RDS Music Bursary Past Winners

2024 RDS Music Bursary Winner

Adam Buttimer, tubaist, 2024 RDS Music Bursary Winner

Adam Buttimer has a successful competition career; most recently, he was the winner of the Feis Ceoil 2024 Senior Brass Recital. He was the recipient of the Audrey Chisholm Award in 2023, and the ChamberFest Prize 2022. Adam was a finalist in the Yamaha Concerto Competition at Dublin Brass Week 2023, the Trench Award 2023, and the Maura Dowdall Concerto Competition 2022. Solo endeavours include a performance of Vaughan William Concerto for Bass Tuba with Trinity College Orchestra, and he performed at Farmleigh House as part of celebrations for Feis Ceoil’s 125th Anniversary.

Adam has a passion for new music, which was amplified by his participation in a mentorship scheme with KlangForum Wien, while studying abroad at the Sibelius Academy. Upon returning to his home institution, the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Adam was inspired to form a student led contemporary ensemble – Outside the Lines Collective. 

A keen chamber musician, Adam has performed at festivals such as Music for Wexford and West Wicklow Chamber Music Festival, as part of Irish Chamber Brass. Adam is a formative member of a new brass quintet, Banshee Brass, who have performed at the Whyte Recital Hall, and Rockwell College, and have recorded work at Windmill Lane Studios and the Holy Trinity Church. 

Adam has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Sibelius Symphony Orchestra, RIAM Philharmonia and the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland. Expanding the tuba repertoire is a matter of great importance to Adam and he has had the pleasure to premiere new music from a range of composers.

2024 RDS Jago Award Winner

Ben Gannon, oboist, 2024 RDS Jago Award Winner

Ben Gannon is a highly regarded oboist of his generation, admired for his skillful playing and expressive musical interpretation. As a finalist in the prestigious Irish Freemason’s Young Musician of the Year 2019, Ben has gone on to receive many awards and support from acclaimed organisations such as the Willem Mengelberg fond of the Concertgebouworkest, the Trench Award at the Birr Festival of Music, the Irish Arts Council and Music Network Ireland.

As an Orchestral Musician, Ben has performed with Camerata Ireland, the Ulster Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He has performed in many prominent venues such as Carnegie Hall, Ulster Hall, National Theatre of São Carlos, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prince Edward Theatre in London’s West End, Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ, Prince Mahidol Hall, Bernard Haitinkzaal, and National Concert Hall of Ireland. Recent appearances include the Birr Festival of Music and Clandeboye Festival 2023.

Ben completed his Bachelor in Performance with First Class Honours and a Licentiate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 2021 studying with Ruby Ashley. He received his Master in Music Performance at the Conservatorium Van Amsterdam in 2023, studying with Aisling Casey, Miriam Pastor Burgos and Ernest Rombout. Ben is a Howarth of London Artist playing on an XM Oboe.

2024 RDS Collins Memorial Performance Award Winner

Aidan Chan, pianist, 2024 RDS Collins Memorial Performance Award Winner

Aidan Chan (pianist) was also announced as this year’s recipient of the €2,000 RDS Collins Memorial Performance Award, which is awarded in association with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. A previous RDS Music Bursary Award winner is selected annually by the Artistic Director of the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. Aidan will perform at the festival which takes place annually in Lismore, Co. Waterford. Aidan won the RDS Music Bursary in 2023 and is an Irish-Chinese pianist whose work primarily explores identity and social structures through performance. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the US (Carnegie Hall), UK (Wigmore Hall), Hong Kong, France, Switzerland, China and across Ireland. As a concerto soloist he has performed with the TUD Sinfonia, as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra of Budweis. Aidan obtained a Master of Music degree with distinction from the Royal College of Music in London under the tutelage of Professors Nigel Clayton and Andrew Zolinsky, having previously completed his undergraduate studies there with first class honours.

Aidan’s recital at the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival takes place on Sunday, June 2nd in St Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore.

2022 RDS Music Bursary Winner

Megan O’Neill (soprano) is the winner of the 2022 RDS Music Bursary valued at €15,000. The RDS Music Bursary is the single largest annual classical music award in Ireland and one of the largest in Europe. Megan qualified for the bursary by winning the Gervase Elwes Memorial Cup in this year’s Feis Ceoil. Megan O’Neill, from Co. Kerry, is in the second year of a Doctor in Music Performance Degree at the RIAM studying with Professor Mary Brennan and Dr Andrew Synott. She completed a Masters in the same college graduating with a first-class honour’s degree following her undergraduate studies in Maynooth. A multiple prize-winner in recent years at the Feis Ceoil, Megan has performed in many opera productions. She will play the lead role in the world premiere of the film ‘Dreamcatcher’ by Kevin O’Connell in May 2022 and will also be participating in Wexford Festival Opera in 2022 and 2023. Megan will use the €15,000 RDS Music Bursary money to pay for the third and fourth years of her degree before auditioning for opera studios in Europe.  An engagement with the National Symphony Orchestra and a recital at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris are part of this award.

2022 RDS Jago Award Winner

The RDS Jago Award of €5,000, the second prize in the RDS Music Bursary Programme, was awarded to 24-year-old violinist, Mollie Wrafter from Co. Offaly. She qualified for the RDS Music Bursary by winning the Aileen Gore Cup & RTÉ lyric FM Award at this year’s Feis Ceoil. Mollie will also receive a solo engagement with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra as part of this award. She completed her B(Mus) in the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester in 2020, graduating with a first-class honour’s degree. She plans to undertake a master’s at Codarts in Rotterdam studying with Vesna Gruppman starting in September. She will use her bursary money to support her college expenses in Holland. Mollie is part of a Chamber Music Quarter, who are one of only six quartets, invited to attend a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada in July 2022. The reminder of her RDS bursary money will be used to fund her travel expenses.

2022 RDS Collins Memorial Performance Award Winner

Phoebe White (violinist) was also announced as this year’s recipient of the €2,000 RDS Collins Memorial Performance Award, which is awarded in association with the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. A previous RDS Music Bursary Award winner is selected annually by the Artistic Director of the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival. Phoebe will perform at the Festival which takes place annually in Lismore, Co. Waterford. Phoebe won the RDS Music Bursary in 2021 and is currently undertaking her masters in Berlin at the University of Arts with Professor Laticia Honda-Rosenberg.