Viola at the Royal Welsh College

My name is Georgia Steel, I’m a violist and conductor from Wellington, and in September 2022 I’ll be heading over to Cardiff to start a Master of Music in Music Performance at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. I’m really excited to be starting the next stage of my musical development and feel very privileged to have the opportunity to study at one of the Royal colleges in the UK, especially after only starting my viola studies at 17.

Masters study in the United Kingdom comes at a high cost with the two years of fees coming to $90,000 NZD. I have been fortunate enough to received partial scholarship funding but still have a long way to go to cover both fees and living costs. As a disabled student, I will have limited ability to work alongside my studies, so I’m hoping to get as much funding as I can before I head off on my next adventure. I will be performing in concerts in Masterton and Wellington in August to contribute to my fundraising efforts.

As a legally blind musician, I use technology to read enlarged music on a tablet. Discovering accessible technology has been life changing for my musical development and enabled me to perform regularly with professional ensembles such as Orchestra Wellington. I’m also passionate about disability advocacy, during my undergraduate degree I was the president of CanDo at Vic, the disabled students group, and worked closely with the Student Union to amplify voices of disabled students.

Interview on RNZ: tinyurl.com/22vj4bpa