Scholarships announced for royal colleges
Posted on 19 December 2013
The Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Royal College scholarships for 2013/14 have been announced. The annual scholarships carry a grant of £10,000 and are offered to students attending the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. They are awarded in conjunction with Dame Kiri.
Royal College of Music
South African born Soprano Filipa van Eck has completed her second year of study at RCM, studying for her post graduate Artist Diploma and has entered her final year at RCM nternational Opera School. She completed her BMus in Western Classical Performance and Post Graduate Diploma in Opera at the University of Capetown before commencing her studies at RCM. At the RCM, Filipa has performed the roles of Laurette in Bizet’s Le Docteur Miracle, Fortuna in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosmene in Handel’s Imeneo (for the London Handel Festival) and most recently Gabrielle in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne. She has sung in masterclasses at the RCM with Dame Anne Evans, Christine Brewer and Roger Vignoles. Commenting on the scholarship announcement, Nicholas Sears, Head of Vocal Studies at RCM said ‘Filipa is an outstandingly talented, musical and personable young performer. Michael Rosewall and I believe that the support and mentorship generously offered by Dame Kiri and the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation will enable Filipa to enter the next stage of her professional development with confidence and pride’.
Royal Academy of Music
Anna Harvey is a British Mezzo Soprano who has just completed her final year on the Academy’s Vocal MA Programme and begun her first year on the Royal Academy Opera Advanced Diploma Programme. Anna graduated with a BMus from Jesus College, Cambridge in 2009, where she was a Choral Scholar. She is equally at home on the operatic stage, recently singing main parts in venues including Opera Holland Park (with Shadwell Opera) and Buxton Opera House. In spring 2013, Anna performed Haydn’s Missa Cellensis at the Leith Hill Music Festival. Other roles have included Mrs Herring in Albert Herring, Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, L’Enfant in L’Enfant et les sortilèges and Larina in Eugene Onegin with Royal Academy Opera. Anna’s Vocal MA teacher, Elizabeth Ritchie, commenting on the scholarship said, ‘Anna Harvey has gone from strength to strength this past year with many vocal successes as a result. Among her many achievements have been a solo performance with the London Mozart Players, which received a very favourable review in the Times, a performance of the Messiah at Easter on BBC Radio2, several performances as soloist in the highly successful Academy series of Bach Cantatas, a well-reviewed portrayal of Larina in the Royal Academy Opera production of Eugene Onegin, a recital depicting Kathleen Ferrier’s repertoire at the Garrick Club, and, presently, Anna is understudying the role of Hansel for Garsington Opera! A very focused, hardworking, musical student, Anna is proving to have a voice of much potential and is deserving of any success that she has achieved so far.’