United Kingdom Competition Reaches its Final Stage
The final of BBC Young Musician 2012 will be held at The Sage, Gateshead on 13 May. The final will be broadcast in full on BBC Two and BBC Radio 3 and the winner will be awarded the title of BBC Young Musician 2012, a prize of £2,000 and a specially commissioned trophy.
Paul Bullock, Executive Editor, BBC Young Musician, said: “The Sage, Gateshead is one of the finest venues for live performance in the UK and we’re delighted to be taking the final of BBC Young Musician 2012 to the North East.
“The three instrumentalists who win through to the final will have the opportunity to perform a concerto of their choice with the Northern Sinfonia, under the exciting young Ukranian conductor Kirill Karabits. It promises to be a very special concert and an opportunity to see three new talents at the start of their careers, one of whom will join a distinguished group of performers who share the title BBC Young Musician.”
The Category Finals take place between March 5th and March 9th at the Dora Stoutzker Hall, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff and feature 25 category finalists competing for five places in the semi-final on Sunday 11th March.
Extensive highlights of the Category Finals will be broadcast on BBC Four over consecutive Friday nights beginning on April 13 with the semi-final being shown on BBC Two. BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, presented by Suzy Klein, will also be featuring performances by the semi-finalists leading up to the broadcast final.
Thirty-four years after the first competition was held, 453 performers aged 18 years or under applied in 2012. A total of 404 hopefuls were subsequently auditioned in regional auditions held across the UK.
Previous winners who have gone on to enjoy major international careers as performers and recording artists include Freddy Kempf (Piano – 1992), Natalie Clein (Cello – 1994) and Nicola Benedetti (Violin – 2004).
BBC North has provided additional investment for BBC Young Musician through the BBC North Kicker Fund that supports productions and initiatives that are made in the North of England. Since its launch in 2009 the Kicker Fund has supported commissions for BBC Children’s, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Sport as well as network dramas including United and Eric & Ernie. Additionally, the fund supported the award-winning Frankenstein’s Wedding… Live In Leeds and The Preston Passion.
“BBC Young Musician is an incredible institution and has provided the springboard for generations of talented musicians,” said Peter Salmon, Director, BBC North. “I am proud that BBC North is supporting the final of this internationally-renowned competition here in Gateshead as it reflects our commitment to nurturing talented young people in every field.”
The Sage Gateshead is both a national live music venue and a centre for music education located in the North East of England. The concert programme runs all year round and incorporates all kinds of music in outstanding performance spaces of internationally acclaimed acoustic excellence. It is home to Northern Sinfonia, the orchestra of The Sage, Gateshead, and the Folkworks programme.
Anthony Sargent, General Director, The Sage Gateshead, added: “Encouraging and supporting young musical talent has always been central to the mission of The Sage, Gateshead, and we’re delighted to welcome back the BBC Young Musician Final for a second time, again with our own orchestra Northern Sinfonia, accompanying the young finalists.”
The 25 who have made it to the 2012 Category Finals, which will be broadcast on BBC Four, are:
Keyboard – Monday 5th March, 7pm
Martin Bartlett (15) Piano, Hornchurch, Essex
Adam Boeker (15) Piano, Manchester/Alberta, Canada
Dominic Degavino (16) Piano, Grassmoor, Chesterfield
Victor Lim (17) Piano, Somerset/Malaysia
Yuanfan Yang (15) Piano, Prestwich, Lancs
Brass – Tuesday 6th March, 7pm
Jonathan Bates (16) E flat Tenor Horn, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Christopher Dunn (18) Tuba, London
Alexander Kelly (16) Bass Trombone, Hale, Altrincham
Elizabeth Tocknell (17) French Horn, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Elzbieta Young (16) Trumpet, Blackburn, Lancs
Strings – Wednesday 7 March, 7pm
Cristian Grajner-Desa (17) Violin, Heath and Reach, Bedfordshire
Julia Hwang (16) Violin, Bristol
Juliette Roos (16) Violin, Fetcham, Surrey
Joel Sandelson (17) Cello, London
Laura Van Der Heijden (14) Cello, Forest Row, East Sussex
Woodwind – Thursday 8 March, 7pm
Charlotte Barbour-Condini (15) Recorder, Stoke Newington, London
Jordan Black (18) Clarinet, Swindon, Wiltshire
Charlotte Cox (18) Bassoon, Guildford, Surrey
Lucinda Dunne (17) Saxophone, Stallington Village, Staffordshire
Luke O’Toole (18) Flute, Ormskirk, Lancs
Percussion – Friday 9 March, 7pm
James Larter (17) Percussion, Far Cotton, Northamptonshire
Hyun-gi Lee (15) Percussion, Guildford/Seoul, South Korea
Molly Lopresti (18) Percussion, Totnes, Devon
Peter Rayner (15) Percussion, Howe Green, Essex
Richard Rayner (18) Percussion, Howe Green, Essex
BBC Young Musician is managed and produced by BBC Cymru Wales.
For the latest news, history of the competition and to see previous performances, visit bbc.co.uk/youngmusician
Roger Jones