BBC Young Musician of the Year

Yesterday we went to the Barbican in London to watch the final of the competition. It was a fantastic afternoon - with three superb performances. If you are able to view on BBC iPlayer - I would thoroughly recommend watching - it is available at http://bbc.in/1TfxGTt . I won't spoil it for you by revealing the winner (although it was on the news headlines this morning on BBC Radio 4). Three very talented performers indeed! Details (in the order of performance) of each of them (from the BBC website) are below

Ben Goldscheider

Ben comes from Hertfordshire and has been playing the horn since the age of nine. Since a very early age, he has wanted to become a soloist and increase the popularity of the horn! He has played numerous times with the Philarmonia, was principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra and is also part of the International Music Academy for Soloists. Ben is studying Music and History at A level whilst teaching himself the piano and German. Aside from music, he enjoys playing a wide range of sports including football and tennis.

Jess Gillam

Jess is from Cumbria and began playing saxophone aged seven. She has made a guest appearance with Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, has been a concerto soloist with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra and in July, she was the youngest solo performer at the World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg. Jess also runs her own annual concert series in Ulverston where artists such as Courtney Pine, Snake Davis, The Apollo Saxophone Quartet, John Harle and Tommy Smith have performed.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason

Sixteen year old Sheku attends Trinity Catholic School in Nottingham. He holds the ABRSM Junior Scholarship to The Royal Academy of Music, where he studies cello with Ben Davies. Sheku plays in the Chineke! Junior and Professional Orchestra, as well as the JRAM Symphony Orchestra. He plays chamber music with the Kanneh-Mason Piano Trio and the Ash String Trio. Sheku plays a cello made by Frank White of Ladystone Violins. He also enjoys football.

We were thrilled to find that our seats were on the front row - and we sat next so some of the friends of Jess Gillam's who had travelled down from Cumbria for the competition. I love listening to the saxophone and her performance was electrifying. 

During one of the three intervals, the winner of the BBC Young Musician Jazz award, Alexandra Ridout gave a performance with her trio in the foyer. Another young lady to watch out for in the future. After the competition ended we stayed for another foyer event - this time a big band. 

The next competition runs in two years time.