RTÉ Concert Orchestra Announces New Member

Gawain Usher has now joined the orchestra’s viola section

As the newest member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, violist Gawain Usher will join the ensemble in upcoming concerts featuring violinist Mari Samuelsen in Max Richter’s Recomposed, and the opera gala later in the year.

Usher received his Masters in Viola Performance in 2020 from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS). There, he was also awarded the Mary D. Adams Prize in Chamber Music and earned First Prize in the Mabel Glover String Quartet Competition. 

In addition to being highly commended in the Governors’ Recital Prize for Strings at RCS, Usher holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music, cum laude, from the Lawrence University Conservatory, and previously attended Michigan’s Interlochen Arts Academy.

Usher has served in several capacities with the Benedetti Foundation and the newly formed InsideOut Musician collective. He has also served as a mentor of the VIVAstrings Intermediate Ensemble.

“A very warm welcome to the newest member of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Gawain Usher, who has just joined the viola section!” the orchestra posted on Facebook.

Founded in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has performed with artists including Pavarotti, Lang Lang, Lalo Schifrin, Marvin Hamlisch, Cleo Laine, Declan O’Rourke, Sinéad O’Connor, Imelda May, Eleanor McEvoy, Wallis Bird, Maura O’Connell, Lisa Hannigan, Mick Flannery, and many others.