Kiri Te Kanawa RCM Scholarship announced
Posted on 1 November 2017
The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation (UK) recently announced a 3-year extension to the annual Royal College of Music scholarship which will carry a grant of £10,000 and be awarded to a singer at the Royal College in his/her final year of study and focused on the development of an international singing career.
Professor Colin Lawson, RCM Director was very pleased. “The Royal College is delighted that the Kiri Te Kanawa Scholarship has been extended. The Foundation’s support provides our talented musicians with the opportunity to study and thrive at the Royal College, enabling them to achieve their full potential. I know this financial help and the personal interest Dame Kiri takes in our students, has a real impact on their development.”
Dame Kiri took an active role in the scholarship auditions after which RCM announced that the recipient of the 2017/18 Kiri Te Kanawa Scholarship was Nardus Williams, a young English soprano currently studying at RCM International Opera School with Dinah Harris, having previously studied with Yvonne Kenny, Lillian Watson and David Thomas. Last year she won First Prize and Audience Prize at the 2016 Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall. Recent performances include Messiah with the OSJ under John Lubbock, and Nardus performed the role of Donna Elvira at Opera Holland Park in summer 2017, and she will be covering the role of The Countess in the spring 2018 production of The Marriage of Figaro, for English National Opera.
Professor Lawson said “Nardus has the talent and drive to become an outstanding musician and the Foundation’s generosity will have a transformational impact on her education and development as an artist.” In addition to the annual scholarship the UK Foundation also announced special
‘Encouragement Awards’ of £3,000 each for four singers who had impressed the audition panel by showing marked improvement in their singing – Kieran Rayner, Ida Ranzlov, Josephine Goddard and Nardus Williams.