Meet Our 2026 Adjudicators
Full biographies in the syllabus for each Section
Adjudicating the Piano Section on 22 March will be Rebecca Cohen, a collaborative pianist and educator. Rebecca has performed across the UK and Europe, and has made several broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. She is currently a member of professorial staff at the Guildhall School as well as at Junior Trinity Laban. Rebecca is regularly engaged as an Adjudicator and External Examiner, including at the Royal College of Music, London and Trinity Laban Conservatoire. In 2015 Rebecca was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA).
Photo: Gerard Collett
Carla Nicholson, our 2026 Dance Adjudicator, trained at Middlesex University gaining a BA Hons in Choreography and Dance Studies. She is an acrobatic arts trained teacher and Progressing Ballet Technique educator, as well as teaching modern, musical theatre, ballet, tap, classical Greek and global dance at her own dance school. Carla’s choreography has been seen over the UK and abroad on various UK tours, company works and royal events. Carla has been involved in the festival movement for most of her life and continues with her own dance school. She has competed in the All England Dance Finals as a young dancer and truly believes the value of dance festivals.
Caroline Tyler is our 2026 Adjudicator for the Piano Section on 13 and 20 March. She has given concerts worldwide including in Istanbul, Prague and London (the Barbican Hall). Caroline is the first prize winner of various competitions including the Anthony Lewis Memorial Prize, Anglo-Czech Trust Competition, Christopher Duke Piano Recital and Norah Sande Award. In music education, she is a member of the adjudication panel for the British & International Federation of Festivals (BIFF) and on the examiner panel for ABRSM.
We are excited to welcome Hilary Sturt as our Strings Adjudicator for 2026. Hilary is much in demand as a teacher, adjudicator and conductor. She has worked with the ABRSM as a Diploma Examiner and was on the advisory panel for the 2020 ABRSM violin syllabus. Hilary is Head of Chamber Music at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music, and is Instrumental Teaching Tutor and Mentor to the MA Ed course at the Senior RCM. Most recently she is delighted to have joined the Bingham quartet.
For the first time we are delighted to welcome a female organist as our Organ Adjudicator. Lucy Morrell is the Head of Academic Music and College Organist at Dulwich College, and is also the Sub-Organist of HM Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, where she plays for weekly Sunday services as well as special events. Lucy has accompanied the Buckingham Palace Carol Concert (broadcast on Classic FM) for multiple years. While Organ Scholar at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, Lucy played pre-service music for two Royal Weddings and other high-profile services in the presence of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth. A Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, Lucy gives regular recitals in cathedrals and churches across the UK.
We are delighted to welcome back David Whitson as 2026 Woodwind & Brass Adjudicator. A freelance trombonist, David has worked with London orchestras and in the West End; made recordings for numerous artists, including Nigel Kennedy and Placido Domingo, and played on film and television soundtracks. David has also been Principal Trombone at the ENO and a member of the English Brass Ensemble. He is passionate about the education of young musicians and he leads brass education workshops for teachers. He also teaches at the RCM Junior Department, the University of Surrey, Charterhouse School and other educational establishments in the South-East.