Naheed Cruickshank

Naheed was born in London and studied at the Purcell School, the University of Sussex and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. After leaving the Guildhall she worked for the London Sinfonietta Education Department before moving to Glasgow set up the award-winning Education Programme for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 1993. In 1997 Naheed became a freelance music practitioner and project manager, and her career now combines teaching music to children and offering professional development support to teachers and musicians. Since 2000 Naheed has specialised in working with young children (from 6 months to 6 years), and in 2003 she was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to study the music education systems in Hungary and Finland. She runs her own Colourstrings Music School in Glasgow and is a Colourstrings Teacher Training Instructor which enables her to train future Colourstrings Teachers worldwide. She works regularly in both nursery and primary schools teaching music – combining the use of Kodály, Colourstrings and Dalcroze teaching principles. She is the Founder and Director of the Reel Kids Music Club which provides after school and holiday music provision for primary aged children in Glasgow. She plays bassoon, whistle and saxophone.