Going for a song: Soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon has won a full three-year scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London.

It took UCT soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon (22) just one audition to hit the trifecta with the famously picky Royal College of Music (RCM) in London.

Her audition in December earned the UCT Dean's Merit List student a guaranteed spot at the college's Benjamin Britten International Opera School, a full three-year scholarship to its master's programme in opera and vocal performance, and plaudits from the retiring head of vocal studies, Professor Neil Mackie. (He's dubbed her his farewell gift to the college.) Brandon flew to the UK on 12 February, just days after putting the final touches to her studies at UCT's College of Music under Sarita Stern. That'll give her time to settle in with her parents in London, gear up for her September studies, and bask in being selected for one of the world's leading conservatoires.

"It feels wonderful," she says.

Brandon follows in the footsteps of Pumeza Matshikiza, who graduated from the RCM last year.