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Making Music, the UK’s membership organisation for amateur musicians, has announced the winners of the 2016 Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists.
After an intense week of auditions at the Royal College of Music, the winners are:
- Raphaela Papadakis soprano
- Julia Pusker violin
- Michael Foyle violin
- Yoanna Prodanova ‘cello
- Laura Snowden guitar
- Dinara Klinton piano
- Rosalind Ventris viola
All seven artists are now available to book by our members at a subsidised rate, meaning they get real-world performing opportunities, while offering the community music groups an affordable way to book high-quality musicians for their performances – vital in these straitened times, when funding is so scarce.
The AYCA scheme allows amateur musicians to connect with some of the UK’s finest young music professionals, right at the start of their career. Previous winners have included chart-topping classical guitarist Craig Ogden and celebrated concert cellist Steven Isserlis CBE.
For more information or to arrange an interview with Angela Kay, please contact George Acock, Publications at george@makingmusic.org.uk, 020 7939 6041
Making Music, 8 Holyrood Street, London SE1 2EL
0207 939 6030
Making Music, The National Federation of Music Societies
A company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales no. 308632
Registered Charity in England and Wales no. 249219 and in Scotland no. SC038849
Notes to editors:
About Making Music
Since 1935, Making Music has been the membership organisation for amateur music in the UK, bringing together musicians and music groups of all genres and abilities. We support, connect and champion everyone who makes, performs and presents music on a voluntary basis. The services we provide allow our members – ranging from symphony orchestras to samba bands – to cross the boring things off their ‘to-do’ lists and get on with making music.
As the voice of voluntary music among policy makers and stakeholders at a national and regional level, we aim to transform lives and enrich communities across the UK through music making.
About the Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists
The Award for Young Concert Artists (AYCA) has been running for 57 years and has launched the careers of dozens of young musicians. In 2002, the award was renamed in honour of the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, which secured the future of AYCA with the largest single donation Making Music has ever received. Each year, AYCA winners can be engaged by any voluntary music groups in membership of Making Music. Music clubs, and amateur orchestras and choirs in turn tap into some of the very best young musicians to programme into their concert season.
Winners’ biographies
Dinara Klinton piano
Born in 1989 in Ukraine, Dinara started piano lessons in the age of five. She studied at the Moscow Central Music School before training at for a Masters of Performance at the Royal College of Music.She has won over 15 international competitions and has worked with orchestras including The Philharmonia Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Raphaela Papadakis soprano
British soprano Raphaela Papadakis trained at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and made her professional début at Garsington Opera in 2014. She went on to cover the Nymph in Orfeo at the Royal Opera House, and recently performed the role of Anna in the British première of Šimon Voseček's Biedermann and the Arsonists for Independent Opera at Sadler’s Wells. She won first prize at the Mozart Competition, the Clonter Opera Competition, and the Maureen Lehane Vocal Award.
Júlia Pusker violin
Júlia was born in Hungary, where she began her violin studies at the age of five. She studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest for six years before moving to England. She is currently in her final year of studying for an MA at the Royal Academy of Music, where she also holds a chamber music fellowship with her ensemble, Trio Mirage.
Michael Foyle violin
Born in 1991, Michael had his solo debut with an orchestra aged just eight years old. He won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Tabor Award in 2008 and the Royal Overseas League String Competition in 2013, and was concertmaster of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. Graduating from the Royal Academy of Music in 2015, Michael’s 2015/16 season includes recitals at Wigmore Hall, Southbank Centre, Bridgewater Hall, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and New York Chamber Festival.
Yoanna Prodanova ‘cello
Originally from Bulgaria, Yoanna is currently studying at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She has recently appeared at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, LSO St-Luke’s, St-James’s Piccadilly and has had her performances broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and CBC Radio 1 Montreal. Yoanna has participated in several renowned festivals such as the Music Academy of the West in California, the Banff Centre in Canada and the Kronberg Festival in Germany.
Laura Snowden guitar
Laura is the winner of numerous national and international awards including the Ivor Mairants Guitar Award (where she won first prize), the Tillett Trust, St John’s Smith Square and International Guitar Foundation’s Young Artists Platforms. In 2015 she gave a recital at Wigmore Hall and performed live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune. As a composer, Laura’s music has been played on BBC Radio 3 and premiered at Sadlers Wells and Deal Festival.
Rosalind Ventris viola
Rosalind studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Cambridge University. She has given recitals at the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, St Martin in the Fields, among others, and has performed live on BBC Radio 3. A winner of five prizes at the 2013 Tertis Competition, Rosalind will this year take part in a residency at Yellowbarn, MA, and record a new work by Rory Boyle on Delphian.
