Introducing the 2025/26 Bicentenary Scholars

New Zealand soprano Tayla Alexander is in the second year of her master’s degree. She is supported by the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Drake Calleja Trust. In 2025/26, she joins the Accademia dell’Opera Italiana as a Studio Artist.

She has performed a range of repertoire across international stages. Highlights include Mimi (La Boheme) and Rusalka (Rusalka) in Royal Academy Opera scenes, Christine in Ken Hill’s original Phantom of the Opera at Tokyo Orb Theatre, Alice/cover Countess (Le Comte Ory) with New Zealand Opera and Helena (Die Verschworenen) at the Lisa Gasteen National Opera Programme.

Tayla was a finalist in the 2025 Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award and the 2024 Lexus Song Quest. She released her debut album Songbird aged 10, which has since gained millions of streams worldwide, and founded the Tayla Made Foundation, distributing over £40,000 in grants to young New Zealanders in its first two years.

Welsh pianist Tomos Boyles is studying with Joanna MacGregor on the Advanced Diploma course. Tomos joined the Academy in 2022 to continue his studies at postgraduate level, after receiving a first-class bachelor’s degree in Music from Christ Church, Oxford University.

He has performed at venues including Sinfonia Smith Square, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Holywell Music Room in Oxford and St David’s Hall and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. Recent performances include solo recitals at the Ludlow Piano Festival, Beaumaris Festival and Wigmore Hall.

Tomos won first prize at the 2025 Dudley International Piano Competition. Other accolades include First Prize at Wales International Piano Festival, the prestigious Blue Ribband at the National Eisteddfod and first place in the EPTA competition. His interviews have been published in the Cross-Eyed Pianist’s ‘Meet the Artist’ series and broadcast by S4C and BBC Wales, and he recently featured on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ with oboist Ewan Millar.

Lithuanian pianist Milda Daunoraitė is studying with Tessa Nicholson in the first year of her master's degree.

Milda’s performances have been broadcast in over 40 countries via Mezzo TV, Radio Classique and TV5 Monde. She has performed extensively across Europe, including at Wigmore Hall, the Spoleto Festival in Italy, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the UN Headquarters in Geneva. Her competition successes include the V. Krainev Piano Competition and the 2023 Sterndale Bennett Piano Prize, and she performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as winner of The Purcell School Concerto Competition.

Following a profile by EMCY, she performed Bacevičius’ Piano Concerto No 4 with the LNSO at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, broadcast across Europe by Euroradio. She is an experienced collaborator, having worked with artists including Barbara Hannigan.

She has been supported by The Munster Trust, Keyboard Charitable Trust, Hattori Foundation, SOS Talents Foundation-MS and the M. Rostropovich Foundation.

Oscar Gillespie is an oboist studying for his master’s degree with Chris Cowie. Originally from England, he relocated to Australia in 2013, where he continued his musical education at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (VCASS), Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music, where he studied with Jeff Crellin.

Oscar has performed with many of Australia’s professional orchestras, including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Western Australian Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. Highlights have included appearances at iconic venues such as the Sydney Opera House.

Prior to moving to London to commence his studies at the Academy, he had a brief stint as Principal Oboe with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. He is passionate about sharing the oboe’s distinctive voice with audiences and committed to creating compelling, expressive musical experiences through performance.

Welsh soprano Grace Hope-Gill is in her second year of Royal Academy Opera as a Bicentenary Scholar, under the tutelage of Mary Nelson and Anna Tillbrook. She completed both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Academy, and was awarded the Eldee scholarship for outstanding studentship. She is also currently supported by the Matt Ferrey Opera Scholarship.

Grace’s recent successes include winning the John Fussell Award for Young Musicians, the Major Van Someran-Godfrey prize and Elena Gerhardt prize. 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. With Royal Academy Opera, she has performed the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Sandmännchen in Humperdink’s Hänsel und Gretel and Cis in Britten’s Albert Herring. She travelled to Munich as part of the Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme to study with Christian Gerhaher, which culminated in her international recital debut.

Pianist Kaiwen Jin is currently in the second year of his bachelor's degree in Piano Performance at the Academy studying with Professor Christopher Elton. In addition to the Bicentenary Scholarship, Kaiwen is also 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. During his high school years, Kaiwen honed his craft and delved deeper into the nuances of musical expression. Kaiwen won the Third Prize in the Youth International Piano Competition hosted by the Music Middle School affiliated with the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He has been invited to perform at prestigious venues across Zhejiang and Shanghai including Cadillac Shanghai Concert Hall and He Luting Concert Hall.

Woogyeom Kim is a tenor from South Korea on the first year of the Royal Academy Opera course.

Woogyeom gained international recognition by winning Third Prize at the AsLiCo Asia Competition and graduated at the top of his class at Seoul National University, where he studied for his undergraduate degree. As a result, he won the honour of giving the valedictory performance at the prestigious Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

Kim recently performed the role of Werther in a performance of scenes from Werther and was selected for the Academy’s Song Circle. He won Second Prize at the Daegu International Competition, South Korea, in August 2025.

Julia Kumlin is a Swedish soprano, currently in her final year of the Academy's undergraduate programme. She is studying with Raymond Connell, Marcus Van den Akker and James Baillieu.

Her operatic journey began at the Opera Studio Kapellsberg in Härnösand, Sweden, where she performed both at the Opera Studio and Norrlandsoperan. Her roles include Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Magda in scenes from La Rondine. Julia has also appeared as the soprano soloist in Bach’s St John Passion and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

During her time in London, Julia was part of the chorus in Royal Academy Opera’s production of Die Zauberflöte. She has also performed and co-created a sold-out Nordic Song Recital in the Angela Burgess Recital Hall.

French violinist Nathan Mierdl is enrolled on the Academy's Advanced Diploma course. He previously studied with Christophe Poiget at the Dijon Conservatoire and with Roland Daugareil at the Paris Conservatoire.

He later studied at the Academy of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and the Academy of the Orchestre de Paris. He became a member of the Orchestre National de France, followed promptly by a position as assistant concertmaster with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. He was appointed concertmaster in January 2023.

Nathan won the Second Senior Prize at the prestigious Menuhin Competition in 2018, and has performed across Europe as a soloist, orchestral and chamber player. Nathan’s playing can be heard with the ensemble Le Déluge on a recording of Louis Vierne’s chamber music, and with Trio Métral on a recording of Ravel and Chausson.

Lithuanian-born pianist Kasparas Mikužis is enrolled on the one-year Advanced Diploma course, following undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the Academy. In addition to the Bicentenary Scholarship, Kasparas is also supported by the Julien Award

Named as one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ for 2025, Kasparas has performed at highly respected venues including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Lithuanian National Philharmonic. He is a current artist of the Young Classical Artists Trust.

Kasparas has given recitals across the UK and Europe, including a Wigmore Hall debut in December 2024, and performed as a solo artist at the Eudon Choi show during London Fashion Week 2023. In recognition of his representation of Lithuania, Kasparas was honoured with a letter of gratitude from the President of the Republic of Lithuania.

Kasparas is looking forward to collaborating with fellow YCAT artist Nathan Amaral for a series of concerts in early 2026, as well as working on a recording with Linn Records at the Academy.

Ella Orehek-Coddington is an Australian-Maltese mezzo-soprano in her second year of Royal Academy Opera, under the tutelage of Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Jonathan Papp. She is a member of the Accademia dell'Opera Italiana’s Young Artists in London, and was awarded the Richard Wagner Scholarship to attend the Bayreuth Festival in August 2025. Ella's studies at the Academy are also supported by the Carr-Gregory Trust.

Ella was previously awarded a Bachelor of Music (first-class honours) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a Diploma of Language Studies from the University of Sydney and a Master of Arts and DipRAM from the Royal Academy of Music.

Ella’s roles include Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte for Royal Academy Opera, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Mrs Grose in The Turn of the Screw, the title role in Mascagni’s Zanetto, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Juno in Semele, Joas in Athalia, Irene in Theodora and La Feé in Viardot’s Cendrillon.

Russian cellist Ivan Sendetsky received his education at leading world conservatories in Saint Petersburg, Berlin, New England and Basel. He is currently pursuing his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London on the Advanced Diploma course.

He has enjoyed significant success at prestigious competitions, including winning First Prize at the Grunewald and Vienna International Music Competitions in 2024. He also won prizes at the International Tchaikovsky Competition (2019, 2023), Knushevitsky International Cello Competition (2012, 2014) and the All-Russian Music Competition (2018). He performs both as a soloist and as part of the ‘SenS’ chamber duo with accordionist Vladimir Stupnikov, and has performed under the baton of Valery Gergiev, Teodor Currentzis and Pablo Heras-Casado. His concert geography spans Russia, Europe, the US and South Korea, and he regularly performs at the Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, BOZAR in Brussels and Tonhalle Zurich.