BBC Young Musician


BBC Young Musician is a televised national music competition, broadcast on BBC Television and BBC Radio 3. Originally BBC Young Musician of the Year, its name was changed in 2010.
The competition, a former member of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth, is open to British percussion, keyboard, string, brass and woodwind players, who are eighteen years of age or under on 1 January in the relevant year.

History

The competition was established in 1978 by Humphrey Burton, Walter Todds and Roy Tipping, former members of the BBC Television Music Department. Michael Hext, a trombonist, was the inaugural winner. In 1994, the percussion category was added, alongside the existing keyboard, string, brass and woodwind categories. The competition has five stages: regional auditions, category auditions, category finals, semi-finals and the final. The biennial competition is managed and produced by BBC Cymru Wales.
To date, there have been 20 winners, the youngest being 12-year-old Peter Moore. In 2014, the BBC Young Musician Jazz Award was introduced; Alexander Bone, a saxophonist, was the inaugural winner.
As a result of the success of the competition, the Eurovision Young Musicians competition was initiated in 1982. The first edition was broadcast live from Manchester's Free Trade Hall. The presenter was Humphrey Burton and the producer was Roy Tipping. The winner of BBC Young Musician often went on to represent the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Young Musicians.
The competition celebrated its 30th anniversary in May 2008 with a documentary narrated by Gethin Jones on BBC Two. BBC Four's documentary BBC Young Musician: Forty Years Young was aired on 3 April 2018. To celebrate the 40th anniversary, the first BBC Young Musician Prom was held at the Royal Albert Hall and broadcast live on 15 July 2018. Presented by Clemency Burton-Hill, the concert featured performances from past winners and finalists alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Andrew Gourlay.

Broadcast

Regional heats were televised in 1978; a round before the category final was aired until 1994, and again in 2002 and 2004. From 1978 to 1984, all programmes were broadcast on BBC One until it was moved to BBC Two in 1986; however from 2002 to 2012, the heats were moved to BBC Four, with only the final aired on BBC Two.
In 2010, highlights of the new semi-final stage were also broadcast on BBC Two. In 2014, all stages of the competition moved to BBC Four, and the category finals and the grand final were broadcast on BBC Radio 3. For the 2018 competition, Radio 3 broadcast a 30-minute concert starring each competitor in the week before their category final aired.

Hosts

The following have hosted stages of the competition:

BBC Young Dancer

A competitive dance version, BBC Young Dancer, was launched in October 2014 and first awarded in May 2015.

BBC Young Jazz Musician

A separate competition for a Jazz Award was first held during the 2014 season, with the final broadcast on BBC Four in the week after the classical final. In 2016, the Jazz Award final was episode 7 of the 8-part BBC Four series, broadcast two days before the classical final. In 2018, the jazz competition had an upper age limit of 21 and the final was recorded for BBC Four in November as part of the London Jazz Festival; it was broadcast on 25 November, six months after the main final.

Winners

Classical Award

Jazz Award

Past finalists

;Key
†Person won the competition of that year
BoldPerformer got through to the final
ItalicsPerformer was present at the semi-final stage

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

Finals for the 2004 competition took place on 2 May at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh and were televised on BBC Two. The trophy used for this year's competition was designed by John Rocha at Waterford Crystal.
NameInstrument/Category
Keyboard
'Percussion
'†Violin
Horn
Violin
Percussion
Percussion
Violin
Saxophone
Percussion
Keyboard
Trombone
'Keyboard
'Trumpet
Percussion
Keyboard
Keyboard
Oboe
Tenor horn
Flute
Tuba
Harp
Oboe
Violin
Flute

2006

The 2006 finals were held at The Sage Gateshead on 20 May 2006. The adjudicators for this competition were Marin Alsop, Carlos Bonell, Peter Sadlo, Thea King, Sergei Nakariakov, Angela Hewitt and Kathryn McDowell. The overall number of finalists was significantly smaller for this competition.
NameInstrumentPerformanceNotes
PercussionVeni, Veni, Emmanuel Now a member of the Royal Northern College of Music, his childhood environment encouraged him to be involved in music
GuitarFantasia para un GentilhombreBegan guitar lesson at eight years old at the Mid Herts Music Centre, with current aspirations for a career involving music; is currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music, London
TrumpetTrumpet Concerto Principal trumpet of the National Youth Orchestra, began learning piano and other instruments at five years of age
†ClarinetClarinet Concerto Winner of the 2006 competition, originally played the keyboard and recorder
PianoSaint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2Studied at Chetham's school for 7 years, and is currently studying at the Guildhall School in London.

2008

The 2008 finals took place at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 10 and 11 May 2008. In celebration of thirty years of the competition broadcasting, the performances lasted for two days.
NameHometownInstrumentNotes
Lyndhurst, HampshireClarinetAchieved Grade 8 distinction in Singing, Piano and Saxophone as well as playing the clarinet
HayfieldPercussionBegan playing percussion at the age of three after his father, a professional drummer bought him a drum set; currently studies at the Chetham's School of Music
'Ski, NorwayGuitarTwo time winner of the Norwegian National Youth competition; began playing the Guitar at the age of ten
Lytham St AnnesFrench HornBegan playing the French Horn at seven years of age after hearing Mozart’s Horn Concert No 4.; he studies at Chetham's School of Music and is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
BournemouthPercussionBegan playing percussion at the age of three, and currently studies at the Trinity College of Music after studying at Chetham's School of Music for three years; he held the position of Co Principal in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain percussion section
TroonPianoBegan playing piano at the age of six, and is also a violinist, he has led the National Children’s Orchestra of Scotland and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain; currently studying at Wellington School
BallymenaPianoBegan playing piano at the age of six, and now studies at the Ballymena Academy and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin
AmershamTubaCurrently studying at The Purcell School of Music, the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and is a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
WarminsterHarpBegan playing the Harp at the age of ten while also playing the Piano and Violin, currently studies at the Junior Department of the Royal College of Music
'IpswichPianoStudying at the Northgate High School in Ipswich and the Junior Department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
'Littleborough, Greater ManchesterPercussionStarted playing percussion at the age of seven and is studying at the Chetham's School of Music
'†StalybridgeTromboneStarted to play the trombone at the age of six. Held the position of Principal Trombone of the National Children’s Band of Great Britain; he is the youngest musician in this year's competition
Harrow, LondonPianoBegan playing the piano at seven years of age, and currently Studies at The Purcell School of Music; he has received awards for composing, such as Highly Commended at BBC Proms Composers' Competition 2006
BusheyViolinStarted playing the Violin at eight after being offered free lessons in her school in Essex; she later became a student at The Purcell School of Music, and was the first violinist in the National Youth Orchestra for 2 years
CarshaltonOboeBegan playing the Oboe at the age of ten, and is studying at The Purcell School of Music, but also studies at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music and is Principal Oboe of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain after joining just one year previously
LondonCelloBegan playing the Violin at the age of four, but switched to the Cello at five; he currently studies at Yehudi Menuhin School
East Brent, SomersetClarinetBegan playing the Clarinet at eight years of age; he has since achieved Principal Clarinet of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain after two years of membership
FifeFluteBegan playing the Flute in 2004, his influence being when he heard Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun; he studied at St Mary's Music School in Edinburgh until 2008. He also plays the Saxophone very well
Normanton on SoarPercussionStudies at Loughborough High School and was influenced to play percussion after seeing the school orchestra performance
BoltonEuphoniumStudies at Chetham's School of Music, and was Principal Euphonium with the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain

2010

2012

2014

Classical Award

Jazz Award

2016

Classical Award

Jazz Award

2018

Classical Award

The 2018 finals were held at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham, on 13 May 2018. The judges were Kerry Andrew, Alpesh Chauhan, Natalie Clein, John Harle and Sunwook Kim.
NameInstrument/Category
Adam HeronKeyboard
Alexander PullenPercussion
Annemarie FederleFrench Horn/Brass
Elias AckerleyKeyboard
Eliza HaskinsRecorder/Woodwind
Elodie Chousmer-HowellesViolin/Strings
Francis BushellBassoon/Woodwind
Isobel DawsTrombone/Brass
Jeneba Kanneh-MasonKeyboard
Lauren Zhang†Keyboard
Mariam Loladze-MeredithKeyboard
Marie SatoFlute/Woodwind
Matthew BrettPercussion
Maxim CalverCello/Strings
Meadow BrooksPercussion
Michaias BerlouisBass Trombone/Brass
Robert BurtonSaxophone/Woodwind
Sam DyeTrombone/Brass
Stephanie ChildressViolin/Strings
Tom HallPercussion
Tom MylesClarinet/Woodwind
Toril Azzalini-MacheclerPercussion
Torrin WilliamsGuitar/Strings
Will DuerdenDouble Bass/Strings
Will ThomasTrumpet+Flugelhorn/Brass

Jazz Award

Footnotes