RSNO APPOINTS AMADEA DAZELEY-GAIST AND CILLIAN Ó CEALLACHÁIN TO BRASS SECTION Posted Tue 29 July 2025
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) appoints Amadea Dazeley-Gaist to the position of Principal Horn and Cillian Ó Ceallacháin to Associate Principal Trombone.
Following an extensive process of audition and trial, Dazeley-Gaist and Ó Ceallacháin will officially start in their new positions at the start of the 2025:26 Season. Both have taken part in a range of RSNO activity during their trial period, including critically acclaimed performances of Mahler Nine and Mozart’s Requiem in the RSNO’s 2024:25 Season as well as concerts in Ayr, Lanark and Cromarty.
Graduating in 2024 from the Royal College of Music, this is Dazeley-Gaist’s first permanent position in a professional symphony orchestra. She has played with prestigious orchestras across the UK and is an accomplished soloist, most recently performing Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No1 with the London Mozart Players. Dazeley-Gaist’s performance in Mahler Nine with the RSNO in February of this year led her to be described as ‘one of the star soloists of the night’ by reviewer Keith Bruce. On her appointment to the RSNO, Dazeley-Gaist said: ‘I am thrilled to be joining the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and feel honoured to be becoming a member of such a brilliant horn section. I have enjoyed every aspect of working with this wonderful orchestra so far, and I am very much looking forward to being part of the RSNO family.’
Ó Ceallacháin joins the RSNO from the Orchestra of Scottish Opera where he has held the position of Section Principal since 2017. Ó Ceallacháin has a long association with the RSNO having, as a student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, participated in the RCS Professional Experience Scheme – a scheme which offers the chance to early career musicians to gain experience auditioning for and rehearsing with a professional symphony orchestra. As well as freelancing extensively with orchestras across the UK, Ó Ceallacháin has been a tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland since 2023. On his appointment to the Orchestra, Ó Ceallacháin said: ‘In 2009 when I first moved to Glasgow, the first concert I went to was the RSNO playing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. I was completely blown away by the sound the Orchestra made. I am so excited to now be starting the next chapter of my career with this wonderful group of musicians.’
Dazeley-Gaist and Ó Ceallacháin both join the RSNO from September 2025 with their first performances being Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in Concert.