In 2017, Bromley High School became the first all-girls school in the world to attain Steinway status and we welcomed fantastic new pianos (including two Steinway concert grand pianos) into our school.

Over the past four years, we have invited acclaimed pianists into Bromley High to give performances and masterclasses, and last year saw the launch of our Steinway Scholarship and Mentoring Scheme, with 20 talented pianists enrolled as mentees across the Senior School. All of the mentees have received coaching sessions from our musician-in-residence Kristina Arakelyan and we will be running a whole programme of concerts, masterclasses and other opportunities once the outside world opens its doors again.

Despite Covid-19, this year’s Steinway Scholar, Sophia Short in Year 13, has enjoyed a number of fantastic opportunities: coaching sessions throughout the year, a masterclass from a Steinway Artist at Steinway Hall, three private lessons with a Steinway Artist, and a solo recital at Steinway Hall, which will take place later in the year.

This year’s Steinway Scholarship and Mentoring Programme Showcase and Competition took place on Wednesday 24th March.

In the first half of the concert, all 20 mentees performed a piece of repertoire that they had worked on in coaching sessions with Ms Arakelyan and Mr Davan Wetton. In the second half four pupils: Ameli Sakai-Ivanova in Year 7, Sofia Samoylova in Year 10, Amelia Mallors in Year 11 and Miranda Fitzpatrick in Year 11 competed to become this year’s Steinway Scholar.

All four competitors received feedback from our panel of adjudicators: international pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell via Zoom, and Director of Music Caroline Daniel & Musician-in-Residence Kristina Arakelyan.

This year’s Steinway Scholar will be chosen on Friday 26th March and will be announced before the end of this term.