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TL student wins Laureate Gala

Wed 5 July 2023

Trinity Laban student Valerija Iljinaite recently made her Carnegie Hall debut as a winner of the Laureate Gala by Progressive Musicians. 

Valerija is a Lithuanian spinto lyric soprano currently studying at TL with Joan Rodgers CBE and Janet Haney, and is also a Morag Noble scholar. In September 2023 Valerija will be continuing her studies at the Royal Academy of Music with a full scholarship. She is also a young artist at Manhattan Opera Studio and the winner of many international competitions and festivals in Europe and USA. Valerija has performed with various orchestras including Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, ‘Trimitas’ Orchestra, Panevezy’s Musical Theatre Symphony Orchestra, Kaunas Big Band, Belarus State Academic Symphony Orchestra and Polish National Symphony Orchestra.

In 2019 Valerija was awarded a bachelor’s degree in theatre studies from Vilnius College and London College of Music; she has also studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and played in the operetta Gondoliers production directed by David Henson. In May 2021, Valerija has developed roles of Susanna and Emma in Mussorgsky’s opera Khovanschina at Bolshoi Theatre working with the creative team – Simon McBurney OBE, Gerard McBurney and Leah Hausman.

In 2022 Valerija was announced the winner of Roy Pleasance Competition 21-22 by Alec Crow, she was also announced as a Musical Odyssey 2022 Benslow Prize Winner. She attended Masterclasses and studied with Yvonne Howard, David Cowan, Geraldine Cassidy, Beatrice Penzi, Carmen Santoro, Sergei Leiferkus, Manolis Papasifakis, Ubaldo Fabbri, Dr. Pantelis Polychronidis, Lynton Atkinson, Alison Wells, Nomeda Kazlaus, Kristian Benedikt, Asmik Grigorian, Joy Robinson and others. As a recognized artist of Lithuania, she was invited to a special inauguration concert of the President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda in 2019.

Progressive Musicians

Progressive Musicians is dedicated to helping musicians of all ages achieve their goals and advance artistically.

Their team is constantly working to develop new outlets that provide musicians opportunities to learn, improve, and celebrate milestones. Currently they are hosting online competitions that provide each contestant with the expert feedback from professional musicians, and prizes ranging from their world-wide online showcases, to performing opportunities in some of the most prestigious performance venues around the world.