The Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship is held for one year and is only available to students on the Artist Diploma (ArtDip) in Performance programme.
This fellowship offers a bespoke, tailored programme of performance and artistic development opportunities to help launch the most talented instrumental students as soloists and chamber musicians.
All fellows are expected to develop musical and communication skills by undertaking further intensive study, working with students internally and doing all they can to raise the profile of the RCM externally. They play a full and active part in the musical life of the RCM as well as functioning as RCM ambassadors. They have full use of the RCM Library with its wealth of material and work in close contact with the Creative Careers Centre, the RCM’s centre for professional skills and publicity services.
Constant and Kit Lambert Fellowship applications for 2025-26 are now closed.
23-year-old Spanish pianist María Linares has performed in consolidated Festivals and venues including CBSO Centre, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Steinway Hall in London and London Festival in the UK; II Iturbi Prize Festival, and Serenates Festival in Spain; Rossini Theatre in Gioia del Colle in Italy; and Vaduz Town Hall in Liechtenstein, among others.
At the age of 12, she performed her first solo piano recital, later followed by playing as a soloist with orchestras such as the Valencian Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of Generalitat Valenciana, Youth Orchestra of Leon and Orchestra of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, in venues such as the Palau de Les Arts, Teatro Principal and Palau de la Música in Valencia, Palau Altea in Alicante, Palau de Congressos in Castellon and the Ciudad de León Auditorium, with conductors Manuel Hernández Silva, Roberto Forés, and Daniel Gil de Tejada.
In addition to being named Music Ambassador for Spain by the Lang Lang Music Foundation, she is being supported by the Munster Trust, Craxton Memorial Trust, The Musicians’ Company, and in 2023 she was given the ‘Myra Hess’ award by Help Musicians UK. Furthermore, she has been the main prize-winner in the most distinguished competitions in her home country, part of them being VIPA 2022, Ciutat de Carlet 2022, XXVI Ruperto Chapí, XXXIV Marisa Montiel or XXVII Jacinto Guerrero. In the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, she has also received the First Prize in competitions such as the Dennis Matthews, Renna Kellaway, and Beryl Chempin Beethoven Competition.
Meanwhile, she has been selected to participate in several Masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Paul Badura-Skoda, Kirill Gerstein, Cyprien Katsaris, Michel Beroff and Claudio Martínez-Mehner. In addition to this, she has received scholarships from Liechtenstein Intensive Weeks, Chetham's International Piano Summer School and WSL Masterclasses.
Maria is currently coursing an Artist Diploma in the Royal College of Music under a full scholarship while being a Constant Kit and Lambert Junior Fellow, studying with Professors Norma Fischer and Danny Driver. Prior to this, she finished her bachelor’s and master’s Degrees with Distinction at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under full scholarships with Professor Pascal Nemirovski.
Regarding future projects, she is set to release a CD with the label Naxos, performing a set of pieces by the composer Anton Urspruch in January 2026.
The details regarding funding for the 2026/27 Constant & Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship are still to be confirmed.
The programme of study for junior fellows is determined by the structure of the Artist Diploma in Performance course, which is based on one-to-one provision and practical project work, tailored to your particular career aspirations.
Applicants should already have successfully completed formal studies at a level equivalent to a postgraduate diploma or degree or be completing these studies in the academic year in which the application is made. Applications will be considered from those with equivalent experience.
Applicants need to be able to demonstrate substantial successful experience in their specialism, the motivation and determination to continue intensive studies, and the desire to develop their skills by working regularly with other musicians within and outside the RCM.
All instrumentalists holding an offer of a place on an RCM Artist Diploma after the normal November / December in-person auditions will automatically be considered for one of the Junior Fellowships; no separate application will be needed.
If you are not a UK resident, you must obtain permission to be in the UK from the UK Border Agency in order to hold a fellowship. Students on the Artist Diploma programme at the Royal College of Music are eligible for Student Visas.
As a Junior Fellow you will be expected to:
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