Pembroke Students Awarded Singing and Instrumental Scholarships

Congratulations to Pembroke students Vith Ketheeswaranathan and Ken-Ee Choong, who have been awarded this year’s singing and instrumental scholarships respectively.

Nicola Harrison has been running the singing scholarship at Pembroke for the past 13 years. A highly renowned vocal coach who has trained other singing teachers as well as choral scholars, Ms Harrison’s scholarship consists of 18 free singing lessons which focus on voice training and performance.

Discussing her decision to award the scholarship to Vith, Ms Harrison commented that, out of those who auditioned, Vith had the “strongest voice and best grounding in classical song, giving a very good rendition of the song Is My Team Ploughing? by Butterworth”. Vith himself expressed his gratitude at receiving the award, saying: “I was extremely honoured to be awarded the Pembroke Singing Scholarship. It will allow me to continue singing at Oxford and develop my voice over the course of the year.”

The Instrumental Award at Pembroke dates from the early 1990s. The auditions for this scholarship, consisting of a twenty-minute recital, are usually during Trinity Term, and the recipient is awarded a sum of £300 to assist them in their musical development. Ken-Ee was given the award following a strong audition on the piano.

The judges commented that Ken-Ee demonstrated “strong musicianship” and that his recital was “extremely well presented”. Reflecting on the opportunity that the scholarship provides, Ken-Ee commented: “It was fantastic to receive the Instrumental Award, it is helping me to continue having regular piano lessons with my top-tier professor in London.”

We wish both of them the very best of luck with their respective scholarships.