About the Competition

The competition was inaugurated in 1994 and is held on a once-yearly basis. It is open to instrumentalists under the age of 21 up to the date of the competition, and who live or study within a 50 mile radius of Malvern. We regularly have competitors from the Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as some from the London music colleges, and younger players from the surrounding district.

The competition attracts a wide variety of instrumentalists, including singers and saxophonists as well as the more usual orchestral instruments. We would very much like to hear from more brass players to make the competition as diverse as possible.

Competitors need to be of a standard at least equal to Grade VIII of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (there is a formal set of rules), and if the adjudicators feel the winner to be of a high enough standard, they will be invited to perform as soloist with the orchestra. One of our previous winners — Philip Moors — has since performed twice as soloist with the orchestra, and our soloist in the Delius Violin Concerto, Matthew Denton, was the 1997 Chandos Young Musician. In November 2004 the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto was performed with Stella Hartikainen, the 2003 Competition winner.

The competition consists of a first Round in which the competitors will be required to perform a programme of between 8 and 12 minutes duration, after which the adjudicators will choose a few competitors to go through to the final, for which a programme of between 15 and 20 minutes is required (this may include First Round pieces or be completely different).

Normally there are three prizes awarded: the winner receives a prize of £300, the Eleanor Lloyd Shield, and, as already mentioned, may be offered the chance to perform as soloist with the orchestra. The winner is always invited back to the following year's competition to give a recital.

The second prize offered is £150, and the third prize is £100. In recent competitions additional awards (in the form of a certificate) have been awarded to particularly promising competitors. Each competitor will receive a written assessment by the adjudicators at the end of the competition. The adjudicators themselves are members of the orchestra, chosen to represent various sections of the orchestra.