Support Alise’s Journey to Musical Excellence in London

Alise - a young accordion talent from Latvia - has been admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London. Having passed her entrance exams with flying colours, she also received a £7000 scholarship. However, her funds and the scholarship are not enough to cover the tuition fees, partly due to Brexit. We want to give Alise the opportunity to study with the best and develop her talent to its full potential in London.

Our Goal

• One year tuition fees are £24 300; estimated living costs in London are £12 500 for one academic year.
• We want to make sure that Alise has enough funds to cover the entire first academic year as well as the majority of the second year.
• Alise is planning to apply for other academic scholarships and to start earning during her studies, thus covering the remaining expenses herself. Alise’s friends and relatives as well as the Cesis city municipality have already donated small sums of money to support her studies.
• The first tuition payment of 25% has to be made by 16 July. The rest needs to be transferred until September.

About Alise

Alise Silina is a senior at Cesis Music Secondary School. In December 2020 she passed very competitive entrance exams and was admitted to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Alise started playing the accordion when she was 10 years old. Just three years later she received the highest prize - Grand Prix - in an international accordionist contest. Afterwards, she spent years meticulously improving her skills, participating in countless contests, and receiving praise from juries, teachers, and spectators alike. In 2019 she received another Grand Prix in an international contest in Pärnu, Estonia.

Studying at the Royal Academy of Music has been Alise’s goal for several years both due to the interesting courses offered at the Accordion faculty and due to the privilege to be taught by Owen Murray, a world-famous accordionist and teacher who is known for his individual approach to each and every one of his students. Owen Murray only takes under his wing those students in whom he sees potential. Thus he can devote his full time and attention to their personal and professional growth. The individual approach is also attested by the small size of the Accordion faculty. There are only five accordionists studying at the academy. Students are offered opportunities to play in concerts together with ensembles and orchestras. In addition, students are regularly given opportunities to participate in masterclasses.

After passing the entrance exams Alise received a £7000 scholarship. However, due to Brexit, the tuition fees for EU students soared two and a half times to £24300. In addition, EU residents are denied access to UK student loans. Latvia also does not offer student loans for studies abroad.

So Alise is left in a limbo - she has a guaranteed study spot in the Academy and a professor who is sending encouraging messages, but she lacks funds to start her studies. This is where we can help!

About Us: Lote and Rihards Šteini

We met Alise through our Church congregation. For the past year, we have met up regularly on discussion and prayer sessions organized by the Church. It was during one of these sessions that she informed us about her wonderful achievement - being admitted to the Royal Academy of Music.

However, when we recently found out that a seemingly insurmountable obstacle - money - was standing in the way of her dream, we understood that we have to act. Without hesitation we asked Alise’s permission to launch a crowdfunding campaign and started working.

We hope that Alise’s talent, devotion, and diligence will convince others to support her. We believe that together we will succeed in giving Alise the opportunity she has already earned - to study at her dream university.