The Avison Ensemble Young Musicians’ Awards 2008

Supported by the Northern Rock Foundation

Young musicians and singers are invited to take part in this Annual Music Award sponsored by the Avison Ensemble, supported by the Northern Rock Foundation.
A fee of £5 will apply to all entrants. (Enclose a cheque payable to ‘The Avison Ensemble’).

Students are invited to perform two pieces of music, one of which should be by an 18th century composer of their choice on any instrument, or voice (A harpsichord is available if required).
Performers must provide their own accompanist.

Entrants’ music Grades will be formed into the following categories:

• Category A (Grades 1, 2 & 3 or equivalent)
• Category B (Grades 4, 5 & 6 or equivalent)
• Category C (Grade 7 or equivalent and above)

All categories will be asked to perform two contrasting pieces (maximum 6 minutes).

John Treherne MBE, Head of Gateshead Schools’ Music Service, Steve Halsey, Director of Newcastle Schools’ Music Service and Gordon Dixon, Executive Director of the Avison Ensemble will assess the students. We hope to offer all entrants the opportunity of master classes and advice from international, distinguished musicians, at various stages of the competition.

Stage 1 Assessment - Open Performance Workshop
Thursday 17th January at 4pm or Friday 18th January at 4pm at the Dryden Professional Development Centre, Evistones Rd, Gateshead During the course of the workshop:

• Entrants will be asked to play as shown above
• Each entrant will receive a certificate with verbal and written assessment
• Entrants selected for taking part in the final will be notified

Final
Sunday 2nd March 2008 at 2pm (Entrants arrive at 1.00pm) at Shipley Art Gallery, Prince Consort Road, Gateshead.

The final presentation of the Awards, engraved with the winners’ names, will take place at a future concert to be arranged, after the finals on March 2nd.

There are three trophies for the winners, one in each category, which will be displayed at the winners’ schools for a year. The trophies themselves are unique, specially commissioned glass sculptures made by the local glass artist, Dominic Fondé.

A certificate and a cash prize of £25 each will accompany these, for the winners. All other entrants reaching the finals will receive a certificate of participation.

To enter the competition, please download the entry form (Microsoft Word document format, 32 kb) and return it to the address provided on the form.

The Avison Ensemble Young Musicians Award 2007: Results

Supported by the Roland Cookson fund at the Community Foundation

The Avison Ensemble Young Musician’s Awards were set up to encourage young musical talent across the North East Region. Now in the second year, the entrants to the Awards receive tuition and guidance, as well as important encouragement to continue their musical education. This year, 9 outstanding young people went through to the finals.

Amongst the winners of this year’s Awards were talented teenage saxophonist, Eleanor McMurray (16) from Warkworth, a young trumpeter, Chris Watson (13) from Newburn and pianist, Elizabeth Taruna Thomas (9) from Newcastle who won the three awards in their grades, at the finals of the Young Musician’s Award 2007, which took place at Shipley Art Gallery on March 4th.

The Awards themselves were presented to the 3 winners at the Avison Ensemble tea concert, ‘Songs of Love and War’, by the international singers Catherine Bott and James Bowman on Sunday March 25th, at the Old Assembly Rooms, Newcastle.

There were a total of 18 confirmed entrants for the competition this year, more than doubling last year’s numbers and the 9 finalists were selected over two sets of heats. The judges were John Treherne, Head of Gateshead Schools' Music Service, Steve Halsey Director of Newcastle’s Schools Music Service and Gordon Dixon, CEO of the Avison Ensemble.

From the 9 semi-finalists, the three winners were eventually chosen by the chairman of the judges panel, Bill Lloyd, BBC radio producer for Radios 3 & 4, himself an exceptional classical concert pianist.

He said of all the entrants: “None of the recent professional performances, which I have had the pleasure to hear has given me so much satisfaction as listening to this extraordinary young musical talent. All the entrants were outstanding and had courage and ability and the star quality to entertain and engage the audience. They have all given me immense pleasure and I sincerely wish them all every success as they progress and thank their families and teachers for the continuing and essential support they receive”.

The Awards themselves are 3 beautiful, unique engraved glass trophies, inscribed with music from the Avison workbooks, which belong to the Ensemble; they were created by Dominic Fondé, a local glass artist. The winners also received cheques for £25 each and the awards will be displayed in their schools: The Purcell School in Bushy, the St Thomas Moore Catholic School in Blaydon and Central Newcastle High School.

The Roland Cookson Fund at the Community Foundation sponsored the competition, this year. The competition will begin for 2008 next September.

The first of what has now become an annual award scheme by the Avison Ensemble was held at Shipley Art Gallery, following hard-fought heats across the Northeast.

This competition was designed for one overall winner, showing the most outstanding musicianship; also an award to a contestant who showed most promise as a stepping-stone to new audiences and future events.

The Young Musicians demonstrated their abilities and achievements over a 6-month series of heats.  Finalists were coached and assessed by an outside guest professional and the overall winner received an inscribed Award to keep for a year at their school.  All participants received a ‘Certificate of Achievement’ and the winners also a small personal trophy. 

There were 6 finalists with ages ranging from 11 to 17 and abilities from grade 3 to grade 8.  The violinists were Lucas Yi-Shun Chong, (11yrs) playing Telemann, Lawes and Mozart; Emily Devine (15yrs) playing Vivaldi; Anne-Elizabeth White (17ysrs) who played ‘Sicilienne’ by Maria Theresia von Paradis.

There were 2 cellists; Emma Raymond (12yrs) who played Handel and Bach and Georgina Smith (14yrs) who played a movement from the Haydn Cello Concerto in C major.

Also some very bright young talent from Christopher Watson (11yrs) on the trumpet, playing Stanley, Bach and Clarke.

John Treherne, Head of Gateshead School’s Music Service together with Steve Halsey, Director Newcastle Schools’ Music Service and Gordon Dixon assessed the heats.  Pavlo Beznosiuk, Leader of the Ensemble assessed the finalists. 
Pavlo’s deliberations were very thoughtful; the criticisms were gentle, positive and constructive. 

The overall winner was Emily Devine for her outstanding musicianship and her natural feel for the music and her free vibrato and flowing bow.

Christopher Watson won the coveted most potential Award for his well-controlled trumpet playing (on a difficult instrument) and his feeling for the music.

The Awards themselves are of a curved and engraved glass sheet on a glass plinth, commissioned from Dominic Fondé a local glass blower and engraver, featuring an original piece of Avison’s own score. 

We are delighted to say that the 2007 Awards will be sponsored by a grant from the Roland Cookson Trust through the Community Foundation and the competition is set to begin again, in earnest, in the autumn.