Introducing the 2024/25 Bicentenary Scholars

Soprano Tayla Alexander is in the first year of her Master's degree on the Vocal Studies course at the Academy.

Tayla released her debut album at age 10, and at 15 was the youngest singer ever on a scholarship at the Auckland Opera Studio. She established the Tayla Made Foundation, a non-profit that supports young musicians, and completed her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Auckland.

She has performed as a soloist and ensemble member across Aotearoa and overseas, including with SOL3MIO at the Spark Arena in 2022 and with the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Programme. In 2023, she was a Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera. Tayla was a finalist in the 2024 Lexus Song Quest and has ongoing mentorship from Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.

Franco-Brazilian drummer Ananda Brandão Hamon is in her second year of postgraduate studies at the Academy.

Originally from Paris, Ananda studied classical piano for 10 years before pursuing studies in jazz drums at Centre des Musiques Didier Lockwood, graduating in 2023. During this time, she performed in famous Parisian jazz clubs such as Le Duc des Lombards.

2022 saw Ananda performing frequently with organist Rhoda Scott, and 2023 was spent touring throughout Brazil and France with Ensemble Irmandade. Ananda co-leads the Ninanda ensemble with Israeli pianist Nina Gat, bringing together originals influenced by modern jazz and folk music. They released two singles in January 2024 and won the First Prize at le ReZZo Jazz à Vienne.

Classical guitarist Georgi (Jojo) Dimitrov is in the second year of his Master's degree, studying with Professor Michael Lewin and Stephen Goss. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

In 2024, Georgi won The Musicians’ Company New Elizabethan Award, with a subsequent concert at Wigmore Hall scheduled for 2025, and the Academy’s Blyth Watson Award. He won First Prize in the 2022 European Bach Guitar Award. His resulting Naxos album was hailed as ‘one of the best guitar recordings of music by JS Bach’ (MusicWeb International) and was named Recording of the Month two months in a row. He was the first classical guitarist to perform at BachFest Leipzig in 2024.

He is an active composer, soloist and ensemble musician, and founded the first brass and classical guitar trio at the Academy alongside fellow students Jasmin Ghera and Miguel Zoco.

Described by Pinchas Zukerman as having ‘a million-dollar sound’, violinist Luka Faulisi is studying with Dr Robin Wilson on the Academy's Advanced Diploma course.

Luka previously studied with Boris Belkin at the Conservatorium Maastricht, and regularly gives concerts across Europe and beyond. Recent highlights include a UK debut with the Liverpool Philharmonic at the Royal Albert Hall and a debut at the Radio France Montpellier Festival.

Luka was one of Classic FM’s ’30 Under 30’ Rising Stars in 2023 and was selected as a BBC Magazine Rising Star in that same year. In Spring 2024, Sony Classical released his recording Vivaldi: The Four Seasons with Orkiestra Historyczna and Martyna Pastruszka. His debut recital album, Aria, recorded with Itamar Golan, was released by Sony Classical International in Spring 2023 and won multiple awards, including a Diapason d’Or and a Choc from Classica.

Welsh soprano Grace Hope-Gill is in her first year on the Royal Academy Opera course, supported by the Josephine Baker Trust. She completed both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the Academy, having been awarded the Eldee scholarship for outstanding studentship, studying with Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mary Nelson and Anna Tilbrook.

She travelled to Munich with the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme to study with Christian Gerhaher, and performed the role of Cis in the Academy's production of Albert Herring. She has performed in a range of concerts including Mahler’s third symphony at the Royal Festival Hall with Semyon Bychkov and in the Academy's Bach in Leipzig series under Eamonn Dougan and John Butt.

Bulgarian pianist Emanuil Ivanov is studying with Joanna MacGregor and Christopher Elton on the Academy's Advanced Diploma course. He previously studied with at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire between 2013 and 2024.

Emanuil won First Prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni Piano Competition, leading to a live streamed solo recital at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala in February 2021. In 2022, he received the Musicians’ Company Silver Medal and the Carnwath Piano Scholarship.

Emanuil has given performances around the world, and in summer 2023 recorded an album of Scarlatti sonatas for Naxos. His performances have been featured on BBC Radio 3, Italy’s Rai Radio 3 and Japan’s NHK Radio. This year, he will make his debut at Wigmore Hall and Konzerthaus Dortmund.

Pianist Kaiwen Jin is currently in the first year of his Bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at the Academy studying with Professor Christopher Elton. As well as a Bicentenary Scholarship, Kaiwen is supported by the Alexis Gregory Award.

Before entering the Academy, Kaiwen studied under the guidance of Associate Professor Hong Huang at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Kaiwen won the third prize in the Youth International Piano Competition hosted by the Music Middle School Affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was invited to perform at prestigious venues across Zhejiang and Shanghai. Kaiwen is very much looking forward to continuing his development himself at the Academy, becoming a more comprehensive musician and inspiring wider audiences.

Swedish soprano Julia Kumlin is in the third year of the Vocal Studies Department undergraduate programme. Julia previously studied at the Opera Studio Kapellsberg with Anna Hanning-Häggström and Karin Bengtsdotter-Olsson.

While studying, Julia has performed at the Opera Studio and Norrlandsoperan in the roles of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Magda in excerpts from La Rondine. She has also performed in a wide variety of genres as a soloist and as a chorister. She was a member of the Gothenburg Opera Youth Choir, performing in the Swedish premiere of Dove’s Monster in the Maze.

Mezzo-soprano Ella Orehek-Coddington is in her first year on the Royal Academy Opera course, under the tutelage of Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Jonathan Papp. Alongside her Bicentenary Scholarship, Ella is supported by the Carr-Gregory Award, the Tait Memorial Trust and Help Musicians UK.

Ella graduated from the Academy in 2024 with a Master's and was awarded the Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music for her outstanding final recital. She previously studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and also has a Diploma in Language Studies from the University of Sydney. Ella has studied with Barry Ryan OAM and Janet Haney, and has undertaken masterclasses with Susan Bullock CBE and Gerald Finley OC CBE.

She has performed in various opera productions, including the role of Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Mrs Grose in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, the title role in Mascagni’s Zanetto and Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

Armenian bass Mikayel Sargsyan is in his second year on the Royal Academy Opera course. Between 2013-18, he was a member of the KOHAR choir, performing in concerts in Armenia and abroad, and in 2014 was accepted to the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory (YSC).

In 2018, he was drafted into the Armenian army, leaving in 2020 to study a Master's degree at YSC and to join their Opera Studio 2020-22. For his Opera Studio debut he performed the role of Leporello in Don Giovanni and he also performed a soloist with the State Chamber Orchestra of Armenia and the Gyumri Chamber Orchestra in 2022.

Soprano Binny Supin Yang is in her second year on the Royal Academy Opera course, studying with Mary Nelson and Jonathan Papp. She is a Josephine Baker Trust Artist, a member of the Academy’s Song Circle, and is supported by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Arts & Culture Foundation.

Binny completed her undergraduate degree at Seoul National University and her Master's degree at the Academy, supported by an Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Scholarship. At the Academy, she has performed the roles of Emmie in Albert Herring, Dalinda in Ariodante and will perform as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel in November 2024.

Binny won the Special Prize at the 2022 Korea National Concours and Third Prize in the 2022 Suri Concours. She attended the summer 2024 Georg Solti Accademia’s Bel Canto course in Seoul and has performed in venues across the UK, Korea and at the Korean Culture Centre in New Delhi, India.