News
2026 Tillett Debut Scheme Finalists announced!
- Radu Stoica – piano
- Bridget Yee – piano
- Milda Daunoraite – piano
- Ayane Nakajima – piano
- Cherry Wei Ge – piano
- Basil Alter – violin
- Ayla Sahin – violin
- Sophia Molina – violin
- Connie Pharoah – viola
- Tohi Harada – guitar
- Duo Ekeš – violin & piano
- Volt Duo – guitar duo
- Trio Havisham – piano trio
- Neruda Quartet – string quartet
- Dogoda Quintet – wind quintet
We look forward to hearing our Final 15 perform live in London in late January. Up to 4 artists will be selected for our 2026 Tillett Debut Scheme.
2025 Tillett Debut Artists Announced
The Tillett Trust are thrilled to announce our 2025 Tillett Artists are Jamie Cochrane (piano), the Isla String Quartet, Joel Munday (violin) and Daniel Schultz (cello).
These outstanding young musicians will now be on our roster for two seasons from September 2025 – August 2027 so expect to see them on concert series’ programmes up and down the country!
2025 Tillett Debut Scheme Finalists announced!
Piano – Kasparas Mikuzis, Jamie Cochrane, Mariamna Sherling, Noah Zhou, Tomos Boyles, Xiaowen Shang.
Violin – Joel Munday, Basil Alter, Mabelle Park.
Viola – Sofia Gomez Alberto.
Cello – Daniel Schultz.
Ensembles – Duo Melus (flute & piano) Twin Reeds (clarinet & saxophone), Isla Quartet, Kayu Quartet, Elmore Quartet.We look forward to hearing our Final 16 perform live in London in late January. Up to 4 artists will be selected for our 2025 Tillett Debut Scheme.
Tillett Artists named Classic FM Rising Stars
It is so wonderful to see these two young Scots in the news again! This time, Ryan Corbett and Aaron Akugbo have been named in Classic FM’s list of ’30 young musicians reshaping classical music’. So watch this space as you’re bound to see their names again and again…
Anna Im wins Stuttgart International Violin competition
Huge congratulations to our 2023 Tillett Artist Anna Im for this fantastic result! Anna takes home a prize of 30,000Euro and will benefit from concert engagements with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz, the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, the Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra as well as further recitals…..plus the loan of a 1746 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin!
Tillett Debut Artists Announced!
The Tillett Trust is very excited to release the names of our 2024 Debut Artists. Gerard Flotats (cello), Arie Dakesian (guitar) and Ewan Millar (oboe) were selected from a hugely talented pool of musicians who we had the pleasure of listening to at the live auditions on 31st January in London. We are very much looking forward to working with them all from next season and will post details of their London Showcase Concert once confirmed.
Tillett Artists shortlisted for RPS Awards
It’s fantastic to hear Ryan Corbett (accordion, 2022 Tillett Artist) and Aaron Akugbo (trumpet with Connaught Brass, 2020 Tillett Artists) have been shortlisted for the Young Artist Award at the 2024 RPS Awards. We’re thrilled for them and wish them the best of luck at the award ceremony at the Royal Northern College of Music on 5th March.
Ryan and Aaron in rehearsals for their Tillett Showcase Concerts at Kings Place and Wigmore Hall
TILLETT DEBUT – 16 finalists invited to the live auditions in January!
We are thrilled to announce our 16 finalists, chosen from a field of extraordinary talent and over 80 applications. The panel were particularly impressed by the standard this year and wish to thank all those who entered and put so much time and effort into their video auditions.
Fibonacci Quartet (string quartet), Paddington Trio (piano trio) Diana Cooper, Angeliki Giannopoulou, Antoine Préat, Gabrielė Sutkutė, Nicolas Ventura, Tom Zalmanov (piano) Kryštof Kohout, Joel Munday, Esther Park, Dorian Rambaud (violin) Sofia Gomez Alberto (viola) Gerard Flotats (cello) Arie Dakesian (guitar) Ewan Millar (oboe)
The 2024 Tillett Debut Artists will be announced at the beginning of February after the live auditions in London. Watch this space!
Fit for a King!
Tune in to the King’s Scottish Coronation today and you may spot some very familiar faces amongst the stellar line-up of Scottish musicians performing. Accordionist and 2022 Tillett Artist Ryan Corbett will be performing before the service at St Giles’ Cathedral, as will trumpeter Aaron Akugbo, member of 2020 Tillett Artists Connaught Brass. We wish them the best of luck on this special occasion!
Post-Graduate Bursaries awarded for 23/24
After live auditions hosted by the Royal College of Music, five post-graduate bursaries were awarded for the academic year 2023/2024. The bursaries were funded by the Tillett Trust in association with the Colin Keer Trust and with a generous gift from the estate of Bill Barclay.
The Tillett/Keer Bursars for 23/24 are: Sam Willsmore (Oboe) RWCMD Tabitha Bolter (Horn) RCM Virginia Leigh Lafean (Soprano) RCS India Harding (Mezzo-Soprano) RBC Jessica Hopkins (Soprano) RNCM Heather Brooks (Harp) GSMD
Our Wigmore Showcase finally arrives!
After two years of delays due to Covid, our 2020 Tillett Debut artists Connaught Brass and pianist Dominic Degavino finally took to the stage for their Showcase Concert this week.
Thank you to everyone who came along and supported these incredible musicians so enthusiastically.
Lutoslawski – Mini Overture
Steven Verhelst – Suite from Pulcinella 2.0
Beethoven – Sonata in E major, Op. 109
INTERVAL
Amy Beach – Five Improvisations, Op. 148
Debussy – Estampes, L. 100
Victor Ewald – Andantino from Quintet No. 4, Op. 8
William Mathias – Summer Dances2023 Tillett DEBUT Artists Announced!
The Tillett Trust are thrilled to announce the musicians chosen for the 2023 Tillett DEBUT Scheme.
They are violinist Anna Im, violist Toby Cook and pianist Yuzhang Li.
We look forward to introducing them to concert societies and promoters across the UK for the 2023-24 season and will be showcasing them in a London concert in Spring 2024.
15 Finalists Selected for Live Audition
The selection process for the 2024 Tillett DEBUT Artists is well on its way after an unprecedented number of applications this year.
The panel selected the 15 finalists below to take through to the live round in January.
Piano: Julian CHAN, Dominic DOUTNEY, Yuzhang LI, Yiyi SU, Gabriele SUTKUTE, Bocheng WANG Flute: Daniel EPHGRAVE, Ka Wing WONG Saxophone: Kathryn MCGUINNESS Violin: Anna IM Viola: Toby COOK Cello: Gabriel FRANCIS-DEHQANI Double Bass: Will DUERDEN Edenis Quartet Paddington Trio
- The 2023 Tillett DEBUT artists will be announced in February 2023.
Tillett Debut Artists take to the stage!
Thank you to everyone who joined us at Kings Place on 7 November despite the train strikes! It was a wonderful evening and all three of our Tillett artists performed beautifully.
Ryan Corbett impressed the audience with his sensitive performance including works by Bach, Scarlatti and Viacheslav Semyonov. He and Maja Horvat rounded off the concert with two movements of Piazzolla’s Histoire du Tango.
Yuanfan Yang entertained with Debussy, Rachmaninoff and an impressive display of skill when he asked the audience to choose tunes and styles for him to base a series of improvisations around.
Maja Horvat brought a beautiful rendition of Brahm’s Violin Sonata No. 1 to the Kings Place stage, partnered by another previous Tillett Artist, Mishka Rushdie Momen, on piano.
Tillett Showcase Concert 7 Nov
Our 2022 Winners showcase their talents at London’s Kings Place on 7 Nov at 7.30pm.
Yuanfan Yang (piano), Maja Horvat (violin) and Ryan Corbett (accordion) will play a programme including Bach, Rachmaninoff, Fauré, Debussy and Piazzolla (full details below). Tickets are £20.50 (£8.50 for Under-30s) and can be purchased from the Kings Place box office.
JS Bach - Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 543 Fauré - Violin Sonata in A major, Op. 13 Debussy - Étude 1 pour les cinq doigts d’après Monsieur Czerny Yuanfan Yang - Improvisations based on themes and styles suggested by the audience -------- Scarlatti - Sonata in F, K. 107 Frank Angelis - Romance Viacheslav Semyonov - Don Rhapsody Rachmaninoff - Variations on a theme by Corelli, Op. 42 Piazzolla - Histoire du Tango. 2nd & 3rd movements: Café 1930, Nightclub 1960
Post-Graduate Bursaries awarded for 22/23
After live auditions hosted by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, five post-graduate bursaries were awarded for the academic year 2022/2023. The bursaries were funded by the Tillett Trust in association with the Colin Keer Trust and with a generous gift from the estate of Bill Barclay.
The Tillett/Keer Bursars for 22/23 are: Yuliya Ostapchuk (violin) RCM Ignas Maknikas (piano) RAM Cara Doyle (clarinet) GSMD Yiyi Su (piano) RNCM James McIntyre (tenor) RCS
2022 DEBUT Winners Announced!
This week, our final 16 joined us in London at our live auditions and after a day of superb performances from an incredibly talented group of young musicians, the panel made their decision.
We are delighted to announce our 2022 Tillett DEBUT Artists:
- Ryan Corbett (accordion)
- Yuanfan Yang (piano)
- Maja Horvat (violin)
Thank you to everyone that auditioned, there was an exceptionally high standard of playing. We now look forward to working with these 3 young musicians over the next two years.
16 finalists chosen for DEBUT
The 16 musicians/ensembles chosen to go through to the live audition round in February 2022 are:
Brompton Quartet, Ryan Corbett (accordion), Echea Quartet, Edenis Quartet, Elmore Quartet, Flutes & Frets, Maja Horvat (violin), Krystof Kohout (violin), Yanyan Lin (cello), Nikita Lukinov (piano), Paddington Trio, Perseus Duo, Antoine Preat (piano), Gabriele Sutkute (piano), Ka Wing Wong (flute), Yuanfan Yang (piano).
Thank you to all our applicants!
Tillett Trust administrator Katie Avey retires
After more than three decades the Tillett Trust wishes much-loved administrator Katie Avey a very happy retirement!
Thank you Katie for all your incredible work! See below for a lovely article by Andrew Green on Classical-Music.uk