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Our students continue to make the Royal College of Music proud with their exceptional commitment and courage, from high-profile performances to international competitions. Here are just some of their recent achievements.
Orchestral programmes
Six RCM musicians have earned places on the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Foyle Future Firsts programme, which bridges the gap between conservatoire training and the professional stage. The 2025–26 cohort includes trumpeter Katie Bannister, clarinettist Emily Crook, double bassist Isabel Garcia, flautist Billy Hui, tuba player Archie McVicar and percussionist Julie Scheuren. This initiative nurtures outstanding orchestral talent and prepares players for future careers with the LPO and other world-class ensembles. Two RCM composers, Margot Pommellet and Michael Taplin, successfully earned places on the LPO’s Young Composers programme, where they will gain mentorship from the LPO’s Composer in Residence Sir George Benjamin and have opportunities to have their music performed by the orchestra’s players.
Emily Crook has also been awarded the 2025–26 Woodwind Fellowship at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO). This follows bassoonist Emily Ambrose’s tenure as the RLPO Woodwind Fellow during the last academic year.
Five Royal College of Music students (main image) earned places on the London Symphony Orchestra’s prestigious Conservatoire Scholarship scheme. Harpist Tannaz Beigi, pianists Nikita Demidenko, Lin Deng and Alexander Doronin and violinist Alix Vaillot Szwarc will receive personalised mentorship from LSO musicians, unique performance opportunities and access to a network of leading orchestral musicians.
Doctoral composer Darren Xu was commissioned by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) to write a piece given its world premiere performances on 29 and 30 November. Darren has been selected as one of the three NextGen Composers (2025/26) by the TSO.
A remarkable 26 RCM Junior Department students have secured places in the National Youth Orchestra for their 2025/26 season.
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Performances and premieres
On 20 November, a number of students performed in the Philharmonia’s production of Laura Karpman’s tennis-themed opera, Balls, about Billie Jean King: bass-baritones Oliver Barker and Gyaan Bhuyan, tenors Tim Burton and Archie Inns, mezzo soprano Lucile Guedj and sopranos Eve Pearson Maxwell and Ariana Ricci, alongside RCM visiting professor Nicky Spence.
Soprano Aimee Banks recently performed as a soloist in Lumières by Loussier in Galway.
The vocal parts of the two main leads in The Choral movie, written by Alan Bennett and directed by Nicholas Hytner, were recorded by tenor Hugo Brady and soprano Tia Radix-Callixte. Sopranos Alexandra Cooper and alumna Lori Grainger were also featured in the film’s chorus.
Tenor Quito Clothier performed at the Tête à Tête Opera Festival in October, in the new opera The Murderous Delusions of Gavrilo K. by Kevin Rodgers.
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Doctoral student Tom Edney edited most of the music for the new Avril Coleridge-Taylor recording on the Resonus label, working closely with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra to road-test the parts in preparation for publication. Tom’s editions are now in the RCM Library, and are being performed across the globe. A recent RCM Symphony Orchestra performance of To April used Tom’s edition and was probably the first performance of the work in over 70 years, while his recent Music & Ideas talk discussed some of the many things learnt about Avril’s music through archival research.
Pianist Phoebe Liu will be giving recitals across the UK during the coming academic year, as well as participating in a number of RCM Sparks outreach programmes.
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Mezzo soprano Esmée Loughlin-Dickenson recently performed the role of Ottavia in Hampstead Garden Opera’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.
Mezzo soprano Alexandria Moon covered the role of Mercedes in English National Opera (ENO)’s production of Carmen.
At the RCM Contemporary Competition 2025, the Winning Performer Prize was awarded to percussionist Hoi Yin Ng. Highly Commended students were: cellist Nok Him Chan, pianist Thomas Luke, violinist and alumna Sharon Zhou, and the Jasmine Quartet, comprising alumna and violinist Mira Steenbrugge and current students Amber Correa (violin), violist Rebecca Marr and cellist Ezra Escobar.
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Soprano Natasha Oldbury performed the role of Cis in ENO’s production of Albert Herring, in which Maria Miguel Pires covered the roles of both Emmie and Cis.
Eva Victoria Schockmel made her UK debut at Kings Place, London, on 25 October during the London Guitar Festival in a concert organised by the International Guitar Foundation. Her programme included a Cheryl Frances-Hoad world premiere alongside music by RCM alumnus Sir Malcolm Arnold. Eva has also been selected as an Awardee of the Young Artist Platform by the International Guitar Foundation for the academic year 2025–26, and won Second Prize at the Young Talents Guitar Competition at the Uppsala Gitarrfestival, Sweden, which took place in October.
Hatti Tippayanasa, who has recently begun the MSc in Performance Science, played violin at Glastonbury on ‘The Other Stage’ with the Outlook Orchestra, and Fabio and Grooverider, who were featured on the BBC as one of the highlight acts of the festival. She also toured with the Outlook Orchestra, headlining the Beat-Herder Festival.
RCM Junior Department student Hedi Triki, a pupil of piano teacher Clara Rodriguez, performed with the Ealing Symphony Orchestra in October to a capacity audience in St Barnabas Church, as a celebration of his Prize at the 2024 Ealing Festival. Hedi gave a brilliant interpretation of Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto no 2 under the direction of alumnus John Gibbons.
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Prizes, nominations and awards
Mateus Colares de Souza won the RCM Cor Anglais Prize in summer 2025, with recent graduate Kara Battley as the runner up.
Composer Ryan Collis was named the winner of the inaugural Wooler Arts Composers’ Competition for his piece Crystalline Shadows. The decision of the jury was unanimous.
Arie Dakesian was selected for the Tillett Debut Scheme 2024 as the fifth guitarist to ever to be selected since the scheme emerged in 1995. He was also recently added to the UK Artists Directory as a Tillett Debut Artist, and made his Kings Place Hall One debut for the Tillett Trust’s Debut Concert on 6 November.
Doctoral composer Jasper Dommett was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for King Torques Hollow Acetate, written for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales as part of BBC Radio 3’s 25 for 25. Jasper was interviewed about their piece by Petroc Trelawney on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.
Pianist Alexander Doronin has won First Prize at the seventh Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2025. This highly prestigious prize includes the Gold Medal, an album recording and a number of international engagements.
Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has won the Edison Classical Award in the Newcomer category. Her debut album, Fantasie, features works by Chopin, Price and Still, among others.
Isabell Karlsson won the RCM Violin Prize, with Highly Commended students named as Sofia Gomez Alberto (who recently graduated), Alix Vaillot Szwarc and Maria Pańczyk.
Harpsichordist Cecilia Keiffer was awarded the RCM Historical Performance Prize and Hill Lee won the RCM Guitar Competition, both in summer 2025.
The RCM Viola Prize was awarded to Karis Wai Si Lee, while Christy Hui was Highly Commended.
Tuba-player Archie McVicar won the Yamaha Music Foundation scholarship, and gave his Wigmore Hall debut recital as The Musicians’ Company prize-winner, alongside RCM pianist Marvin Beli. Archie has also worked with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Royal Ballet, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.
Floora Valila won the RCM Cello Prize in summer 2025. Alina Maries-Reim was Highly Commended, and Fabiola Sebastián Guijarro and Aoqing Yang were Commended.
Soprano Maryam Wocial was a Rising Star of Voice at the Edinburgh International Festival 2025.
The Isla String Quartet, which includes RCM students Kynan Walker (second violin) and Sofia Gómez Alberto (viola) won The Sacconi Quartet Prize.
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Send your updates for the spring 2026 digital edition of Upbeat to news@rcm.ac.uk by Friday 23 January 2026.
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