RNCM Artist of the Year: Classical Final / Thur 18 Jun
Welcome to the RNCM Artist of the Year (Classical), the College’s most prestigious annual award, in an evening of performances in front of a distinguished panel from across the music industry. In this concert, our five classical finalists will each give a 30-minute recital with a free choice programme. It is a great opportunity to hear our most talented students playing the music they truly love. We would like to thank you for supporting our students and hope you enjoy an evening of wonderful music-making.
The schedule for the concert is as follows:
7pm / Letizia Palmieri (piano)
7.30pm / João Luís (saxophone)
8pm / Interval – 15 minutes
8.15pm / Rhys Nicholson (cello)
8.45pm / Liana Storey (piano)
9.15pm / Interval – 10 minutes
9.25pm / Alvin Wong (saxophone)
10pm / Winner Announcement
The Panel:
David Fennessy – Composer
Alex Laing – Director of Music, Wells Cathedral School
Sam McShane – Artistic Director, Kings Place
Linda Merrick – Principal, RNCM
LETIZIA PALMIERI (PIANO)
Stephen Hough Sonatina Nostalgica
Cécile Chaminade Caprice-Impromptu Op 153
Claude Debussy Etude No 7: Pour les degrés chromatiques
Sergei Prokofiev Sonata No 8 Op 84 (movements two and three)
This programme begins with music by renowned contemporary pianist and composer, Sir Stephen Hough. The middle of the programme reflects two different styles of French Romantic music, Chaminade and Debussy. The programme ends with one of Prokofiev’s masterpieces. Programme note by Letizia Palmieri
Letizia Palmieri is an Italian pianist who began her piano studies at the age of 5. She is currently studying her Master of Performance in Piano at the RNCM under the tutelage of Graham Scott, Head of Keyboard Studies. She has a Graduate Performance Diploma in Piano and a Professional Studies Certificate in Piano as a recipient of scholarship at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, under the tutelage of Michael Lewin. She graduated cum Laude and honourable mention at Conservatorio “Nino Rota” in Monopoli in Italy. She has won around 40 first prizes and first absolute prizes in national and international competitions and she has performed solo and chamber music recitals in Europe and USA.
JOÃO LUÍS (SAXOPHONE)
Jonathan Fisher piano
Ana Nadais harp
Robert Muczynski Sonata for saxophone and piano Op 29
Tomaso Antonio Vitali Chaconne in G minor
Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel Schwanenlied Op 1 No 1
In Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Book XII), Cycnus, son of Neptune and an invulnerable Trojan ally faces Greek soldiers and Achilles. When weapons fail, Achilles smothers him with raw force. Before death, Neptune transforms his son into a white swan, turning a violent end into a graceful transcendence. This programme explores Cycnus’s Strength, Loss, and Transformation through music, art, and synaesthesia, in a collaboration with Anna Wilson-Knight, James Wilson-Knight, Ana Nadais and Jonathan Fisher. To start, reflecting Cycnus’s power, Muczynski’s Sonata pairs broad, stately gestures with driving, sharp rhythmic energy. This is followed by Vitali’s Chaconne that captures the dramatic intensity of the battlefield. Then, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Greensleeves is a lyrical, pastoral blend of folk tunes evoking a shift toward the ethereal. Finally, Schwanenlied, originally for voice, evokes the final, graceful image of the swan. Programme note by João Luís
João Luís, born in 2000, is one of the leading young saxophone players of the most recent generation in Portugal. During his musical career, he has been acclaimed in several competitions. He began his musical studies at the Chaves Academy of Arts in 2011 on saxophone. From 2018 to 2023, João studied at the University of Aveiro. During that period, he achieved a Bachelor Degree in Music and a Masters in Music Teaching. Last year, João finished his Master’s in Music Performance with distinction. Currently, he is enrolled in a Postgraduate Diploma: Advanced Studies at the RNCM having been awarded a scholarship by the John Fewkes Instrumentalist Scholarships. During his musical career, he has had the opportunity to collaborate with various orchestras/wind bands allowing him to perform at a high level in concert halls across Europe. Furthermore, João performs regularly with chamber music groups and in solo concerts or accompanied with piano.
RHYS NICHOLSON (CELLO)
Harvey Davies piano
Ludwig van Beethoven 7 Variations on ‘Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen’ WoO 46
Richard Wagner Wesendonck Lieder WWV 91: ‘Träume’ and ‘Der Engel’
Gaspar Cassadó Suite for cello solo
This programme is created to explore two major sides of music and cello playing, exploring its use in dance music and its natural vocal quality. With the Beethoven being inspired by Mozart’s The Magic Flute and the Wagner being an arrangement of soprano and orchestra, the works showcase the lyrical side of the cello. In contrast, the Cassado Suite is based entirely from traditional Spanish dances. The first movement has elements of a sarabande. The second movement is a Sardana and the finale a flamenco dance. The programme is also contrasting in styles, showcasing Classical, Romantic and 20th century repertoire. Programme note by Rhys Nicholson
Rhys Nicholson, from South Wales, is currently studying at the RNCM with Professor Jacob Shaw. A dedicated chamber musician, in 2025 he won both the Nossek Prize and the Christopher Rowland Chamber Ensemble of the Year Prize with the Morelia Piano Trio, and was invited to perform at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival. He was also featured soloist at Wigmore Hall in All Shall Be Well by Roxanna Panufnik with the RNCM Chamber Choir. He has a strong interest in orchestral playing, serving as principal cello of the National Youth Orchestra of Wales from 2021 to 2024. He has also taken part in projects with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Sinfonia Cymru. During the 2024/25 season, he joined Manchester Camerata through their Professional Experience Scheme, and is currently participating in the BBC Philharmonic 2025/26 scheme. Rhys has taken part in masterclasses with István Várdai, Alban Gerhardt, and Bruno Philippe. He plays a Forster cello, kindly on loan from the RNCM.
LIANA STOREY (PIANO)
J S Bach Prelude in G major BWV 861
Charles-Valentin Alkan Prelude in E flat major Op 31 No 7
Alexander Scriabin Prelude Op 37 No 1
Lera Auerbach Prelude No 20
Dmitri Shostakovich Prelude No 4 in E minor
Sergei Rachmaninoff Prelude Op 32 No 4
Frédéric Chopin Prelude in F sharp major Op 28 No 13
Claude Debussy Prelude from Pour le Piano L 95
Alberto Ginastera Prelude No 3 (12 American Preludes)
George Gershwin Prelude No 1
This programme explores the term ‘Prelude’ and how the has model changed across different eras of composition. Featuring well known preludes by Rachmaninoff and Chopin, the programme also includes some lesser known composers such as Ginastera and Auerbach. Programme note by Liana Storey
Liana Storey is a Japanese-British pianist born in Kansas City, USA in 2002 to a family of musicians. She began playing the piano at the age of four and studied with Marina Sultanova at the International Center for Music at Park University, Missouri, where she was given regular opportunities to perform from a young age. After moving from Kansas City to Glasgow in 2010, she studied at the Junior department of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where her teachers included Marika Slater, James Willshire, and Graeme McNaught. In her early career, Liana passed her ABRSM Grade 8 piano exam at the age of 12 and gained the highest mark for piano in Glasgow, receiving the W. Lindsey Lamb Memorial Bursary Award for Pianoforte. She won fourth prize in the Moray piano competition in Elgin in 2013, first prize at the Young Pianist of the North International Piano Competition in 2014, and in 2018 she was a finalist in the James Waterhouse Piano Competition and won second prize in the Junior Intercollegiate Beethoven Piano Competition. As a recent winner of the RNCM Concerto Competition, she will perform in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester this coming June.
ALVIN WONG (SAXOPHONE)
Jonathan Fisher piano
Jean Denis Michat Back to Bach: Allegro
Dorothy Chang Afterlight
Marc Mellits Dark Matter
Karen Tanaka Night Bird
Pierre Max Dubois Sonatine: Allegretto
This recital traces a journey from darkness into light. The programme opens with Michat’s Back to Bach, a piece that playfully reimagines Baroque motion through a contemporary lens. From this articulated, almost architectural opening, Chang’s Afterlight leads us into a more unstable, liminal sonic space. Here, harmonies seem to blur and textures float, suggesting an environment where sound itself resists easy definition. The sense of darkness becomes more visceral and personal in Marc Mellits’ Dark Matter. Dark Matter was written in the wake of a rare autoimmune illness that profoundly affected Mellits’ eyesight, shaping both his physical experience and his artistic outlook. In this context, Dark Matter becomes more than an abstract meditation on darkness. With Tanaka’s Nightbird, the tension of the preceding darkness begins to loosen. While rooted in nocturnal imagery, Tanaka’s writing favours graceful migratory lines, ephemeral gestures, and a fluid sense of flight that gently lifts us toward light. The journey culminates with the Finale from Dubois’ Sonatine, a movement of dazzling clarity and exuberant energy. Programme note by Alvin Wong
Alvin Wong is a fortunate young musician who has embarked on a musical journey across three continents. He has won prizes, including the Phillip Crawshaw Memorial Prize in the Royal Overseas League Competition (UK), Illinois MTNA Young Artist Woodwind Competition and the Evanston Music Club and North Shore Musicians Club Competitions in the USA. He is also one of the very few Hongkongers to have appeared in prestigious competitions like the Adolphe Sax International Competition and the Andorra International Saxophone Competition. Having performed in more than ten countries across three continents, Alvin has a diverse performance portfolio spanning solo, ensemble, and orchestral work, as well as traditional and contemporary music. Alvin has previously received education in Hong Kong, the US and Belgium. Alvin has since relocated to the UK, his fourth country, where he continues his musical journey.
