Presented by the Royal College of Music
Sophia Elger is currently studying classical saxophone under Kyle Horch at the Royal College of Music.
She has appeared as a soloist across the UK, performing at venues including St-Martin-in-the-Fields, the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, St Mary Abbot’s Church, Knightsbridge, St Stephens Church, Kensington, and The Lighthouse Concert Hall, Poole. Often she performs as part of the Cupra Duo with fellow musician and pianist, Aidan Chan.
Committed to the performance of chamber and new music, Sophia contributed to the premiere of Noble Gases by Andrew David Perkins, Quintet by Christian Begai. She continues to work with composers from the Royal College of Music, namely Andrew Zhou and Joe Parks. Outside of the UK, Sophia has performed a number of new ensemble works in the 2019 Nordic Saxophone Festival, Denmark and a number of works at various venues in Gap, France.
Currently, Sophia is a semi-finalist of the 2019 Matthew Ruggiero International Woodwind Competition for Saxophone.
20 year old Irish-born pianist Aidan Chan is currently a student of Nigel Clayton at the Royal College of Music.
As a musician, Aidan has been described as “brave” and “fearless and uncompromising”. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in notable venues in the US (Carnegie Hall), UK (Wigmore Hall), Hong Kong (Hong Kong City Hall), Switzerland (Volkshaus Biel), Austria, China and across Ireland (the Freemasons Grand Lodge, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the National Concert Hall). As a concerto soloist he has performed with the DIT Sinfonia and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Budweis.
Aidan has been a recipient of 87 prizes in competitions in Ireland, and is also a prizewinner in competitions across Europe. Recently, Aidan was recipient of the 2019 Trench Award and Audience Choice Prize in Ireland, becoming the first pianist and youngest finalist to do so.