Georgia said, “When choosing my violin diploma pieces, I decided to have the theme of disability to link my programme together. I performed 35 minutes’ worth of pieces by Beethoven, Stanley, Delius and Smetana. Playing for this length of time was completely exhausting so before the exam, I had to build up my stamina by practising for hours at a time.

As well as performing the pieces at a professional standard, I had to do lots of research on the biographical details of the composers, the context of the pieces and musical analysis. This was in order to write my programme notes and answer questions about them in a viva voce.

On the day of the exam, I was very nervous because I didn’t really know what to expect because the exam is so different from grade exams. However, when I started playing, all my nerves vanished and once it was finally over, I was so relieved and happy. Now that the exam is behind me, I am going to continue to build up my repertoire and technique.”

Special congratulations go to Antonia who passed the DipABRSM with Distinction at the age of sixteen and who is Principal Oboist of the RCMJD Symphony Orchestra.

Director of Music, Dr Charlotte Exon said, “This is a seriously breathtaking achievement and everyone in the Music Department joins me in congratulating Antonia and Georgia on their success. We know that they have both worked very hard and shown great commitment to their music-making and we are all incredibly proud of them both.”