Presented by the Royal Academy of Music
Hugh Mackay (born 2000) is a young Scottish cellist whose varied musical life comprises chamber music, orchestral playing, historically-informed performance and concerto appearances. He has played in leadings festivals including The BBC Proms, Enescu Festival (Bucharest) and Festival Berlioz (France), and venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and The Palace of Versailles.
Most recently Hugh made his debut concerto appearances with the Bremer Philharmoniker under the direction of their chief conductor Marko Letonja, with highly-praised performances in Die Glocke Bremen and the Konzerthaus Dortmund. Since 2021 he has been a scholarship holder with the Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund, through whose generous support he is able to perform more widely in Germany.
Hugh is grateful for the support of Dewar Arts Awards, the Cross Trust, Help Musicians UK, Battersea United Charities, Talent Unlimited, Beatrice Huntingdon Awards and the Waddell Trust. He plays on a fine Italian cello made by Giovanni Celoniatus c 1740 generously on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.
Junyan Chen (born2000) is a Chinese pianist ambitiously balancing her playing between solo and ensemble work. She is in her final year of undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music under the tutelage of the Head of Piano, Professor Joanna MacGregor CBE, full scholarships supported by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and the Bicentenary scholarship which awarded to a very small number of students to celebrate the Academy’s Bicentenary year in 2022. Her previous study was completed in the Middle School of Shanghai Conservatory under the Head of Piano, Professor Weiling Chen.
At the 2018 City of Vigo International Piano Competition, Junyan was the winner of the Silver Medal, People’s Choice Award, Best Spanish Composition Performance Award, and City Award as the youngest and the only female competitor in the Final. She was the prize winner of all the piano categories at the Osaka International Music Competition in 2016, as well as winning the prestigious Osaka Prefecture Governor’s Award and the University of Music and Performing Arts in the Vienna Awards.