Congratulations to two brilliant Upper School Music Scholars – soprano Evie and horn player Joshua – for winning two of the three major prizes awarded at the finals of this year’s Nottingham Young Musician of the Year competition.
Both pupils performed on Sunday 21 January at the Djanogly Recital Hall at the University of Nottingham in a hotly-contested final adjudicated by professional singer Marcus Farnsworth.
Evie had been selected as one of three vocal finalists for the Nottingham Young Singer of the Year, and her performance of works by Mozart, Howells, Poulenc and Gounod was praised for its variety and for demonstrating the very best traits of her voice. The adjudicator commented how much he was moved by her performance, mentioning the lovely composed presentation, clear coloratura, excellent languages and wonderful vocal range.
We were thrilled that Evie was chosen as the overall winner of the Nottingham Young Singer of the Year competition, joining the names of two Old Oakhamian tenors Edwin Lambert and William Collison who were former winners in 2015 and 2019.
Joshua took his place in the instrumental finals of the competition alongside five other finalists, performing on harp, percussion, piano and clarinet. He gave a superb performance of works by Richard Strauss, Peter Davis & Gilbert Vinter, and the adjudicator was particularly impressed by his great opening salvo in the Strauss. He went on to praise the open-heartedness of his playing throughout his programme, with a lovely sense of legato line, excellent control of the high register, and a clear sense of how to show off the instrumental effects in his final piece.
When the prizes were announced, we were delighted that Joshua was chosen to receive the prize awarded by one of the competition sponsors (the Bluecoat Singers), who felt that his performance spoke to them above all the others. Joshua was also awarded his trophy as Nottingham Young Brass Player of the Year.
Congratulations to both musicians on their brilliant achievement, and for representing Oakham School Music with such distinction.
