Helen Wareham Competition
Cranleigh’s own ‘Young Musician of the Year’ competition was named in memory of the late wife of a former Bursar of the School and was held in the Merriman Music School on Friday 16th May. The adjudicator of this year’s competition was one of the most distinguished figures in British musical education of the last 40 years, Derek Bourgeois, who taught at Cranleigh from 1965 to 1971. Derek was also a pupil here and began his comments by observing that the Clive Stevens Recital Hall stands on the site of the swimming pool where he used to swim nearly every day 50 years ago.
Derek praised the immensely high standards of today’s Cranleigh musicians, saying it had “gone up out of all recognition” since his time at the School. Thus it was not an easy decision to choose the top three out of the eight competitors and Alex Griffiths, Katherine Chevis, Tom Lyle, Hannah Smoker and Tory Sawyer all deserve a personal mention for making this a concert to remember as well as a competition.
Third prize went to Tom Chevis (baritone), who sang in Russian as well as English and whose “clear diction and sense of drama” was highlighted by Dr Bourgeois. He gave second prize to saxophonist Frederick Hickman, stressing how well he “held the audience” and praising especially his rare ability to play quietly on this powerful instrument. First prize was awarded to Jocelyn Waller who played Debussy’s ‘Ballade’, described by the adjudicator as “an especially difficult piece, with its tricky cross-rhythms”, with “great sensitivity as well as total control”.
A full review will appear in the 2008 Cranleighan magazine
PJL
Published
17 May 2008
- Category
Music
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