schola cantorum (music)

Shimona Rose

Soprano Scholar

Shimona Rose is a lyrical soprano who holds a Master of Performance with Distinction from the RCM, and she has continued tutelage under Amanda Roocroft.

In 2019, Shimona completed the “Poetry and Performance of the German Lied” course at Austria’s Franz-Schubert Institut.

The 2018 Opera Scholar of the Year and 37th Australian National Liederfest winner, Shimona recently debuted with New Opera Singapore as Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) in August 2021.

Shimona’s passion lies on the operatic stage but she is also delighted to be pursuing a Master of Arts in Music Therapy at Guildhall from September 2021, working towards a career in both fields.

Martha Campbell

Soprano Scholar

Irish soprano Martha Campbell studied singing with Robert Craig in her
native Cork alongside her undergraduate degree in viola performance at
the MTU Cork School of Music.

Prior to her scholarship at St John's Fulham,
Martha was the soprano scholar at St Mary's Church Battersea, and a Lay Vicar Choral at St Fin Barre's Cathedral Cork.

She has been a member of several award-winning
choirs, including Madrigal 75 and Irish Youth Chamber Choir.

During her undergraduate studies she toured Germany, Spain and the Middle
East as part of the Erasmus exchange programme with the Chamber Choir of
the Hochschule fur Musik Franz Liszt Weimar.

Martha is currently completing her Master of Music degree at the Royal Academy of
Music, where she studies viola with Garfield Jackson and Ashan Pillai.

An experienced chamber musician, she regularly performs in London with the Calathea Quartet, and has performed
at many of Ireland's major venues and festivals, including West Cork Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music on Valentia, Finding a Voice Festival and the National Concert Hall Chamber Music Gathering.

Emma Pelkiewicz

Mezzo-Soprano Scholar

Emma Pelkiewicz trained with Veronica Veysey Campbell at the Royal College of Music, completing her studies in 2019.

She has been awarded several choral scholarships, including Clifton Cathedral, All Saints Putney and All Saints Fulham.

Day to day, Emma can be found freelancing as a singer and peripatetic teacher throughout London and Surrey. She is also working towards a masters in Music Therapy at the University of Roehampton.

Aliya Ismailova

Mezzo-Soprano Scholar

Aliya's choral career began in school, singing monthly Evensongs at Croydon Minster.

While completing her Physics degree at Imperial College London she took active part in the university's music scene, singing in the Chamber Choir and performing with ensembles across musical genres.

After graduating, Aliya took on a scholarship at St John's, Notting Hill, and co-founded the Caroline Septet, a choral ensemble that regularly performs challenging repertoire in venues across London.

Alongside her singing career, she currently works as a civil servant.

Constantine Akritides

Tenor Scholar

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Constantine Akritides is a lyrical tenor, a classical pianist, and a biomedical engineer.

He began his musical ventures in classical piano at the Conservatoire of Northern Greece, from which he was awarded the National Artist Diploma in Classical Piano.

During his university studies in physics, he simultaneously began his studies in lyrical singing at "Neo" Conservatoire of Thessaloniki, from which he graduated with the National Artist Diploma in Lyrical Singing with the Award of Artistic Excellence awarded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture.

During his musical studies, Constantine participated in various concerts and small productions throughout Greece, either as a lyrical singer, or as a classical pianist.

He was the tenor soloist in the first panhellenic performance of Saint Saëns's Messe de Requiem, Op. 54 conducted by Karolos Trikolidis.

In collaboration with various orchestras, Constantine performed baroque, classical and operatic works in multiple venues around the country, such as the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, museums, and historic buildings, such as Villa Morpurgo in Thessaloniki.

During his studies at Imperial College London, he was a member of the Imperial College Choir led by Colin Durrant, and collaborated with Andrew Robinson in Britten's Saint Nicholas piano duet.

Constantine is a member of St John's Choral Scholars since September 2021.

Luke Melville

Tenor Scholar

Throughout his education, Luke has sung in a variety of choirs.
Most recently in the Imperial College Chamber Choir while studying physic at Imperial.

He received a director’s music award for singing lessons while at Imperial in his second year.

Luke has been studying singing under Stuart McIntyre since late 2019.

Luke is also a clarinetist having completed his ABRSM Dip in musical performance while at school and most recently played in the Imperial College Symphony Orchestra.

Joseph Wang

Bass Scholar

Currently studying for a Masters in Experimental Physics at Imperial College London, Joseph has dedicated a large portion of his waking hours to music, singing in the award-winning a cappella group, The Techtonics, and choir at the university.

He has many years’ experience singing choral music, an ATCL in flute performance at 18 and many hours of listening to music under his belt, with hopes to achieve many more.

Jonathan Hedley

Bass Scholar

Jonathan is currently pursuing a PhD in DNA Biophysics at Imperial College London, and he takes an active role in the music scene there.

From singing bass in the award winning A Cappella group, The Techtonics, to performing lead roles in operas (recently Papageno in Die Zauberflöte and Bartolo in Il Barbiere di Siviglia), you’re certain to find him singing whenever he has free time.

He achieved his LTCL Diploma in Singing at the age of 17, and currently has lessons under Roderick Earle at the Royal College of Music.

St John's SCHOLA CANTORUM

The Schola Cantorum of St John's Fulham is an ensemble of eight Choral Scholars, students and graduates of London's conservatoires, academies, and universities enrolled in our Robert Presley Choral Scholarships Programme.

Led by the Director of Music, the scholars perform a wide range of repertoire, interpreting the works of the great European masters of the classical, romantic, and modern age with an operatic flair, as well as exploring the medieval and contemporary sound world.

They sing at Mass and Evensong every Sunday in term time, and at major church festivals throughout the year.

St John's Schola Cantorum have sung at a number of prestigious venues, and they are in high demand for private receptions, weddings, and other events.

They also organise and partake in concerts, workshops, charitable events, as well as competitions and tours across Europe and the UK.