Trinity Laban MMus student, Rowan McIlvride, has been selected for the second edition of Emerging Voices, Marian Consort’s talent development programme which supports new voices in writing for vocal ensemble.
Following the success of the inaugural programme in 2025, this year’s open call received over seventy applications from composers working across a wide range of styles and practices. From this strong and diverse field, three composers were selected to take part in the programme this season: Rowan McIlvride, Gloria (Xinyue) Xia, and Michael Hughes.
Emerging Voices offers composers time, space and support to explore writing for vocal ensemble, through workshops, mentoring and close collaboration with The Marian Consort and award-winning composer Laurence Osborn, among others.
Rowan is a composer, vocalist and musician from the west coast of Scotland, now based in London. She is currently studying an MMus in Composition at Trinity Laban thanks to the financial support of the Richard Arnell Scholarship, funded by John Powell. Her work focuses on experimental process and collaboration, weaving together traditional and contemporary elements to craft immersive sonic landscapes and structures. Much of her recent work has explored voice as material through recording and processing, often in cross-disciplinary contexts and involving live electronics. Her past work includes scoring for screen and dance; she was commissioned for two site-specific dance collaborations for Hidden Door festival and has scored various short films.
Rowan said: “I’m really looking forward to working with such a uniquely skilled and experienced vocal ensemble, and having the freedom and space to experiment and develop ideas.”
The Richard Arnell Scholarship is funded by Trinity Laban alum John Powell, in memory of the composer Richard Arnell who was a hugely influential tutor to John during his studies.
Find out more about supporting a scholarship at Trinity Laban here.