Scottish Young Musicians: Solo Performer of the Year

RCS Stevenson Hall, Glasgow 26/5/24

 The National Final of Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year competition was hosted by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in its Stevenson Hall all forenoon and afternoon of Sunday 26th May.  Some 30 of the young competitors on the day had previously successfully contested local heats for the honour of representing the secondary schools in their local authority area, with one competitor representing Scotland’s independent schools.  Scottish tenor Jamie MacDougall was the genial compère for the day.  The 5-member adjudicating panel was led by trumpeter, founder of The Wallace Collection and President of St Mary’s Music School, John Wallace CBE, and included soprano and Head of Vocal Performance at the RCS, Jane Irwin; violinist, composer, conductor and teacher at RCS Greg Lawson; BBCSSO clarinettist and teacher at RCS, Adam Lee; and pianist and lecturer at RCS, Sinae Lee.  With the exception of unaccompanied performers and those who had brought their own accompanist, all accompaniment was provided by pianist/repetiteur/teacher and vocal coach Claire Haslin.  The competitors performed in 3 sessions of 10, 10 and 11 performers respectively with a 40 minute break at lunchtime and another mid-afternoon.  The final session, commencing shortly after 5 pm, featured a performance by winners of both the Brass Ensemble of the Year and Ensemble of the Year from an SYM competition a fortnight before (Campbeltown Brass and Belmont Academy Woodwind Ensemble respectively), the presentation of their awards, various speeches and, at long last, the results of the day’s adjudication.  Awards were made in the categories strings, wind, brass, percussion, piano, voice and traditional, before the overall runner(s) up and the final winner were announced.

Hannah Pringle, a clarsach-player representing Stirling, won the string award with two pieces, ‘Kate Martin’s Waltz’ by Blair Douglas and ‘Nataliana’ by Deborah Henson-Conant.  There was subtlety in the way the waltz rhythm materialised in the first few bars and a feathery lightness throughout (usually absent from performances of the piece on accordion).  Nataliana too was beautifully atmospheric with phrasing that drew the listener in.  Engaging with the audience is an important part of being a ‘performer’ and all the day’s winners demonstrated this quality admirably.

The wind prize was won by alto saxophonist Euan Kemp from East Dunbartonshire.  He introduced himself and his pieces, as did many of the category winners, an excellent way to engage with the audience and take the edge off any nervousness (not that any was evident in Euan’s case).  He performed his two pieces segued.  The unaccompanied and phenomenally virtuosic ‘Improvisation No.1’ by Ryo Noda emulates the shakuhachi bamboo flute and features pitch-bending and long crescendi on a single note reminiscent of those for clarinet in Messiaen’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’.  It was followed by the accompanied ‘Fantaisie-Impromptu’ by André Jolivet, a melancholy introductory melody, played with a lovely cantabile, leading to a jazzy cakewalk.  A super piece, performed with style, much to the delight of the audience.

Bass trombonist from Clackmannanshire (and former pupil of yours truly at Alva Academy) Tom Lamb scooped the brass prize with a performance of Weber’s ‘Romance for Bass Trombone and Piano’.  Any audience member previously inclined to dismiss the notion of the bass trombone as a lyrical instrument was compelled to reconsider.  A lovely stern minor key intro from the piano was answered by a sombre cantabile recitative followed by a major key arioso, giving the impression of an operatic bass/baritone in full flow.  Phrasing, intonation, breath control and dynamic expressivity were flawless.  Well done, Tom.

The percussion category prize went to Amelia Leishman of the City of Edinburgh, whose spellbinding rendition of Adam Tan’s ‘Lotus’ on the marimba had been the first performance of the morning session.  The liquid tone of the instrument was fully exploited, with playing of great expressive sensitivity, elegant rubato and a lovely ebb and flow of phrasing and dynamics.

Of the 7 able pianists competing in the final, one shone unmistakably the brightest and displayed an extra level of artistic maturity and pianistic facility.  Magnus Shanks of Aberdeenshire introduced himself and played two pieces, ‘Canzona Serenata’, No.6 of Medtner’s ‘Forgotten Melodies’ Op.38 and Debussy’s ‘General Lavine - eccentric’ No.6 from the second book of Préludes.  The Medtner was fluid, vital and expressively romantic.  The Debussy was magically quirky and witty, with characterful phrasing.  Magnus is a charismatic advocate for his music, held the audience rapt and took the piano prize.

A field of 4 vocalists were in the frame for the voice prize, but one was above all a theatrical star ‘performer’.  Aimee Sharp from East Ayrshire with her own accompanist Keegan Gordon introduced and delivered a music theatre experience with two numbers that showcased dramatic and vocal skills.  The opening number of Jason Robert Brown’s musical ‘The Last Five Years’ is ‘Still Hurting’, in which a divorcee sees her ex-husband living his best life while her own is in shreds.  Flawless intonation and breathing, with a great dynamic range, delivered a powerful characterisation, while the clever use of pauses drew the audience into the story.  Every note mattered and was built, with ‘messa di voce’ that would not be out of place on an operatic stage.  Moving from despair to hope, the second song, Stephen Flaherty’s ‘Journey to the Past’ from the animated musical ‘Anastasia’, was a ‘feel good’ treat, delivered with the same skill and attention to detail, but seeming unforced and natural.  What a performer!

A different but equally undeniable charisma and showmanship was evinced by the winner of the traditional category, accordionist from South Lanarkshire, Jake Johnstone, accompanied on the piano by his taller ‘little sister’ Stella.  He introduced himself and Stella and began his set with ‘Bel Viso’ by Pietro Frosini, stylishly ornamented, rhythmic and pacy with great syncopation.  A contrasting slow air in the style of a pibroch, but with hints of a slow waltz, ‘Eilean Scalpaigh na Hearradh’ as performed by Skipinnish, was very lovely.  The set concluded with a reel by Ian Lowthian, ‘Stomach Steinway Man’, starting slow but accelerating to a thrilling finish.  Enthusiastically applauded by the audience.

Two finalists were jointly identified as runners-up, Aberdeenshire pianist Magnus Shanks and South Lanarkshire accordionist Jake Johnstone.  The overall winner of the Maid of Morven trophy and the title Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year 2024 was named as saxophonist Euan Kemp from East Dunbartonshire.

In his closing remarks, compère Jamie MacDougall praised Scotland’s local authorities, their schools, teachers and tutors for embracing the competition and using it to drive the recognition, encouragement and development of performing talent across Scotland’s young people.  But he also warned about the importance of sustained government investment in resources and support for music in schools for its future to be assured.  Hear, hear!