Belfast pianist and current Northern Ireland Young Musician of the Year, Senan Sheridan, has been announced as the 2025 recipient of the RDS Jago Award and €5,000 bursary at the RDS Music Awards in Dublin.
Belfast-born pianist and Junior RIAM student, Senan Sheridan, has been awarded the prestigious RDS Jago Award at the 2025 RDS Music Awards ceremony in the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin. The award carries a €5,000 bursary and a professional performance opportunity with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, supporting the next stage of a young musician’s professional journey.
The RDS Music Awards are recognised as one of the most significant annual bursary programmes in classical music, with a total prize fund of €23,000 and a focus on helping young Irish musicians realise their potential through financial and performance support. The competition is open to winners of selected senior Feis Ceoil competitions across piano, strings, brass, woodwind and voice.
Senan secured his place in this year’s RDS shortlist after an outstanding Feis Ceoil season in which he won the John A. Pigott Memorial Cup, the Anthony A. Glavin Trophy and the Morris Grant Bursary, Ireland’s leading senior piano prize. In recent years he has also won the Glasgow International Youth Piano Competition and the Patricia Read Memorial Cup at Feis Ceoil, and was shortlisted for the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. He is the current Northern Ireland Young Musician of the Year.
Senan studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin with Professors Anthony Byrne and Peter Tuite. His award further strengthens RIAM’s presence among Ireland’s emerging artists and reflects the depth of young talent fostered in the Academy’s Junior RIAM programmes.
The RDS Jago Award will support Senan as he continues his studies and prepares for new performance opportunities in Ireland and abroad, including his forthcoming engagement with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra as part of the RDS prize.
RIAM congratulates Senan, his teachers and his family on this significant achievement and looks forward to following his next steps as an artist.
About the RDS Jago Award
The RDS Jago Award is part of the RDS Music Awards Programme, created with the support of Tom and Ann Jago. Valued at €5,000, it is awarded each year to one of the finalists in the RDS Music Awards and includes a professional performance opportunity with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in addition to the bursary.