Maria Marchant - Education Bursary

2008 Update

"After winning one of the 2006 Education Bursaries I look back and realize just how much the bursary has enabled me to do."

"In March 2007, I won Trinity College of Music’s Alfred Kitchin Chopin Prize and then performed Prokofiev’s 3rd Piano Concerto with Trinity’s Symphony Orchestra at St. John’s Smith’s Square conducted by Peter Stark in May, as a result of which I was awarded the Eric Falk Trust Award.

"Graduating from Trinity in July with First Class Honours and a Silver Medal for Piano Performance, I was delighted to be invited to play in the Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale D’arte di Montepulciano in Tuscany.

"The BBC’s financial help with tuition fees and accommodation has meant that I am able to continue my studies at Post-Graduate level at The Royal College of Music and I am enjoying the MMUs in Performance Studies programme immensely, studying with Niel Immelman. The bursary has also enabled me to take part in international summer schools, providing valuable tuition and performing experience, not to mention the purchase of a new Yamaha piano assisting preparation for my course and career.

"2008 is already proving to be an extremely busy one for me – I’m currently preparing for performances as part of the Royal College’s Messiaen Festival and Shipley Arts Festival, a masterclass with Kathryn Stott at Hurstwood Farm Piano Studios alongside recitals at Steinway Hall, Bluthner Piano Centre, St. Andrew’s Holborn, and the Bishopsgate Institute Great Hall, as part of the City Music Society series.

"Forthcoming competitions include the Royal Overseas League Annual Music Competition and the Royal College of Music Contemporary Piano Music Competition and I’m also working towards the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition 2009.

"Also, in 2008, I would like to explore in more depth works by British composers both twentieth century and present day, such as Arnold Bax, Frank Bridge, York Bowen and Richard Rodney Bennett. As a member of the BBC Symphony Chorus, I relished taking part in the revival of Foulds’ World Requiem last November in the Royal Albert Hall and premiering Judith Weir’s ‘Concrete’ at the Barbican in January.

"I will always be indebted to the BBC for their tremendous support and am really looking forward to the future as a committed classical pianist and dedicated musician."