Scholarships

The West London Chorus offers choral scholarships for aspiring professional singers who wish to develop their choral singing and sight-reading in preparation for university choral scholarships or as a means of broadening their repertoire knowledge. The scholarships are open to singers aged 18-30, or students in full or part time music education.

Our scholarships are each worth £900 and successful candidates are expected to take part in about three concert performances a year and attend our weekly rehearsals on Tuesday evenings during term time, providing support and advice for other singers in their section.

There will also be occasional solo/quartet/semi chorus opportunities and a chance for the scholars to receive coaching from the choir’s Musical Director. It is expected that choral scholars will also take an active role with social media for the ensemble and generally support the endeavours of the Chorus.

For more information about our choral scholarships, use our Contact Us page or download an application form.

Chiswick Choir is registered with Making Music (National Federation of Music Societies).

Our current scholars

Harriet Cameron is originally from Somerset. She is currently in her fourth undergraduate year at the Royal Academy of Music studying with Catherine Wyn Rogers. One of her favourite projects there was working on Louise Drewett’s new opera Daylighting, a collaborative project with local schools, which premiered in 2021 in the Susie Sainsbury Theatre.

Taking part in the English song competition in 2020 was another highlight as she was very highly commended for her performance. In October 2022 she sang the role of Frasquita from Bizet’s Carmen and Peaseblossom from Britten’s A Midsummer Nights Dream in the Opera Scenes at the Royal Academy of Music. During her time at the Academy she has also enjoyed working with the Historical Performance department.

She recently organised and performed in a concert of Barbara Strozzi’s music for international women’s day with a group of historical instrumentalists and fellow singers. Last year she auditioned and joined the student scheme of the Philharmonia Chorus. In December she sang as a soloist in their concert of Handel’s Messiah in St James Church, Sussex Gardens. In November of 2022 she sang with the Brandenburg Sinfonia at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square for their concert Vivaldi on the Double. Furthermore last summer Harriet took part in the Somerset song prize and was awarded the most promising young singer award. Harriet and her collaborative pianist YuPeng He, performed a varied programme of French and English song and had the opportunity to participate in a masterclass with Elizabeth Watts.

Last summer Harriet participated in Bampton Operas professional production of Haydn’s Il mondo Della Luna. They took the opera to three different venues across the UK. In December Harriet performed a program of French song at the Wigmore Hall for their Music for the Moment series. Harriet is also a member of the National Youth Theatre and in 2021 performed in a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth with the Burnt Orange theatre company where she played the role of Lady Macbeth.

Harriet is a Dick Maidment and Peggy Cooper Award Holder, kindly supported by Help Musicians for the year 2023 to 2024. Harriet is also kindly supported by the Kathleen Trust for her next year of study. Harriet hopes to continue her studies as a singer on the Artist Masters course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in September 2023.

Mackenzie Kavanagh is a 23-year-old soprano and pianist based in London. She attended The Purcell School for Young Musicians on a government music and dance scheme scholarship from the age of eight until the upper sixth, where she studied piano, singing, cello, clarinet and harpsichord.

She was awarded the Ernest Cook Trust award for outstanding musical and academic performance, as well as winning the composition prize for singer songwriting. As a pianist and singer she has performed solo and collaboratively in a number of prestigious concert halls in London as well as abroad, including the Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Hall and the Fazioli Concert Hall in Italy.

She was a member of the National Youth Choir (2018) before attending Durham University, where she sang with a number of college chapel choirs. She currently sings with the BBC Symphony Chorus who regularly perform at the Barbican Centre and are a key choral group in the BBC Proms each year.

She also frequently works as a ‘dep/ringer’ for various choirs across London, helping to support their soprano sections. She is currently focusing on her singing development and technique with a view to attending conservatoire in a few years’ time.

Emily Hazrati (b.1998) is a mezzo-soprano and composer based in London. She is a former alto of The Choir of Clare College Cambridge, and sings as a regular of various choirs across London. Emily has performed around the UK, USA, and The Netherlands, in venues such as Royal Festival Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Barbican Hall, King’s College Chapel, St Bavo Cathedral, Haarlem, and Milton Court Concert Hall. As a composer, she has worked on projects with the Royal Opera House, Psappha, BBC Singers, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra and CHROMA, amongst many others. She was a Junior Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a Britten Pears Young Artist (2021-22) with whom she premiered her second chamber opera TIDE at Snape Maltings with collaborator Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh, as part of the Aldeburgh Festival 2022. Emily particularly enjoys performing new work, most recently appearing as Lady Anne in Nick Bicât’s new ballad opera The South Sea Bubble (Cantatica Dramatica, August 2022).

Alexander was born and raised in the West Country to a musical family. He started singing at 19 and completed his Master’s in vocal performance at Trinity Laban in 2022 following on from his BMus where he was awarded the Trinity Laban silver medal. Alexander is an experienced and versatile performer of Opera, Oratorio and Choral music, performing repertoire from the Baroque through to the contemporary.

Alexander has recently performed Branwell in Brontë by Lisa Logan at the Grimeborn festival. Previous credits include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart with Cardiff Opera, Shepherd boy and Spoletta in Tosca by Puccini for Carmina Priapea, The defendant in Trial by Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan for Cardiff opera and Pastore 1 and Spirito 1 In Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo for the Frome Festival. Upcoming performances include Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Cardiff opera and Chorus in Götterdämmerung and La Boheme for the Longborough Opera Festival.

Nick started violin lessons at the age of 4, was a member of Surrey Arts ensembles, both choral and orchestral, including the Surrey Youth Choir (2000-2006) under James Burton, Greg Beardsell and Rufus Frowde. In 2008, he took part in the world première of Bernard Cavanna’s Messe un jour ordinaire in Grenoble, France. From 2012 to 2018, Nick was Organist and Director of Music at St Nicholas, Alfold and St John the Baptist, Loxwood. He joins us directly from the New London Singers, one of London’s ‘most exciting vocal ensembles’.