We offer a range of scholarships for young people
Young people’s subsidised places
In order to make the Teapot Summer School more accessible to young people, up to 12 scholarships are made available for people aged between 15 and 23 at a subsidised rate. Click here for details of price packages.
The Ruth Vause Scholarship
Given each year by her husband in memory of a long-time Teapot Summer School singer, this scholarship goes to a young person who shows promise musically and who is thinking about further studies toward a musical career. The Summer School trustees select the recipient from among the applicants for the subsidised places and the award is presented by Jim Vause early in the week.
The National Youth Choir of Great Britain scholarship
This is offered by the trustees with the generous support of the Nelson Building Society and enables the recipient to attend a week-long residential course of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain culminating in a public concert. Recipients have the choice of a course run over Easter or another one run during the UK autumn.
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Age and standard qualification
This is open to participants aged between 17 and 22 who, in the opinion of the judges, are at a sufficient standard in their development that they will be able to join with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain feeling comfortable and not out of their depth. The scholarship is not awarded if that standard is not met.
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Value of the scholarship
The scholarship covers all expenses, international flights, insurance, course fee and accommodation during the NYCGB course. The recipient is met on arrival in London and taken to the course venue and back to London for the flight back to NZ.
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Auditions and selection
Auditions are held on site on the Thursday afternoon of the Teapot Summer School week. The selection panel consists of the Summer School conductor, the vocal coach and one or two trustees of the Teapot Summer School Trust.
Previous recipients of the NYCGB scholarship
2006 | Julien van Mellaerts
Julien studied at Otago University and the International Opera School of the Royal College of Music and has won a number of awards – in 2017 the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition and the 2017 Kathleen Ferrier Award, and in 2018 the Maureen Forrester Prize and the German Lied Award at the Concours Musical International de Montréal. In New Zealand he sang Schaunard in La Boheme in late 2018 and toured with Chamber Music New Zealand in 2019. In 2020 he made his debut in the title role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro at Salzburg Mozartwoche with Sir Andras Schiff and gave a solo recital at Wigmore Hall. In the uncertain future of the Covid pandemic, he has invitations to sing at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Verbier Festival (where he was a young artist in 2019), and the Israeli Opera (now scheduled for summer 2021).
2008 | Daniela Young (now Daniela Rosa)
After studying with Jenny Wollerman and completing a BMus in classical voice performance, Daniela toured NZ singing the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. Now living in Melbourne, she is loving performing with a successful jazz band and teaching voice to all ages and levels.
2010 | Jontee Bowater
After two years in London with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Jontee is now based in Berlin. He is currently composing with fellow ex-Teapotter Andrew Baldwin under the musical name “litany duo”. They perform avant garde song cycles around the city and are looking to continue to develop further as a duo.
2010 | Sam Bennett
After receiving the scholarship, Sam travelled back home to the UK to sing with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and performed with them at the historic Coventry Cathedral. Sam then took his music to Japan, where he appeared on the televised singing competition show ‘Nodojiman! The World!’ which was broadcast to its highest ever ratings. After returning to New Zealand, Sam graduated with a degree in Information Technology and now works full time in this industry, but he is still passionate about music and occasionally performs as a soloist.
2012 | Matthew Wilson
Since receiving the scholarship in 2012, Matthew completed his Masters in Education and studied privately with Judy Bellingham. After teaching for a while he went to Kansas City, Missouri, to study with Vinson Cole, tenor. A year later, Matthew attended the prestigious Aspen Summer Music Festival, where he sang the role of ‘La Theiere’ (The Teapot!) in their production of ‘L’enfant et les sortileges’. Matthew is currently teaching music and singing in Moscow, Russia.
2013 | Suyen Rae
Suyen completed a Bachelor of Music with Honors at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory in Singapore on full scholarship, where she worked with many vocal tutors and collaborative pianists, including Roger Vignoles, Sumi Jo and Masaaki Suzuki. She has also since attended summer schools such as Oberlin in Italy, Songfest at The Colburn school, the Curtis Summerfest Young Artist Voice program and the New Zealand Opera School. Suyen has moved to Melbourne with the hope of continuing her singing and pursuing further musical studies in Australia.
2014 | Olivia Sheat
Since completing a BMus(Hons) in Classical Performance Voice with Jenny Wollerman, Olivia reached the finals of the NZ Aria competition and was named a Dame Malvina Major Scholar in 2017. She has sung in the chorus and covered for a principal role with NZ Opera and sung the role of Cherubino with Eternity Opera Wellington. She has also had several engagements as soprano soloist at various events in the Wellington region.
2016 | Manase Latu
New Zealand born Tongan, Manase Latu is an alumnus of the University of Auckland graduating with a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours in Classical Performance Voice. In 2017, he was invited to join the Singer Development Programme run by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and in 2018 was one of the Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artists under NZ Opera. In July 2018 he was one of the five finalists in the Lexus Song Quest and also won the New Zealand Aria that year. In 2019 he won the New Zealand Circle 100 major scholarship and the Australian Singing Competition. He has been studying full time at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2020, Manase has accepted an invitation to join the Lindemann Young Artist Development Programme associated with the Met Opera in New York.
2017 | SAMUEL DOWNES
Samuel Downes recently graduated from the University of Auckland, completing a Bachelor of Music with Honours under the tutelage of Dr Te Oti Rakena and Robert Wiremu. He is a current member of the Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus and regularly performs with various groups in the Auckland region. Samuel is an alumnus of the New Zealand Youth Choir and also attended the 2019 and 2020 New Zealand Opera School in Whanganui. He looks forward to pursuing further studies as the world opens up again following restrictions related to COVID-19.
2018 | William King
Will King (BMus, Hons) is a Wellington-based baritone currently pursuing a Master of Musical Arts at the NZ School of Music, taught primarily by Margaret Medlyn. His operatic roles include the title role in Monteverdi’s ‘L’orfeo’, Count Almaviva in ‘The Marriage of Figaro’, and Sam in NZ Opera’s premiere of Gareth Farr’s ‘The Bone Feeder,’ among others. Will was the winner of the 2019 North Shore Aria Competition, the 2018 Wellington Aria Competition, and runner up in the 2019 McCormick Opera Award and the 2019 Napier Aria Competition. Will was a 2019 Emerging Artist with NZ Opera and would like to acknowledge the continued support of the Dame Malvina Major Foundation. He also sings with Voices New Zealand.
2020 | Alexandra Woodhouse-Appleby
Alexandra graduated with her Bachelor of Music in 2018 from the New Zealand School of Music, having studied with Lisa Harper Brown. In 2020 she is studying Classical Voice at Honours level at the Auckland University School of Music under the tutelage of Catrin Johnsson. Alexandra has performed as concert soloist with a variety of choirs, has performed roles such as The Messenger in Monteverdi’s Orfeo with Eternity Opera Wellington and has sung with the NZ Opera Chorus. Before the arrival of the Covid-19 coronavirus, she was looking forward to singing in 2020 projects with Voices NZ and the New Zealand Youth Choir. Alexandra loves to sing jazz and to compose music and she intends to study vocal pedagogy in the future.