As one of the first violinists to take part in Music Masters’ programme, Betania was able to receive musical training from Itzhak Rashkovsky and would later return for Music Masters’ 10-year anniversary to play the Bach D minor Double Violin Concerto with Agata Szymczewska at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2018.

In September 2014, Betania gained a Major Music Scholarship to study at James Allen’s Girls’ School, as well as a place on the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department programme.

A two-time recipient of Awards for Young Musicians, Betania has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain, South London Youth Orchestra, and Chineke! Junior Orchestra. In July 2021, she led the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain in a performance of Jessie Montgomery’s “Records from a Vanishing City” and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8. Betania is a member of the Chineke! Senior Orchestra, with highlights such as recording at Konk Studios for Yussef Dayes’ album in January 2022 and playing at ‘Classic FM Live’ in the Royal Albert Hall in 2021.

Betania Johnny is in her second year of a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance at the Royal College of Music, where she is a Kirby Laing Foundation Scholar, studying violin with Ani Schnarch. She is an extremely well-rounded musician, having participated in solo masterclasses with Catherine Martin and Vasko Vassilev as well as regularly performing in chamber groups, most notably, her string quartet named the Fortuna Quartet. In addition, Betania is an avid orchestral musician, having been a member of the National Childrens’ Orchestras of Great Britain, and the leader of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, the Royal College of Music’s Junior Department’s Symphony and Chamber orchestras, as well as her former secondary school’s (James Allen’s Girls’ School) chamber and symphony orchestras. Currently, Betania is a member of the Chineke! Orchestra where she has toured Europe and has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus Berlin, KKL Lucerne, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Royal Albert Hall.

In 2022, Betania was announced as a Graduate Ambassador for Music Masters, along with four other Music Masters graduates. Betania also worked with Music Masters to support the Pathways students at the 2022 Pro Corda Residential.

Updated in October 2022.

“I am here now because of what Music Masters has done, and as an alumna, Music Masters continues to give me support.”