Recent alumni successes at Guildhall School (February 2025)

• At Guildhall School we were thrilled to see so many Guildhall alumni nominated for the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards taking place on 6 March at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire: Dinis Sousa (Piano 2019) is nominated in the Conductor category. Claire Booth (Soprano 2004) and Francesca Chiejina (Soprano 2016) are both nominated for the Singer Award. George Barton (Percussion 2014) and Siwan Rhys (Piano 2013) are in the running for the 2025 RPS Young Artist Award as part of GBSR Duo. 
• Gabriela Ortiz (Composition 1991) won the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina.  

• Victoria Proudler (Piano 1997) won the Presto Music Classical Award for Sheet Music Publication of the Year 2024 for her piano book series Piano Grades are Go!  

• Albert Horne (Repetiteur 2007) was appointed Chorus Master at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, starting August 2025. 

• Matthew Lee Knowles (Composition 2008) celebrated his collaborative journey with lyricist/performer La Chiva in a special event on 21 February. 

• Finan Jones (Conducting 2020) was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. 

• Paul Coll Tulloch (Horn 2020) was appointed conductor of Banda de Mao. 

• Kaitlin Wild (Trumpet 2017) was appointed Principal Second Trumpet with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. 

• Francisco Coll (Composition 2011) will be the resident composer for La Rioja Festival this May. 

• Gabriella Pineda-Rodrigues (Soprano 2016) was announced as a new Ambassador for the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation. 

• Rosie Murphy (Harp 2020) is the winner of the BBCNI Young Musician Platform Award and will be mentored by former BBC Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Sioned Williams. 

• The Guildhall Session Orchestra, composed largely of Guildhall alumni, is performing with Corinne Bailey Rae at the Roundhouse’s Three Sixty Festival as part of her Black Rainbows tour. 

• Elizabeth Rogerson (Piano 2000) featured in a BBC interview discussing her career transition from piano teacher to prison officer. 

• Dr Raymond Yiu (Composition 2014) had the Asian premiere of his Violin Concerto at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, with the North American premiere scheduled for April 2025 with the Seattle Symphony. 

• Alexandra Dariescu (Piano 2011) is performing with the BBC Symphony Orchestra on 11 April at the Barbican. 

• Nel Begley (Jazz 2023) released their new album Small Flame on 24 January. 

• Gabriela Opacka-Boccadoro (Violin 2022) is playing violin in Three Sisters at Shakespeare’s Globe until 19 April, where recent Acting graduate Ruby Thompson (Acting 2024) is also part of the cast. 

• Early music ensemble Ceruleo, founded at Guildhall in 2014 by Satako Doi-Luck (Harpsichord 2015), Jenni Harper (Soprano 2016), Emily Owen (Soprano 2016) and Toby Carr (Guitar 2016), was featured in The Times’ list of the best classical albums of 2025 so far. 

• Violetta Suvini (Violin 2023) won an RPS Instrumental Prize in January. 

• Rob Lewis (Tenor 2020) won third prize overall and a special award for best tenor at the Viñas Competition in Barcelona. 

• Kryštof Kohout (Violin 2024) was selected as a Classeek Ambassador Artist and featured in a live solo recital with the Violin Channel/Classeek. 

• Sandy Scott-Brown (Cello 2024) is performing with the Aquilae String Quartet, which took part in masterclasses with the Kuss Quartet in Birmingham. 

• Savitri Grier (Violin 2017) was appointed Première cheffe d’attaque of the second violins at the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. 

• Roza Herwig (Mezzo-soprano 2023) won the Outstanding Performance prize at the 2025 Lotte Lenya Competition, where George Robarts (Baritone 2023) was a semi-finalist, along with Bridget Esler (Soprano 2023) who also won third prize in the 2024 Gerda Lissner Foundation’s Lieder/Song Vocal Competition. 

• Jong Sun Woo (Piano 2022) and Joël Terrin (Baritone 2022) participated in Carnegie Hall’s Song Studio 2025, where fellow alumnus Sir Bryn Terfel CBE FGS  (Vocal 1988) also led a masterclass.  

• Felix Gygli (Baritone 2022) won the Lied Prize at the 2024 Queen Sonja Competition and was the inaugural winner of the Eastbourne International Singing Competition. 

• Kit McCarthy (Composition 2024) and Elif Karlidag (Opera Makers 2023) were selected for the LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composers Scheme. 

• Emma Rice FGS (Acting 1988) won Best Direction for Buddha of Suburbia at the WhatsOn Stage Awards.  

• Hayley Atwell (Acting 2005) is starring in Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Royal Drury Lane alongside Tom Hiddleston until 5 April, receiving rave reviews. 

• Saskia Reeves (Acting 1982) is part of the cast of the National Theatre’s upcoming production of End, opening in November 2025. 

• Abdul Sessay (Acting 2023) and Lola Shalam (Acting 2023) are playing Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe from April. 

• Shirley Henderson FGS (Acting 1986) returns in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. 

• Leonie Benesch (Acting 2016) features in the newly released film September 5. 

• David Blair (Acting 1995) features as Mr Mackintosh in Series 14 of Call the Midwife. 

• Mirren Mack (Acting 2019), Synnøve Karlsen, (Acting 2016) and Max Irons (Acting 2008) all feature in the new BBC series Miss Austen.  

• Sophie Cox (Acting 2024) and Nina Cassells (Acting 2024) return to Playfight for a four week run at the Soho Theatre in April.  

• Devon James-Bowen (Production Arts 2022) is working as Assistant Stage Manager (ASM) on East is South at Hampstead Theatre and served as ASM Book Cover for the Donmar Warehouse’s Macbeth, which is set for a cinema release.  

• Mike Walker (Production Arts 1985) is the Sound Designer for the Broadway transfer of Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical. 

Image: Guildhall Session Orchestra, 2022