2010 Competition Results

Results

First prize (£1000 + National Trust recital)

Osman Tack (17), piano.

Scarlatti: Sonata in D major k491

Scarlatti: Sonata in B minor k27

Schubert: Impromptu No. 3 Op 90

Chopin: Etude No. 12 op 25 "Oceanic"

Second prize (£300+ National Trust recital)

Edward Pether (18), violin.

Bach: Sonata BWV 1001 Adagio and Fugue

Sarasate: Caprice Basque

Third prize (£200+ National Trust recital)

Andrew McDade (18), tuba.

J.B. Senaillé: Introduction & Allegro Spiritoso

Carl Michael Bergerheim: The Death of Moses

Jean Baptiste Arban: Le Carnival de Venice

Finalists (£25 & music vouchers)

Alessandro Ruisi, (19), violin.

Samual Au, (19), violin.

Report

The Chandos Symphony Orchestra Young Musician Competition, St Edmunds Hall, Malvern College, Malvern, Saturday January 30 2010.

Exciting news preceded the competition this year — just in time for the new round of applications — that Making Music West Midlands had doubled their sponsorship of the first prize to £1000.00. This created a great buzz, added to which we acquired three new sponsors: Hop Vine Music and All Music Plus to support the runners up; and The National Trust came on board with the opportunity of a recital for the first, second and third place winners at the recently-opened property, Croome Court near Pershore. All of which set the atmosphere up for a hotly contested competition.

Competitors came from around the newly extended catchment area (which now includes all the West Midlands counties), with a strong showing this year from the Birmingham Conservatoire. Fourteen competitors gave performances on violin, clarinet, trombone, tuba, piano and voice from a stimulating range of composers: Ravel, Ireland, Kovacs, Richard Strauss, Chopin, Bach, Haydn and Senaillé amongst others. The level of performance was significantly higher this year — with some breathtaking performances. In his summing up Michael Lloyd stressed that he and the other adjudicators — Wynne Harries and Sheila Joynes (both players from Chandos Symphony Orchestra) — "were looking for musicians, not technicians." The ability to communicate the music to the audience being a quintessential part of the process.

During the adjudicators' deliberations, last year’s winner oboist Lydia Griffiths, a third year student from Hereford at the Guildhall school of Music, gave a delightful recital accompanied by Becky Griffiths. Lydia's programme included Two Etudes by Silvestrini, Colin's Solo de concours; Britten's The Grasshopper and a whizzy arrangment of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumble Bee.

The hall was packed for the results along with the five finalists: in third place, tuba player Andrew McDade of Malvern, for his virtuosic performance of works by Senaillé, Bergerheim and Arban, collected the £200 prize from Eric Jones of the English Speaking Union; second place was awarded to violinist Edward Pether of Solihull, with a fine performance of unaccompanied Bach and the sparkling Caprice Basque by Sarasate. The prize of £300 was presented by Richard Brooks on behalf of the Mike Simpson Memorial Fund.

The winner was 17 year-old pianist Osman Tack (left) from Abingdon who received the Eleanor Lloyd Shield and the first prize cheque for £1000 from Robin Brighton, on behalf of Making Music West Midlands. Osman gave a fine performance of the Scarlatti Sonata in B minor demonstrating great clarity of musical lines and voicing, along with an intensely musical reading of the Schubert Impromptu No 3, all played from memory.

Special mention was given to the youngest player 12 year-old Rhiannon Symonds from the Forest of Dean and a member of the National Children's Brass Band, whose tenor trombone performance had been commended as very promising. Also worthy of mention in the adjudicators' summary was the high standard of accompanying this year.

Sue Johns, the competitions organiser for the last five years was given a vote of thanks by orchestra chair, Richard Brooks, as she handed over the job of running the seventeenth Young Musician Competition to orchestra member Nicola Shorland.

Linda Fowler