Our Soloists

 

Klara Solen - Mezzo Soprano

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Klara Solén is a Swedish mezzo-soprano and is currently pursuing a BMus in Voice at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studies with Susan Waters.

Prior to her studies in the UK, Klara was admitted to Kapellsbergs Opera Studio in Härnösand, Sweden, where she performed in productions at the Swedish Northern Opera, Norrlandsoperan. Her roles there included Bizet’s Carmen and Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the summer of 2024, she was also a part of the ensemble of Skånska Operan’s production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor and performed the role of Alisa.

 

Klara has performed as a soloist in works such as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and L-E Larsson’s Förklädd Gud, and since beginning her studies in London last year, she has featured in Royal Academy concerts such as a Nordic song recital, and “An evening with Rachel Podger and the Royal Academy of Music” in St George’s Hanover Square. She has also been selected for the Josephine Baker Trust list of approved singers.

 

Klara's upcoming UK engagements include her debut in the title role of Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola with Hampstead Garden Opera, as well as contralto soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Mozart’s Requiem.

 

Klara comes from a background of Swedish choral singing and is currently a member of the Philharmonia Chorus’s student scheme.

 

Aidan Zhao – Piano

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Aidan Siqi Zhao, who is 13 years old, is a Year 9 student at King’s College School in London. As a young boy, he found early success as a winner of the Solihull Musician of the Year and was a member of the National Children’s Orchestra. He is now studying piano with Professor Ian Jones and violin with Tasmin Little at the Royal College of Music Junior Department.

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In February 2024, Aidan became a young scholar of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation. He has been invited to perform at various events and venues in the UK, France and the USA.

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Apart from playing piano and violin, Aidan enjoys playing Chinese Dulcimer, being taught by his grandmother. He was also taught to play accordion by his father and was the winner of the Under 7 Class in the competition organised by the UK National Accordion Organisation.

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Aidan is grateful to the Eileen Rowe Musical Trust, which has awarded him a scholarship for piano studies since he was 11 years old.

 

 

Lucy Palfery – Oboe

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Lucy, who lives in Maidenhead, is a student at Wycombe High School. She has been playing the oboe since she was too small to hold one up properly, and also plays the soprano saxophone, piano and violin. She is currently spending her Saturdays as a joint first-study oboist and singer at the Royal College of Music junior department, where she plays in the symphony orchestra and wind octet.

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Lucy has played in the National Children's Orchestra, Berkshire Youth Symphony Orchestra and as an associate of the National Youth Orchestra. She has also sung in various choirs such as Taplow Girls' Choir, the advanced vocal ensemble at the Royal College of Music and the National Youth Choir.

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Lucy aims to study maths at Oxbridge with a choral scholarship after her A-levels. Aside from music, her hobbies include crocheting, solving math problems and playing with her pet snake, Pretzel.

 

Kiki Skinner – Cello

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Kiki is a 15-year-old cellist from Cambridge. She started playing when she was four years old and has attended the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music for 3 years before joining The Yehudi Menuhin School (YMS), where she studies with Una Cho and Guy Johnston on the cello, and chamber music with David Dolan. She has also studied with Natalie Clein at the Rutesheim Cello Akademie in Germany and at the Allegro Vivo summer masterclass in Austria over several years.

 

Kiki has appeared as soloist in Bruch’s Kol Nidri and Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C major with the London Youth String Orchestra and has appeared in masterclasses given by Alexander Baillie, Jo Knight, Christoph Richter, Maxim Rysanov and Marc Coppey.

 

As well as her interest in solo playing, Kiki is also a keen chamber musician. She is a regular participant at MusicWorks, a week-long intensive chamber music course in Bournemouth. In May 2024 she was invited to perform the Schumann Piano Quartet with fellow YMS students at the Solti Hall of the Liszt Academy, Budapest.

 

In 2024 Kiki was the first prize winner of the Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra Young Musician Concerto Competition, and she will be performing the Elgar Cello Concerto in WMSO’s 2025/26 season.

 

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