Scholarships
The William Lauder Scholarship
This annual scholarship was set up in memory of founder member and former Honorary Treasurer of the Summer School, William Lauder. Open to young singers from Northern Ireland applying to join the Charles Wood Singers for the first time, it enables the holder to participate in the Charles Wood Summer School week free of charge, including an individual singing lesson with internationally renowned vocal coach, Paul Farrington.
The 2024 winner of the William Lauder Scholarship is Claire Warburton
Claire Warburton
Claire Warburton is a classical-crossover soprano based in Newry, Co. Down. Having achieved her BA in Music and French from Trinity College Dublin, Claire graduated with a First Class Honours Master's Degree in Vocal Performance and Musicology from Maynooth University last year. Studying under Irish Soprano and Vocal Tutor Kathryn Smith during her MA, Claire focused her recital on French and German song, completing her thesis on research into French vocal pedagogy, vocal technique and song interpretation which was nominated for the Alison Dunlop Graduate Prize in 2023. Claire holds performance diplomas in both classical and musical theatre singing, as well as achieving her diploma in music theory and Grade 8 in piano performance.
Claire was one of thirteen singers selected throughout Ireland for the inaugural Chamber Choir Ireland Studio 2023-24, a training and development programme for emerging and aspiring artists aiming to pursue a professional choral career, rehearsing and performing under conductor Eamonn Dougan (The Sixteen, Britten Sinfonia Voices). As an avid chorister, Claire was a Choral Scholar of the Trinity College Dublin Chapel Choir for three years, as well as chorister and subsequent co-conductor of The Campanile Consort, Chamber Choir of the TCD Music Department, performing repertoire in French, German and Italian, as well as Hungarian, Icelandic and Portuguese. Since 2015 Claire has been a member of Kerygma: The Good News Choir based in NI, performing as soloist at the Palace of Westminster and Embassy of Ireland, London in 2019.
As a musicologist and artistic researcher, Claire has presented papers on the musical coding of Bernstein's West Side Story, French vocal pedagogy and music in Irish education at conferences for both the Society for Musicology and Society for Music Education in Ireland, as well as undertaking a study placement with the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin during her MA, researching and digitising work of the late Irish composer Eric Sweeney.
Claire currently studies under the tutlege of vocal coach and musical director Ashley Fulton MBE, and aspires to build a professional performance and choral career alongside research into vocal and choral pedagogy, technique and development, song interpretation and vocal health.
“The William Lauder Scholarship is exactly the sort of thing Northern Ireland needs: financial incentive for young people to engage in Church Music. The Scholarship allows anyone, regardless of background, to participate in what I believe to be NI’s greatest annual week of music-making, and I am so grateful to the board of the Charles Wood Festival for granting it to me in 2017.”
“I spent my first year in the Charles Wood Singers as the William Lauder Scholar. The opportunity provided me with access to music that I had never sung before. The choral tradition became an incredibly important part of my musical education, and I was heavily involved with cathedral music for the three years that followed. The Charles Wood Festival is a must for any young singer from our country.”
The Theo Saunders Scholarship
The Theo Saunders Scholarship enables a young organist to attend the Festival week free of charge, working alongside the Charles Wood Singers under the guidance of the Artistic Director.
The 2025 winner of the Theo Saunders Scholarship is Pascal Bachmann
Pascal Bachmann
Pascal Bachmann is an organist, composer and conductor. From 2020 to 2025 he held a music scholarship at Eton College, where he studied organ with James Orford, Richard Pinel and Christopher Allsop and where he regularly accompanied the College Chapel Choir. In 2025, Pascal attained Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), winning the Limpus Prize and the Coventry Cathedral Prize. Previously, in 2024, Pascal was part of the Young Talents Class at the Haarlem International Organ Festival, and in December 2024, he won 1st prize at the London Organ Competition. He has also been awarded an organ scholarship and a place to read music at St John’s College, Cambridge, starting in September 2025.
As a composer, Pascal was a winner of the BBC Young Composer Competition in 2023, subsequently having works performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He also received a commission from the Murten Classics Festival in the same year, with his work performed by the Hilaris Chamber Orchestra. Pascal studies conducting with Roland Melia and piano with Gareth Owen, having recently performed Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major with the Brandenburg Sinfonia, and having conducted works including Strauss’ Metamorphosen.
“I benefited hugely from the experience of being organ scholar for the Charles Wood Summer School in two consecutive years. It was inspirational to work with musicians of the calibre of David Hill and Philip Scriven, and I also made some lifelong friends.”