News from Awards for Young Musicians
Applications invited for MBF String Awards 2008
Applications
are now invited for the Manoug Parikian
Award, RPS Emily Anderson Prize and the Guilhermina Suggia Gift which are among the most prestigious awards
administered by the Musicians Benevolent Fund. Recent MBF String Award winners
include violinists Jennifer Pike and Giovanni Guzzo and cellists John
Myerscough and Bartholomew LaFollette.
The
Manoug Parikian Award of £3,000 and
the Royal Philharmonic Society Emily Anderson Prize of £2,500 are for violinists and the Guilhermina Suggia Gift of £3,000 is for cellists. The awards are
open to outstanding young instrumentalists who will be under 21 on the closing date for applications of Friday 10
October 2008.
Auditions
will be held at the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 24 Portland
Place, London, W1B 1LU on Monday 3
November 2008 (violinists)
and Tuesday 4 November 2008
(cellists).
To apply online or for further information visit www.mbf.org.uk
or contact:
MBF Education, 16 Ogle Street, London, W1W 6JA
Phone: 0207 299 8356 E-mail: awards@mbf.org.uk
Orchestral Partnerships
We are working in conjunction with the Association of British Orchestras to develop our partnerships with the UK's leading orchestras in order to explore ways in which we can enhance the support we are able to offer to talented young musicians. We want to utilise the tremendous musical resources of these world class orchestras in as many ways as possible, enabling young people to attend concerts and recordings, meet conductors and professional musicians, explore mentoring and work experience opportunities etc. We are currently working with orchestras including the Britten Sinfonia in Cambridge, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in London and the BBC Philharmonic in Manchester.
AYM has also recently joined forces with the Monterverdi Choir and Orchestra to enable a number of its Awardees to attend an open rehearsal during August of Brahms' 3rd and 4th Symphonies, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. They will also be attending concerts by the orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in October. The experience had a major impact on Joseph, one of the young musicians who attended:
"Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity to see the open rehearsal. The afternoon really opened up my mind to the huge potential that older 19th century instruments offer. All the musicians that I talked to spoke of how much they had learned since moving 'back in time' away from modern instruments. The two Brahms symphonies that the orchestra performed were extraordinarily sensitively played, showing a different and more authentic version of these pieces that were so cleverly crafted, yet still hold an inspirational air."
"Throughout the rehearsal I felt totally involved and it was truly amazing to see such a talented and renowned conductor in action."
"Thank you for an experience that completely changed the way in which I view orchestral music and playing and one that I sincerely hope I will be able to repeat in the future."
We recently arranged for a group of 2007 Award holders to attend a Studio Recording at BBC Manchester by the BBC Philharmonic. Below is some feedback from two of the young musicians who attended, which shows the impact such an opportunity has for them.
"Thank you very much for the opportunity you gave me to go and watch the live studio recording. I don't often get to see live orchestras play, as concerts are expensive and transport is often a problem; so the chance to see the BBC Philharmonic play was amazing and extremely inspiring. I loved the way we were so close to the orchestra because it really made you feel like you were part of the performance and the music. The orchestra itself was stunning and, being a clarinettist, I love to listen to as many different clarinettists as possible. I had never heard either of the clarinettists in this performance so that was great. I was immediately drawn to the principle clarinettist John Bradbury; his tone was so beautiful and I loved the way he projected the tone of the clarinet right through the whole of the orchestra even in the very quiet passages … Thank you once again for such a brilliant opportunity and I hope to see a lot of the BBC Phil in the future." (Katie, a 17 year old clarinettist - AYM is in the process of arranging for this young musician to undertake work experience with the orchestra in her gap year before music college.)
"I really enjoyed my visit to the BBC Philharmonic recording last week, thank you for the invite. From the minute we arrived [they] made me feel really special and it was so nice to hear music played by a professional orchestra. I particularly enjoyed the Cello Concerto because I had played that before, but not the cello part obviously. The cello player was amazing though. My sister went with me because she is doing a music degree at University and … she really enjoyed it too. At the end of the concert we were given a bag of goodies including a pen, a CD and a coaster with a photo of the orchestra, they are really nice. Thank you all for a lovely day. (Shane, a 16 year old bassoonist)
Here is some more feedback, this time from a young musician who recently attended a concert by the Britten Sinfonia:
"Thank you so much for the free tickets to go and see the Britten Sinfonia, Short Stories concert. It was really good! Apart from the first piece, the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3, the rest were all new repertoire to me, (although they took this piece very fast!) My favourite piece was the concerto for oboe and bassoon by Vivaldi. I also liked the Concerto de camera by Honegger which I thought contrasted nicely with the other pieces in the first half. I really enjoyed the other Brandenburg Concerto (no. 5 in D) especially listening to the harpsichord part which has made me consider the possibility of starting to learn the harpsichord after my piano grade 8 later this year. We have a harpsichord at school so that should be possible." (Hannah, a 13 year old cellist)
Our current Bulletin is available for download here: AYM Bulletin Spring 2008. It contains news, stories and feedback from some of our award winners. The bulletin is a great opportunity for our young musicians to make their voices heard and to tell us of their musical experiences. Read it and send us your comments!
The closing date for receipt of 2008 Application Forms, Music Teacher’s Reference Forms and Headteacher’s Reference Forms was Friday 4 April 2008. If you wish to view the Application forms for last year's Awards, they are available to download from our Guidelines and Applications page.
Our 2008 Awards were announced in May. Emails and letters were sent to both successful and unsuccessful applicants.
Awards for Young Musicians, PO Box 2754, BRISTOL, BS4 9DA
Awards for Young Musicians is a company limited by guarantee
Registered in England No.3602851. Registered Charity No.1070994
Website design by Brackendene
Communications
sponsored by Naim
Audio & The
Naim Label