Mischa Carr - Royal College of Music - Pianist - Update Report

8th January 2025

Dear Ms Wilkins,

I hope you are doing well and had a lovely Christmas and New Year! Firstly, I would just like to say again how lovely it was having the opportunity to play for the Knights of the Round Table in November, thank you so much for your kindness and welcome that evening. Having been lucky enough to receive financial support from the Knights of the Round Table made my first term at the RCM very easy to settle into. I can now additionally consider applying for more competitions throughout the year, most of which require a substantial entry fee. This would not have been possible without your generosity so once again, thank you very much.

I really enjoyed my first term at the college. In my first letter, I discussed my love for not only solo performances but also playing in chamber groups. Within the first couple of weeks, a few of my groups had already been decided. The experience of meeting new peers and performing with old friends from Menuhin has been really lovely. I’ve also been able to dive into a lot of new accompanying repertoire. In October, my violinist friend and I played for a charity event supporting Bosnian refugees in St. Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. We then additionally performed together at St. James’ in Piccadilly. In terms of solo repertoire, I focused this past term mainly on building up repertoire whilst getting settled into the college, however, this term I’m looking forward to quite a few exciting projects!

I’m due to perform as part of the Keyboard Festival on Sunday 2nd March, where according to the ‘Rituals and Dances’ theme of the program, I will be playing Medtner’s Hymn in praise of toil op.49 no.3. Following this, I have applied for the masterclass with Edith Fischer on the 18th March, hoping to perform Beethoven’s Sonata op.31 no.3. In terms of collaborative work, one of my trios combined with another group are currently looking into programming a women’s day concert on the 8th March, hoping to perform Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor along with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio.

Thank you so much for your continued support throughout this year, hopefully I may be able to see you at one of the performances this term, that would be absolutely lovely!

With best wishes,

Mischa