Helping Them Realize Their Dreams: RCM Scholarship Students
The Kenneth G. Mills Foundation is pleased to announce the 2024–25 recipients of its scholarships at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music: Evita Lalonde, double bass (Kenneth G. Mills Scholarship) and Stella Christine, coloratura soprano (Dianne Forsyth Vocal Scholarship).
These young music students are thrilled to be pursuing their passion at the school and greatly appreciate the excellent training they are receiving in an atmosphere of dedicated focus and support.
Evita Lalonde is currently in her first year of studies for an Honours Bachelor of Music in Performance. For the past three years she has been a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, in which she has had the opportunity to serve as principal double bass. Evita engages in both solo and orchestral playing, competing in local music competitions such as the Kiwanis Music Festival and the annual Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition. When not playing classical double bass, bass guitar, upright bass, and piano, Evita enjoys writing songs and producing music.
Stella Christine, from St. John’s, Newfoundland, is now in her final year of studying for an Honours Bachelor of Music in Performance. She has performed in over twenty shows of varying genres, including Tosca, Pirates of Penzance, Dead Man Walking, and Midsummer Night’s Dream. In addition to opera, performances in musical theatre include The Little Mermaid, Phantom of the Opera, and Carousel. In past summers Stella has continued honing her operatic craft with the Bel Canto Boot Camp Intensive in New York City, a ten-day opera intensive with Nuova Vocal Arts in Edmonton, and the St. Andrew’s Opera Techniques workshop in New Brunswick. She has received awards such as the Canadian Federation of University Women’s Award and has been a finalist and runner-up for the Kiwanis Music Festival Rose Bowl and a Gold Medalist in all of Atlantic Canada for level five RCM voice. Her graduation recital will take place in April 2025.
Dean James Anagnoson stated in a recent letter to the Foundation: “Our Glenn Gould students have returned to the Royal Conservatory with renewed energy and ambition and are looking forward to all the wonderful opportunities the year holds for them. Thank you for your support of our students – you are helping them realize their dreams as they strive to reach their full potential as artists.”