Category : 91Èȱ¬
Talent; TV
Entertainment
Date : 18.03.2004
Printable version
The official
charity from Fame Academy today announced the five winners of its educational
bursaries.
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The bursaries, set up from the £2.7m generated
over the Fame Academy series, are designed to give talented performers
under the age of 30 with a passion for music the chance to pursue their
dreams.
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They will be for up to three year's bespoke music education
in the UK or abroad with each winner assigned a mentor considered the
best in their field to guide them through their studies.
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The five winners of Fame Academy Educational Bursaries
are:
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Daniel Allinson, 17, plays mirimba, from Stockton-on-Tees,
Teeside;
Shona Kipling, 18, plays accordian, from Seaham, Durham;
Vishal Gopal, 23, rapper, from Hayes, Middlesex;
Daniel Powell, 18, plays tenor horn, from Syston, Leicester;
David Rimbault, 23, plays violin, from Manchester.
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The winners will feature in Fame Academy: The Next
Generation which goes out as part of 91Èȱ¬ Talent Week on 91Èȱ¬ ONE
on 21 March and 91Èȱ¬ THREE on 27 March.
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The programme follows 20 young musicians as they are
put through their paces in the Fame Academy and assessed by a team of
experts including Jamie Cullum, Fame Academy coaches David
and Carrie Grant and Jill Halstead, Professor of Contemporary
Music, Goldsmith University.
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The programme is produced by Initial (Part of Endemol
UK).
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The Fame Academy Bursary Instrument and Equipment awards
are also designed to develop new musical talent, giving away more than
150 instrument grants worth up to £1,200 each to young people
between the ages of 11 and 15.
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The scheme will launch for a second year during 91Èȱ¬
Talent Week with entries via the website: .
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91Èȱ¬ Talent executive Lorna Clarke said: "We were
incredibly impressed by the calibre of talent from the thousands of
entries we received from across the UK.
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"Each of the winners is exceptionally gifted and
we hope the bursaries allow them to really explore their potential."
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Bursary Trustee Paul McCartney said: "This
is a fantastic way to give really talented young musicians throughout
the UK the chance to develop their musical skills.
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"It can give some a leg up through being able to
own their own instrument or put others into the right educational environment
to really blossom as a performer."
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The Fame Academy Bursary board of trustees includes
the chair of the trustees Jane Lush, Controller of Entertainment Commissioning,
as well as Alan Yentob, Director of Drama, Entertainment and C91Èȱ¬; Andy
Parfitt, Controller, Radio 1 and 1Xtra; Stuart Murphy, Controller, 91Èȱ¬
THREE; Sally Stote, Youth Music; John Keiffer, British Council and Paul
McCartney.
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Fame Academy: Next Generation
Bursary Winners
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Daniel Allison –
Marimba
Even though Daniel is only 17 he has already accomplished success within
his chosen field of music – percussion.
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He first started learning the piano aged 8 and sang
in his school choir.
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At the age of 11 Daniel became interested in percussion
- marimba, vibraphone, drums, timpani - and he now has a grade 8 distinction
in percussion and drums and a grade 6 distinction in piano.
Daniel has performed in The National Youth Orchestra for three years
and is currently the principal percussionist.
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He has performed concerts with the orchestra at the
Barbican, Bridgewater Symphony Hall, The Malting Concert Hall.
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One of his biggest achievements to date is playing at
the Royal Albert Hall where he performed his own composition fanfare.
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He is also often asked to play for other orchestras
around the country and has been asked to play with William Faireys Brass
Band – the top brass band in the country.
Daniel also loves to compose his own pieces of music and at the age
of 15, along with his Dad, wrote a musical for the school in the space
of a week.
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Ideally Daniel would love to combine his two main ambitions:
he would love to be a solo performer as well as working on TV and Film
compositions.
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His main influences are solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie
and the legendary Film and TV composer John Williams.
Daniel is currently studying his A levels in Music and Music technology
and has received an unconditional place at the Royal Northern College
of Music to study percussion.
Shona Kipling – Accordian
Shona has been a fan of folk music since an early age.
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At 10 she studied the accordion, at 13 the piano and
at 14 took up the flute. She has a grade 5 flute and 4 piano.
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Shona is currently studying A levels in Music, Geography
and Business Studies.
Shona has been heavily influenced by two people – Karen Tweed,
an accordionist who Shona has done work experience with, and Catherine
Tickell – a Northumbrian Piper.
Shona has performed at a wide range of live events including Northern
Symphonia, Folkestra North, Youth Summer School in Durham and took lessons
at the Royal Academy of Music, London with the Accordion Professor.
Shona has also entered and done extremely well in competitions. She
was a finalist 91Èȱ¬ Radio 2 Young Folk Awards (17), Scottish regional
Champion on piano and accordion 3 times (14-16) and the All Britain
Champion on the piano/accordion.
Shona's proudest moments so far have been recording and putting out
her own CD and getting to the final of the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards.
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Another proud yet nerve-wracking experience was when
Shona performed solo at Newcastle Arena in front of 9,000 people at
the age of 13.
Shona would like to continue her folk music education by possibly doing
a degree. She has applied to Newcastle University to study Folk and
traditional music.
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Shona would also like to put all her efforts into putting
a band together with all her contacts in the local area.
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Vishal Gopal – Voice
/ Rapper
Vishal's father always had Asian vinyl around the house and was a big
influence on him.
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Vishal remembers hearing tunes by legends such as Bally
Sago and Apache Indian aged 10, but it wasn't until he was older that
he decided to specialise in mixing and DJ-ing.
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At 14 he started DJing with friends and swapped an
Indian drum for a mixer. From then on was completely hooked.
At 16 Vishal and a friend, who own an Indian catering company, decided
that not only could they provide the catering, they could also provide
the music.
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At 20 Vishal bought a PC and started to get more involved
with sampling and mixing, in particular Asian and banghra classics,
and mixing with western beats. Vishal has also been writing and Mc-ing
since the age of 15.
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Tupac was his main inspiration for rapping. But Vishal
also appreciates the musical talents and production from a wide range
of artists – from Michael Jackson through to Phil Collins and Elton
John.
Vishal has been a regular on the live scene and has played at Shaanti
in Birmingham, Showcase gigs in the London area, lots of DJ events and
has also co-presented on local radio shows.
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He has also remixed for a band called Devoted –
an Asian three piece which has received Radio 1 and local radio station
airplay.
Eventually Vishal would like to set up his own studio, have an independent
label and be there for new and upcoming artists that find it hard signing
to a major label as he understand fully how hard it is these days.
Daniel Powell – Tenor Horn
Daniel is 18 years old and currently lives at home with his mum, dad
and two sisters.
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His dad plays the tuba and conducts the local Training
Brass Band, where his eldest sister plays trombone.
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His mum played the saxophone and clarinet. And his youngest
sister plays clarinet and piano for the local orchestra.
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Daniel first took up the tenor horn at the age of five
and began lessons at the age of nine.
Daniel is currently studying in Leicester for his A Levels in Music,
Biology and AS level in Film Studies.
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He has been unconditionally accepted to the Royal Northern
College in Manchester to study Music.
Daniel made it to the finals of his first ever competition – The
National Brass Band British Open Solo Championships - and also got through
to the semi finals of the Radio 2 Soloist championships.
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Daniel has also played in the National Youth Brass Band
at the Proms, Albert Hall and the Birmingham Symphony Hall at the age
of 15.
Daniel is very ambitious and hopes to continue his musical education
by doing a post graduate degree in music.
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Eventually Daniel would like to become a private tutor
and pass on his knowledge and expertise in the tenor horn to others.
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David Rimbault – Violin
David has been playing the violin since the age of five and was influenced
by his father who was a music teacher and taught in a primary school.
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David grew up in Gloucester, his mum is a primary school
teacher and he has two younger sisters.
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David moved from Gloucester to study a post graduate
diploma in Music at Manchester University and is hoping to continue
for a further year if he can raise the funds to pursue his ambitions
of performing with a professional orchestra and teaching the violin
at the Royal Academy.
David has played on a regular basis with the Northern Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra and was also successful in winning a place to rehearse and
perform with the 91Èȱ¬ Manchester Philharmonic Orchestra for a two week
period.
David's musical influences include Beethoven, The Beatles, Don McLean.
David has spent most of his education time in Manchester and would love
to have the chance to see what opportunities are available to him outside
of the city.
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He is especially keen to study in London.
