Finalists announced for Berkshire Young Musician – Strings Competition

Finalists announced for Berkshire Young Musician – Strings Competition

Congratulations to all 46 performers who took part in the recent semi-final of the Berkshire Young Musician of the Year competition.

This year was slightly different to usual, with socially distanced performances at our Reading Music Centre, judged remotely by our highly skilled team of Alis Huws (Offical harpist for HRH Prince of Wales), Steve Threlfall (Conductor, former Director of Music, Chetham’s School of Music), Jonathan Burnett (Head of strings, Berkshire Maestros) and Lorraine Deacon (Teacher of Cello, Wellington College).

The judges were very impressed with all of the musicians who took part. Jonathan Burnett said “all of the performers should be incredibly proud of their achievements – we certainly are.”

Going through to the final at Windsor Festival on 9 May are:

Age 9 and under: Emma Yawen, Gracie, and Olivia (all violin)

Age 10 to 12: Philip (violin), Calvin (violin) and Rosie (harp)

Age 13 to 15: Francesco (violin), Oliver (cello) and Tara (violin)

Age 16 to 18: Helena (harp), Hilarie (violin) and Maya (violin)

All the finalists will receive a masterclass with Callum Smart, and everyone who reached the semi-final was awarded a £50 voucher to spend at Philip Brown Violins.