2026 Grant Recipients
Each year the Canterbury Royal Commonwealth Society Trust makes grants available to talented students to assist them with the expenses involved
with their studies. 2026 was no exception with Sea-am Thompson, organ scholar and Izzy Hoult, ballerina, receiving grants. Izzy is currently
attending The Royal Danish Ballet Summer School 2026 in Copenhagen while Sea-am is home for the (northern) summer holidays.
We recently met up with Sea-am and asked him to send us his biography which is most impressive:
Sea-am Thompson is about to begin his second year at Magdalen College, Oxford as Senior Organ Scholar, where he plays regularly for services,
assists in the training of the choristers, and occasionally conducts the choir. In the past year, the choir have toured Jersey, and the West Coast of
the USA, including the cities of San Francisco, Portland, Salem, and Seattle. Alongside his organ scholar duties, he is reading for a BA in
Music. His organ teachers have included William Whitehead (repertoire), David Briggs (improvisation), David Burchell, Jeremy Woodside, and John Linker.
A native of New Zealand, Sea-am completed his secondary school education at St Andrew’s College, Christchurch, in 2024. A versatile musician, he plays
the violin, piano, and organ, sings, and enjoys conducting. He served as the concertmaster of his school’s symphony orchestra and held organ and choral
scholarships at Christchurch Cathedral for almost six and eleven years respectively.
Sea-am holds an LTCL in organ (2024) and an ATCL in violin (2022). He won the national NZCT Chamber Composition Competition with his Piano Trio no. 2,
which premiered at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre, and has received several commissions for other choral, orchestral, and chamber works. Sea-am
served as rehearsal accompanist for Christchurch City Choir, performing with them as a piano accompanist, and has also appeared as guest organist with
City Choir Dunedin.
He recently gained a distinction in his preliminary exams, a remarkable feat, and received a very high mark for his performance exams. As a result,
he has been invited to specifically study organ performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London (all funded) in supplement to his studies at the
University of Oxford.
Upcoming projects include a commissioned canticle setting for the 175th Anniversary of the Anglican Church in Christchurch, New Zealand.
If you would like to hear him perform (and we are sure you would!), Sea-am is giving a recital at the Transitional Cathedral on Sunday 6th September at
2pm. He may even include the theme from Jurassic Park as a tribute to the late Sam Neill. Entry is by generous koha which will go towards next year’s
university expenses.
