiyomi’s time in Malaysia, she gave numerous solo and chamber music performances, conducted masterclasses and workshops and toured internationally with the orchestra.

Now Kiyomi performs and tours frequently in the UK as a freelance percussionist and timpanist and has worked with many orchestras including the Philharmonia, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of Opera North, Royal Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony, Welsh National Opera, and Royal Opera House Orchestra. Theatre work includes Shakespeare’s Globe, London: I, Joan, Misdummer’s Night Dream, and a deputy on The Royal Shakespeare Company: My Neighbour Totoro.

Kiyomi regularly coaches the percussion section of the National Youth Orchestra. In her spare time, she enjoys knitting, baking, and playing and watching tennis.

Junior Brass

Kaitlin Wild

Details coming soon

Senior Percussion

Alice Angliss

Details coming soon

Intermediate Brass

Katie Smith

Details coming soon