The Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and the Royal Irish Academy of Music Next Generation Awards will select one instrumentalist and one vocalist to receive funds to support their postgraduate musical studies

Next Generation Awards - New music bursary award announced by BVOF and the RIAM with annual prize of €20k per student. Pictured Nadege Rochat

Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and the Royal Irish Academy of Music have announced a transformative new music prize to support the studies of two masters students every year at Ireland’s oldest music conservatoire.  

The largest bursary of its kind in Ireland, the BVOF/RIAM Next Generation Awards will select one vocal student and one instrumental student annually to each receive €20,000. This new award will assist each winner to complete their two-year Master in Music Performance programme at the RIAM. 

Speaking at the award announcement, RIAM director Deborah Kelleher, said, ’This award is truly life-changing for two emerging young music professionals each year. This is the largest entrance bursary in the history of the Academy, the largest of its type in Ireland, and indeed, bursaries this generous are rare across conservatories worldwide. 

’We are beyond thrilled to partner with BVOF and the John Pollard Foundation to offer this astonishingly generous bursary to some truly talented and remarkable musicians. The new award will open the doors of the RIAM to students across the globe, who may not otherwise have the means to study at Ireland’s oldest conservatoire, right in the heart of Dublin.’

Director of BVOF, Eamonn Carroll, added, ’The new BVOF/RIAM Next Generation Award will provide vital support for emerging artists in Ireland; it has always been our ethos to support and promote exceptional talent and we are delighted to partner with RIAM on this important initiative.’

The award is open to vocal and instrumental students worldwide who apply to study on the Masters in Music Performance programme at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. 

One vocal student and one instrumental student will be chosen through their RIAM audition to receive the award, which will be provided as €10,000 in Year 1 and €10,000 in Year 2. Applications open on 1 March 2022 and close on 12 April 2022 for the September 2022 intake. All applicants will be eligible for the award. 

More information on how to apply and audition requirements can be found here.