91Èȱ¬

With only two opportunities remaining to impress the panel of adjudicators and audience in an attempt to reach the final in May, five enthusiastic performers per category will perform at the Category Finals.

The winner of each evening will then receive a place in the Semi-Final on Sunday 11 March, and from these, just three will be selected to go through to the 91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2012 Final. Audiences at home will not be disappointed as performances will be recorded for broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Four (Category Finals) and 91Èȱ¬ Two (Semi-Final and Final).

Previous winners and finalists have gone on to major international careers. Violinist Jennifer Pike is regarded as one of the most gifted of the younger generation of British artists and was the youngest ever winner of the competition in 2002. She will be performing in an evening of recitals at Music Nation Cymru on Sunday 4 March.

"The 91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2002 competition was a life-changing experience for me, not only because of the wonderful concert opportunities and recordings that it led to, but also because of the great pleasure I had taking part," says Jennifer.

"I shall always remember the very special atmosphere and I feel honoured to have met so many terrific musicians at each stage of this prestigious competition. My advice to all the participants would be to remember that once you are on stage, what matters most of all is that you enjoy communicating the music to the audience."

Nineteen-year-old Benjamin Grosvenor is an internationally recognised pianist and came to prominence following his success at 91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2004, winning the Keyboard Category Final and making his Proms debut in 2011 at the opening night.

"The 91Èȱ¬ competition really helped to start my career, as it gave me exposure and brought me to the attention of the British classical music world. It opened up a lot of opportunities," says Ben.

"Before the competition, I had only given minor concerts locally, but soon afterwards I found myself, for example, touring Scotland with the Scottish String Ensemble and performing at Wigmore Hall.

"It was certainly a wonderful and exciting experience at the age of 11, too young to feel pressure or stress. It helped me to grow as a pianist, and caused me to expand my repertoire. The most memorable part for me was playing with the 91Èȱ¬ Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the final - my debut with a professional orchestra."

The 25 who have made it to the 2012 Category Finals are:

Keyboard - Monday 5 March, 7pm
Martin Bartlett (15) Piano, Hornchurch, Essex
Adam Boeker (15) Piano, Manchester/Alberta, Canada
Dominic Degavino (16) Piano, Grassmoor, Chesterfield
Victor Lim (17) Piano, Somerset/South Korea
Yuanfan Yang (15) Piano, Prestwich, Lancs

Brass - Tuesday 6 March, 7pm
Jonathan Bates (16) E flat Tenor Horn, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Christopher Dunn (18) Tuba, London
Alexander Kelly (16) Bass Trombone, Hale, Altrincham
Elizabeth Tocknell (17) French Horn, Church Stretton, Shropshire
Elzbieta Young (16) Trumpet, Blackburn, Lancs

Strings - Wednesday 7 March, 7pm
Cristian Grajner-Desa (17) Violin, Heath and Reach, Bedfordshire
Julia Hwang (16) Violin, Bristol
Juliette Roos (16) Violin, Fetcham, Surrey
Joel Sandelson (17) Cello, London
Laura Van Der Heijden (14) Cello, Forest Row, East Sussex

Woodwind - Thursday 8 March, 7pm
Charlotte Barbour-Condini (15) Recorder, Stoke Newington, London
Jordan Black (18) Clarinet, Swindon, Wiltshire
Charlotte Cox (18) Bassoon, Guildford, Surrey
Lucinda Dunne (17) Saxophone, Stallington Village, Staffordshire
Luke O'Toole (18) Flute, Ormskirk, Lancs

Percussion - Friday 9 March, 7pm
James Larter (17) Percussion, Far Cotton, Northamptonshire
Hyun-gi Lee (15) Percussion, Guildford/Seoul, South Korea
Molly Lopresti (18) Percussion, Totnes, Devon
Peter Rayner (15) Percussion, Howe Green, Essex
Richard Rayner (18) Percussion, Howe Green, Essex

To launch the week, 91Èȱ¬ Young Musician includes an evening of short recitals at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on Sunday 4 March, as part of Music Nation Cymru, with performances from past winners; violinist Jennifer Pike (91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2002), trombonist Peter Moore (91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2008) and percussionist Lucy Landymore (91Èȱ¬ Young Musician 2010 Percussion Category Winner).

91Èȱ¬ Young Musician is managed and produced by 91Èȱ¬ Cymru Wales.

453 applications were received for 2012 with 404 auditioned across the United Kingdom during the regional auditions. 122 musicians were selected to be heard again in the category auditions. The venue for the Final will be announced shortly.

Semi-final
Sunday 11 March, 7pm

91Èȱ¬ Young Musician recital - Music Nation Cymru
Sunday 4 March, 7pm

Tickets: £6; student/child concession £3

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