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The Mills Williams Junior Fellowship is held for one year and is only available to students on the Artist Diploma (ArtDip) in Performance and Artist Diploma (ArtDip) in Composition programmes.
All fellows are expected to develop musical and communication skills by undertaking further intensive study, working with students internally and doing all they can to raise the profile of the RCM externally. They play a full and active part in the musical life of the RCM as well as functioning as RCM ambassadors. They have full use of the RCM Library with its wealth of material and work in close contact with the Creative Careers Centre, the RCM’s centre for professional skills and publicity services.
Mills Williams Junior Fellowship applications for 2024-25 has now passed. Applications will reopen for 2025/26 Fellowships in Autumn 2024.
Spanish pianist Sofía Medina was born in Madrid in 1998. She has developed an eclectic activity both as a concert soloist and chamber musician, as well as in the field of historical performance. Showing great capabilities from a very young age, Sofía began her musical studies at the age of five. In 2007, she joined the Centro Integrado de Música Padre Antonio Soler in Madrid, with Anatoli Pozvoun and Lydia Rendón as her piano teachers.
After graduating with distinction in her undergraduate degree at the Royal College of Music, she is currently in the final year of her Masters in Performance, studying piano with Dina Parakhina and harpsichord with Robert Woolley. Sofía is delighted to be the RCM 2023/24 Mills Williams Junior Fellow.
During her career she has obtained numerous academic recognitions, honours and distinctions. She has also received various prizes in different competitions, including the ‘Juventudes Musicales de Madrid’, a prestigious award presented by Her Majesty the Queen Sofía of Spain at the National Auditorium of Spain in 2019.
As a soloist, Sofía has performed in many venues across Spain, including in Segovia, Ávila, Guadalajara, Córdoba, Jaén, Granada, Málaga and Madrid. Internationally, she has performed in Moscow, Italy, Portugal, Amsterdam, and in London at London’s Steinway Hall, Saint James’s Piccadilly and Cadogan Hall, among others.
With orchestra, she has performed Schumann’s Piano Concerto with JOL Orchestra in the Auditorium Ciudad de León in 2021 and with the CIM Orchestra in 2016. She has also participated in masterclasses with many renowned musicians, including Dmitri Alexeev, Vladimir Tropp, Galina Eguiazarova, Boris Berman, Cédric Tiberghien, Norma Fisher, Yejin Gil, Ian Jones and Joaquín Soriano.
Sofía is a very active chamber music musician, and collaborates with many different types of ensembles. This has led her to taking part in the RCM Chamber Music Festival, Lucca Belcanto Festival and Watford Piano Trio Festival, among others. She has had chamber music masterclasses with professors and pianists, including Danny Driver, Thomas Zehetmair, Yuri Zhislin and many more acclaimed musicians.
Sofía’s musical interest in historical performance has led her to study harpsichord with Robert Woolley, as well as to participate in fortepiano seminars with Geoffrey Govier. In this field, she was most recently invited to play at the ‘Broadwood’ exhibition, where she had the opportunity to play and perform on new models of clavichords, to introduce to the public these brand-new instruments manufactured by the prestigious firm. This has also led to harpsichord masterclasses with Jean Rondeau, Claudio Astronio, Carole Cerasi and Kathryn Cok.
She has also participated in different projects with chamber ensembles, playing basso continuo in Mozart symphonies and Bach cantatas.
Sofía is delighted to be the RCM 2023/24 Mills Williams Junior Fellow. Her teachers are Dina Parakhina (piano) and Robert Woolley (harpsichord).
The funding for the junior fellowships includes £11,350 to be put towards the course fees, plus a bursary of £8,000. These figures should be taken into account when planning your budget.
The programme of study for junior fellows is determined by the structure of the Artist Diploma in Performance and Artist Diploma in Composition courses, which are based on one-to-one provision and practical project work, tailored to your particular career aspirations.
Junior fellowship funds may also be used for tuition in related areas of study, such as masterclasses, coaching, language study, related instruments and costs associated with starting out in the profession.
As a junior fellow working with other RCM students you will be required to:
Applicants should already have successfully completed formal studies at a level equivalent to a postgraduate diploma or degree or be completing these studies in the academic year in which the application is made. Applications will be considered from those with equivalent experience.
Applicants need to be able to demonstrate substantial successful experience in their specialism, the motivation and determination to continue intensive studies, and the desire to develop their skills by working regularly with other musicians within and outside the RCM.
If you are not a UK resident, you must obtain permission to be in the UK from the UK Border Agency in order to hold a fellowship. Students on the Artist Diploma programme at the Royal College of Music are eligible for Student Visas.
Find out more about visa applications
These conditions are set by the UK Government and can change. Please ensure you visit their website for the most up-to-date information.
Applications for 2024-25 are now open for the Mills Williams Junior Fellowship. The application deadline is Friday 2 February 2024.
Applicants are required to submit a portfolio supported by a letter of application, which should indicate your suitability for the fellowship and your readiness to present yourself as an emerging professional.
Your application should contain:
Find out more about portfolio contents
Applicants interested in this junior fellowship must complete a two-part application process, which consists of:
Plus:
Applicants who have not applied for both components by the closing date will not be considered for this junior fellowship.
Full-time students going into their second year of study may also apply, and will need to specify in their application that they are applying for their second year of the programme.
Please note that the junior fellowships for students on the Artist Diploma in Performance and Artist Diploma in Composition programmes are not renewable, and may be held for one year only.
You should submit your portfolio online using a single combined PDF through the RCM submission portal. The information you upload to the portal does not constitute your entire application, but does form an integral part of it. You should ensure you have provided everything that is required. Incomplete applications may not be considered.
When using the submission portal you will be asked to create a user name and password, and to provide an email address. You should select 'junior fellow' from the list of programmes and the appropriate principal study instrument. There are no restrictions to the file size or type.
If you experience any problems uploading your portfolio please contact Lizzie Sambrook.
Assistant to the Artistic Director and Events & Fellows Coordinator
020 7591 4370
Interviews will be held on Friday 22 March 2024.
Please note that interviews will be held at the office of the Mills Williams Trustees.
Bishop and Sewell
59-60 Russell Square,
London WC1B 4HP
Shortlisting for junior fellowships will take place once the RCM’s audition process is complete. Only students offered a place on the Artist Diploma in Performance will be considered.
Should you be invited to interview, you will be required to bring original documentation (visa, passport or leave to remain in the UK) confirming that you have permission to be in the UK.
In your interview you will be required to:
Results will be conveyed as soon as possible after the interviews have taken place.
You will not be expected to perform on the day of the interview.
As a Junior Fellow you will be expected to:
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