Shreya from Harrow is our June Scholar of the Month

12 year old Shreya from Harrow has been a London Music Fund Scholar since 2017 and is an incredibly talented and dedicated musician. She has worked very hard throughout her Scholarship and always attends our Playing Days. Shreya achieved a distinction for her Grade 6 Flute last summer. She also plays the violin!

Shreya submitted a lovely video for our #ScholarsMakingMusic competition – you can watch her beautiful performance of Locatelli's Allegro from Sonata in G Minor below.

We asked Shreya a few questions about her Scholarship, her ambitions, and making music in lockdown:

Tell us a bit about your Scholarship so far. Any favourite moments?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my Scholarship! I have had various opportunities to play with fellow musicians, which has really improved my playing. The scholarship has additionally helped me to improve different parts of my playing, such as dynamics. One highlight of the scholarship for me was when I had the opportunity to go to the Classic Brit Awards. It was great to see the different professional musicians and their performances. It was an experience I will never forget!

What are you most proud of – is there a big goal you’ve reached, an aspect of musicianship you’ve improved at, or a particular piece you’ve worked hard on?

I am most proud of my work for my Grade 6 Flute exam, especially my A piece, Tambourin (Attrib. Francois-Joseph Gossec), because I found it quite challenging at the beginning but I eventually understood it and was able to play it.

Do you have a musical role model, or someone who inspires you?

I don’t have a particular role model but I think that the violinist Hilary Hahn is very inspiring. I find her music really expressive and since I play the violin as well I find her inspirational. Another role model is Emmanuel Pahud, a flautist, who inspires me as well and has an amazing tone in his playing.

What are your musical ambitions for the final year of your Scholarship?

My ambitions for the final year of my Scholarship is to start working towards my Grade 7 as it is the next step, seeing as with the current Lock down situation we can’t have exams as we normally would. I also want to learn as much as I can about playing my flute more expressively.

We loved your #ScholarsMakingMusic video. How are you keeping the music going at the moment? Do you have any advice for Scholars who might be finding practice difficult without their usual lessons and ensembles to motivate them?

At the moment, in addition to my regular practice, I am continuing to play music by listening to different pieces of film music and learning how to play them on both my flute and violin by working out the notes myself. My advice is to keep practising and to also try out new, different music on your own.

Shreya at one of our Playing Days in 2018