CREATIVE FUTURES: behind the music with UofG Music alumni

CREATIVE FUTURES: behind the music with UofG Music alumni

WHEN? Monday 26 January 2026, 4-6pm

WHERE? Hunterian Art Gallery (main gallery space)

Where can a Music/Arts degree take you? Let us count the ways!

The School of Culture & Creative Arts is delighted to invite you to our latest CREATIVE FUTURES event, featuring inspiring conversations with illustrious Music makers, performers, educators and culture strategists/leaders, who are also UofG Music graduates.

Join us on Monday, 26 January 2026 for a 4pm start at the Hunterian Art Gallery in the stunning main gallery space in conversation with:

• Aaron Hawthorne - Silent Film and Concert Organist + Arts Development Officer at North Lanarkshire Council
• Emilie Boyd - Frontwoman, Composer, Arranger, Educator + MD
• Emma Hunter - Head of Artistic Planning & Production at Scottish Ensemble
• Fergus Hall - Musician, Composer, Multidisciplinary Artist + Educator

when we’ll explore the richly diverse world of careers in Music and the Arts and

• Find out about their real-world work journeys
• Be inspired by their creativity and professionalism
• Learn about their pathways and careers in the arts, music and cultural sector, and beyond
• Consider the opportunities and challenges of portfolio careers in and around music
• There will also be opportunities to ask your own questions and to network at the end of the discussion

The conversation will be facilitated by

• Dr John Williamson, Lecturer in Music at the University of Glasgow and specialist in the music industries and music labour. Beyond academia, his work has included music music journalism (The Herald), band management (bis, Belle and Sebastian) and chairing the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award between 2012-22.

Schedule:

3.45pm – Doors open
4pm – Welcome / Introductions
4.10pm – In conversation with Aaron, Emilie, Emma and Fergus
5.15pm – Teas, Coffees, Networking Drinks
6pm – Event ends

All welcome!
Refreshments will also be served...
Free but limited admission. Book your ticket before they sell out!

Seating is unreserved and available on a first-come, first-served basis — arrive promptly at 3.45pm to secure a great spot...

Aaron Hawthorne

Aaron is a sought-after silent film and concert organist from North Lanarkshire, Scotland, with an MA in Music from the University of Glasgow. He performs regularly across the UK, Europe, and the USA, and is known for his engaging organ recitals and silent film accompaniments. Since 2017, Aaron has been a house organist at Glasgow's Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. In 2019, he won the Young Theatre Organist Competition in New York, and later received the Ian Sutherland Award for his promise as a theatre organist. He is also active in organ preservation societies. Aaron has completed four annual UK silent film tours, performing classics such as The Phantom of the Opera (1925), Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (1922) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), earning praise for introducing new audiences to silent films and the pipe organ's unique soundworld.

Since 2022, Aaron also serves as Arts Development Officer at North Lanarkshire Council, a role in which he advocates for accessible community arts and has a specific remit for music. He oversees an authority-wide programme of community arts classes and contributed to North Lanarkshire’s first Arts Strategy (2023–2028) in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. He has since led the development of several strategic initiatives, including the Music in the Museum programme, the Music In […] programme, the Amplifying Artistry podcast, and the Ah Cannae Sing initiative.

www.hawthorgan.com

Emilie Boyd

Emilie is a versatile artist, at home as a frontwoman and also as a composer, arranger, teacher and MD. Emilie has honed her creative vocal talent over the years, working within Glasgow's famously vibrant music community. She’s sold out venues with many of her own projects, such as ‘Radiohead Re-imagined’, as well as being a backing vocalist and creative collaborator with incredible musicians such as Roddy Hart, Rachel Sermanni, Corinne Bailey Rae, Natasha Bedingfield, Mica Paris, Hamish Stuart (Average White Band), Andy Alston (Del Amitri), Kathryn Joseph, and Tom McGuire and the Brassholes. Emilie’s work has featured on STV’s What’s On Scotland, and championed by Alistair Braidwood (Scots Whay Hae, Radio Scotland), and 6Music’s Jamz Supernova and Gilles Peterson.

Emilie is currently performing and releasing original music with acclaimed vocal trio 'Little Acres' (Rachel Lightbody, Cariss Crosbie), with jazz/folk/electronic artist Dan Brown under the moniker ‘Glassworks’ (new album coming in 2026), and with DJ/producer Rebecca Vasmant for the renowned ‘New Soil’ label. She is also the co-creator of ‘Jazz at the Glad’, a monthly jazz night held at Glasgow's Glad Cafe, recently nominated for a Scottish Jazz Award.

When not performing, Emilie works in community music, for which she has a great passion. She’s worked in a myriad of environments, from prisons to universities, tiny community centres to the Caird Hall, Dundee. Her belief in the inspirational and transformational power of community music-making runs so deeply that in 2025 she began a Master’s degree in Music Therapy, which she is currently completing at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with First Class Honours in Music and Philosophy in 2013.

www.emilielassusboyd.com

Emma Hunter

Emma is Head of Artistic Planning & Production with Glasgow based, Scottish Ensemble. Prior to this Emma worked at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in several roles in orchestra personnel management and concerts administration. During her time with the RSNO, Emma had extensive experience across various areas of the organisation, including in international touring, education and outreach work, the music library, planning & scheduling, health & safety, and line management of professional musicians. Emma now puts this breadth of knowledge to good use in her role at Scottish Ensemble, where she is responsible for oversight of the ensembles’ diary of activity, developing interesting collaborative projects, production logistics and working closely with the ensembles’ artistic director to deliver a wide range of innovative performances for strings, both in the UK and mainland Europe.

Emma graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2014 with an MA (hons) in Classics & Music. Outside of work Emma is a keen amateur violinist and runs a unit of Girl Guides.

Fergus Hall

Fergus is a Musician, Composer, Multidisciplinary Artist and Music Educator from the West of Scotland. He is happiest navigating the intersections of musical practices, particularly those of jazz, sound art, Scottish traditional music, free improvisation and contemporary classical music. Much of Fergus' work focuses on the natural environment, ecologies and conservation, particularly around the coastlines and seas of Scotland.

He has been commissioned by Glasgow New Music Expedition, Nevis Ensemble, Sound and Music, Making Music UK, An Tobar, Sound Festival and CoMA. In 2023 Fergus was selected to take part in the Royal Philharmonic Society Composer Program and to create a new work for The Hermes Experiment. In 2025 Fergus was awarded the Young Classical Artist Trust Composer Fellowship for 2025/26 for which he will create new works for the Fibonacci Quartet and cellist James Morley. These new works will be premiered this coming season at Wigmore Hall in London. His music has been performed by Sequoia Duo, Emily Davis, Fergus McCreadie, Matt Carmichael, The Edinburgh Quartet, Marie Schreer and the University of Glasgow Chapel Choir.

fergushallmusic.com

Venue information

Hunterian Art Gallery
University of Glasgow, 82 Hillhead Street, Glasgow, G12 8QQ

Accessibility at the Hunterian Art Gallery

We aim to ensure everyone has equal access to our events. If you need alternative formats or other reasonable adjustments, please contact scca.partnerships@glasgow.ac.uk with your request so that arrangements, where possible, can be made.

Please note, photography and filming will take place during the event. If you prefer not to be photographed, you can request a sticker from any team member.

Get in touch

Contact scca.partnerships@glasgow.ac.uk with any questions.