Meet Harrison Chau and Bonnie Scott

The Royal Academy of Music moves music forward by inspiring successive generations of musicians to connect, collaborate and create.

For over 200 years, we have supported the musicians today whose music will move the world tomorrow.

Harrison Chau and Bonnie Scott, the featured students on our new Guide, are currently studying for master's degrees at the Academy. They shared their experiences of being a part of the Academy community.

Are you considering the Academy as the next step in your musical journey? Read our new Guide to find out more about studying here:

What does the Academy mean to you?

Harrison: To me the Academy represents a place of growth. My time at the Academy has really pushed me to become the best version of myself - musically and personally. As an international student it has quite literally become a second home and the Harp Department is like a little family.

Bonnie: The Royal Academy of Music has been a place of learning, growth and opportunities that I could have never experienced outside of the Academy.

If you had to describe the Academy in 3 words, what would they be?

Exciting, innovative and irreplaceable.

What led you to study here?

Harrison: When I first began harp lessons in 2016, I’d seen a London Symphony Orchestra masterclass for the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, led by Karen Vaughan, who still teaches at the Academy! I was absolutely taken with the care she gave in her instructions and looked up where she taught. Even though I had auditioned for other conservatories, the Academy remained at the top of my list for their holistic, forward-thinking approach to music making and collaboration.

Bonnie: I joined the Junior Academy when I was 16 through the encouragement of my teacher Miriam Keogh. The Academy was always a dream place to study, but I had the mindset that I would never be good enough. It was another teacher, Sue Blair, who encouraged me to audition and to my surprise I got in!

What is one standout memory from your time at the Academy?

Harrison: Though I have only been in London for nine months I can already think of so many stellar moments from my time here at the Academy. I think my most poignant memory was the Student’s Create Festival. I am still awe-struck by the potential and creativity of my fellow peers. From the planning and organisation to performing arrangements of Tchaikovsky for jazz oboe to opera to collaborating with dance students, it was amazing to see the wide variety of interests that the students were able to display outside of their main discipline.

Bonnie: Any time Elton John visits the building it’s always so exciting! I remember going to a Q&A he did with the Student Union President in the Duke’s Hall, when he collected an award with his husband David Furnish. It was amazing to be in the presence of such an icon!

When did you start playing the harp? What was your introduction to music?

Harrison: I began playing the harp at 17 (which is quite late compared to most other instrumentalists!) though I’d been playing the piano and cello from the ages of 13 and 11 respectively. My earliest musical memories are sitting in the car on the drive to school with my dad, who was a great lover of Tchaikovsky and Chopin with sprinklings of Robbie Williams and John Denver. The shift to harp playing happened because I was a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda series and Princess Zelda played… the harp! It was a full circle moment when I got to watch one of my first teachers play the score in concert.

Bonnie: My mum is from Wales, where there is quite a big harp culture. She played when she was younger and always wanted her children to play - so my sister also plays the harp! Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Who are your musical inspirations?

Harrison: My main inspirations and supporters have been the teachers that have guided me through this journey. I have been incredibly blessed to have some wonderful harp teachers who are not only amazing musicians but wonderful people - most notably Catrin Finch (here at Academy), Ingrid Bauer and Yi Jin from New Zealand. When I was in Auckland, being a part of the music community allowed me to work with true visionaries - when I see others doing cool things it spurs me on to aim high in my own work.

Bonnie: Being a stereotypical harpist, I love French music and have a particular passion for women composers; Lili Boulanger, Augusta Holmès, Germain Tailleferre, Henriette Renié, to name a few. I’m also very inspired by my teacher Suzy Willison-Kawalec who plays with the most beautiful and effortless sound and musicality and Evelyn Glennie, who is hugely inspiring to me. I’ve had the immense privilege of working with her and the City Lit Percussion Orchestra through my work in the Open Academy Department!

Do you have any upcoming projects (either at the Academy or outside) which you are particularly excited about?

Harrison: An upcoming highlight will be performing at Snape Maltings Concert Hall with the Academy Symphony Orchestra. My favourite project this year has just happened - I got to visit home as an ‘international guest’ harpist for the NZ Harp Festival. It was hugely gratifying to return to New Zealand and showcase how much I’d grown in my time away. My teachers and peers at the Academy were very kind in helping me prepare for the festival.

Bonnie: I’m excited to be travelling to New York and the BBC Proms with other Academy students, to perform with The Juilliard School’s Orchestra this summer!

Can you tell us about the piece you are performing in the video. Why is it special to you?

The piece we are performing is Les pins de Charlannes by Henriette Renié. Though it’s very simple, it is special to us as lovers of the harpist Henriette Renié. It was important to us to represent not just a woman composer but one of the most important composers for the harp.

What would you say to people considering the Academy as the next step on their musical journey?

We would implore any aspiring musician looking at the Academy to dig deep and consider who they see on the other side of the two or four years they will spend working with teachers and students at the Academy. It is not the easiest journey, but it is one you will not regret. Plus, you’re sure to enjoy some lovely views of Regent's Park along the way!