Sinéad Walsh
Flute | RPS Isserlis Scholarship 2025
A note from Sinéad
I am incredibly grateful to have received the RPS Isserlis Scholarship, which will enable me to continue to develop my musicianship, creative practice, and career. This award allows me to continue my studies through a series of intensive lessons with teachers from the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.
I intend to take private lessons with two exceptional flautists there: Aldo Baerten, Principal Flute of the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, and Peter Verhoyen, Principal Piccolo of the same orchestra. I am hugely inspired by both of these teachers and already have been fortunate enough to perform to Peter twice in masterclasses during my studies in Manchester and London. I believe that further study with them will refine, enhance, and propel forward my flute and piccolo playing. The Royal Conservatoire Antwerp has produced many fine flautists, who are regular prize winners in European competitions, and I am excited to feed off the creative energy and discipline within that environment. Studying in a new city offers a fresh energy, renewed inspiration, and an escape from the business of London, and I plan to make the very best of this opportunity!
Having the support of an organisation as prestigious as the RPS is an immense honour. I feel humbled that the audition panel saw potential in me as a flautist and privileged to represent the RPS through my performance and advocacy work.
Biography
Hailing from Dublin, Sinéad Walsh recently completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she was awarded a DipRAM and Exam Board Award for her final recital.
Sinéad was a Southbank Centre Future Artist for the 2024/25 season and made her solo debut at Wigmore Hall in 2025 as a finalist in the Irish Heritage Bursary. Her accolades include First Prize, the McCullough Cup, and the RTÉ Lyric FM Bursary at Feis Ceoil, Ireland’s premier classical music competition.
A passionate advocate for equity in the arts, she is the founder of EMPOWER: Women Changing Music, a platform celebrating female composers and emerging artists, with 2025 performances at venues including Kings Place and the Royal Albert Hall, with collaborators including Errollyn Wallen CBE and Jess Gillam MBE.
Sinéad has performed with major orchestras across the UK and Ireland, including the Ulster Orchestra, Knussen Chamber Orchestra, Irish National Opera, and English Symphony Orchestra. She holds an undergraduate degree from the Royal Northern College of Music, where she was awarded the college’s top award, the Sir John Manduell Prize, upon graduation. In 2025/26, she begins a new role as an Open Academy Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music.