An Evening of Student Music

Alarka Trio

Hebe Kan, harp

Millie Clark, flute

Polly Almond, viola

with

Tabitha Appel, violin I

Leon Sturdee, violin II

Doraly Gill, cello

Wendy Qi, clarinet

The Alarka Trio is made up of flautist Millie Clark (Queen’s College, Music), violist Polly Almond (Emmanuel College, Music) and harpist Hebe Kan (Trinity College, Music). Having all been recipients of an Instrumental Award Scheme scholarship in their first (and in Polly and Millie’s case also second) year, they began playing together only in June 2024. They are joined by friends from across the university for their performance of Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro.

Millie is in her third year reading Music at the Queens’ College and studies the flute with Karen Jones at the Royal Academy of Music as part of the Cam-RAM scheme. She has been principal flute of the Cambridge University Orchestra for two years. Recent solo performances include Vivaldi’s Il Cardellino with members of Norwich Baroque and the Reinecke Concerto with the London Mozart Players at St. Andrew’s Hall, Norwich, as well as numerous chamber and solo recitals for Music in Felixstowe, Southwold Arts Festival, Kettle’s Yard and various Cambridge colleges.  As a member of the National Youth Orchestra, she performed at the 2022 BBC Proms, the Barbican, Bridgewater Hall and the Royal Festival Hall.

Polly is in her third year studying music at Emmanuel College. She led the viola section of the university orchestra in her first year and enjoys a busy schedule of chamber, solo and orchestral playing across Cambridge. As a sixth-former Polly was a part of the National Youth Orchestra, performing in the 2022 BBC proms. She also studied at the junior department of the Royal College of Music, where she was a finalist in the 2022 Chamber Music Competition.

Second year Trinity College music student Hebe Kan is the winner of the 2024 United Kingdom Harp Competition. She started learning the harp at the age of 4 and has obtained her FTCL diploma and released her first CD album in 2022. Kan was a finalist of the Cambridge University Concerto Competition 2024 and is now studying under the tutelage of renowned harpist Skaila Kanga.

The Instrumental Awards for Chamber Music Scheme (IAS) enables students to participate in high-quality chamber music at the University. It is an intercollegiate scheme open to undergraduates and graduates at all Colleges.

Award holders comprise outstanding chamber musicians from across the University, and many follow in the footsteps of their predecessors to pursue professional careers as performers.