The Chetham’s Concerto Competition grand final will see the young musicians perform in one of the top concert halls in the UK to a panel of leading performers.
Please note change of originally advertised time.
Schedule
10.45am
POULENC Piano Concerto in C# minor
i Allegretto
ii Andante con moto
iii Rondeau à la française
Lola piano
Simon Passmore piano
11.10am
Aleksandra PAKHMUTOVA Trumpet concerto in E♭ minor
Noah trumpet
Simon Passmore piano
11.25am
KROMMER Concerto No. 1 for Two Clarinets in E♭ major, Op. 35
i Adagio
ii Rondo
Shia clarinet
Sabin clarinet
Gemma Webster piano
11.50am
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No. 1 in D, Op. 19
i Andantino
ii Scherzo: Vivacissimo
iii Moderato – Allegro moderato
Lily-May violin
Simon Passmore piano
12.15pm
REINECKE Flute Concerto in D, Op. 283
i Allegro molto moderato
ii Lento e mesto
iii Moderato
Greta Vedrickaite flute
Elena Nalimova piano
12.45pm Lunch break
1.30pm
Sergei GOLOVKO Concerto for Marimba
i Untold Legends
ii Stories of Old
iii The Fair “Maslenitsa”
Anna marimba
Gemma Webster piano
2pm
STRAUSS Horn Concerto No.1 in E♭, Op.11
i Allegro
ii Andante
iii Allegro
Jacob Adams French horn
Ruth Hollick piano
2.20pm
TOMASI Saxophone Concerto
i Andante et Allegro
ii Final: Giration
Kirzaiah Gyimah saxophone
Gemma Webster piano
2.45pm
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.16
i Andantino – Allegretto
ii Scherzo: Vivace
iii Intermezzo: Allegro moderato
iv Finale: Allegro tempestoso
Patrick Townsend piano
Murray McLachlan piano
3.20pm Break
3.40pm
MAHLER Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
i Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht
ii Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld
iii Ich hab’ ein glühend Messer
iv Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz
Grace McQuillan voice
Ruth Hollick piano
4.00pm
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
i Moderato
ii Adagio sostenuto
iii Allegro scherzando
Julian piano
Nick Oliver piano
4.35pm
TCHAIKOVSKY Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
i Allegro moderato
ii Canzonetta
iii Allegro Vivacissimo
Filip violin
Ruth Hollick piano
5.15pm Break
5.45pm (estimated) Results announcement in the atrium
About the Adjudicator Panel
Jessica Schaeffer, Strings
Jessica started learning the cello at the age of 4 under the suzuki method. She had a full music scholarship to Dean Close School in Cheltenham where she studied with Emma Denton from the Carducci quartet. She was on a full scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, studying with Josephine Knight where she received first class Masters and undergraduate. During her time at the Academy she studied for a term in Paris Conservatoire Superior International with Xavier Phillips and Roland Pideux.
Jessica was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra 2008-2009 and joined the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in 2012 where she is currently no.4 cello. Highlights of the job have included many international tours through both Asia and Europe, The Proms every summer and Musical Storyland. She enjoys the chamber music series opportunities the BBC Philharmonic provides which has included some Radio 3 performances with John Storgards and Martin Roscoe. She has enjoyed varied freelance orchestral work in London with LPO, The Royal Opera House, The Philharmonia and Orchestras all over the country including Liverpool, BBC NOW and Northern Sinfonia. Jessica has also played on many video games and film sessions in both London and Manchester and enjoyed being part of the musical theatre scene, recently playing in the World tour of Les Misérables.
Jessica has taught all ages from beginners through to Junior RNCM and held a teaching job in Ardingly College in Haywards Heath before moving up north.
Kathryn Stott, Piano
At the age of five, I made friends with the upright piano in our living room. That was the beginning of my musical journey, one which continues as you read this. It would appear that my initial progress was rapid and by the age of eight, I found myself at a boarding school for young musicians, the Yehudi Menuhin School. During my studies there, it is now clear to me that I was heavily influenced by two occasional visitors to the school; Nadia Boulanger and Vlado Perlmuter. From them, my great passion for French music was ignited and Fauré in particular has remained the musical love of my life.
Further studies at the Royal College of Music in London then led me very abruptly into the life of a professional musician via the Leeds International Piano Competition. It remains the steepest learning curve I have ever experienced. After a rollercoaster three years, I realised that I needed to re-connect with chamber music in a bid to feel more connected to other musicians and after all, this had played an important part of my musical existence since being a child.
When, quite by chance, I met Yo-Yo Ma in 1978, it turned out to be one of the most fortuitous moments of my life. Since 1985, we have enjoyed a collaboration which has taken us to so many fascinating parts of the world and led to musical adventures with musicians who shared so much from their own traditions. I have always considered us to be intrepid musical explorers on our own individual paths but with an incredible bond that unites us on the creative highway.
I very much enjoy the challenge involved in bringing musicians together with exciting programming at its core. Most recently, I was the Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and working with artists on such a huge geographical scale, was fascinating. A little closer to home, I am presently the curator of the 2023 Sheffield Chamber Music Festival, and with this come fresh creations equally exciting. My love of curating and directing began in 1995 and since then I have brought to life many of my ideas in events lasting anything from long weekends to two weeks. I continue to push my capacity for exploring music I know nothing about and love bringing together unusual combinations whenever possible.
There are too many highlights in my career to mention. Yes, it was a thrill to perform at the Last Night of the Proms to millions around the world, but equally a massive thrill to have lit up twenty small faces in an inner-city school while they jumped up and down to energetic piano music! Working with young musicians is something I feel passionate about and presently teach at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. I have also had some truly exciting music written for me and enjoyed a particularly close collaboration with composer Graham Fitkin. What an unbelievable privilege it is to be immersed in a language which has no boundaries and has allowed me to share musical stories on a global scale; that little upright piano set me on quite a path! Talking of paths – I have also been found trekking in Nepal, Costa Rica, Bhutan or walking my spaniel Archie on the Yorkshire Moors. The journey continues.
Katy Jones, Brass
Katy Jones has been Principal Trombone of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester since 2012, and was previously Co-Principal Trombone with the London Symphony Orchestra. Aswell as having performed in concert halls across the world, she can be heard on numerous soundtracks, including Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and the Harry Potter series. As a young student she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Brass Prize, Bronze in the Shell/LSO competition and the Don Lusher Prize in the BBC Big Band Competition. She was also a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, and continues to be a member of Fine Arts Brass, as well as a guest principal with many of the UK orchestras.
Katy has been a tutor at the Grafenegg Academy, and is on the faculty of the OAcademy, where she works with students across the world online. In the UK she works regularly as a coach for the National Youth Orchestra, and is Senior Tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. As a soloist she has appeared at many international brass festivals, such as the Arctic Trombone Festival, Dublin Brass Week, and International Trombone Festival. With the Hallé she has given a world première of the concerto ‘The Madonna of Silence’ by John Casken, which was also heard on BBC Radio 3.
Katy has a Masters Degree in Pharmacy, and has maintained an active interest in health education and injury prevention throughout her career. Continually pursuing her extensive research into breathing physiology, she is qualified to teach the Buteyko Method, and has presented lectures and workshops for many students and professionals on the topics of breathing and the nervous system.
Amina Hussain: Woodwind
Amina Hussain is Principal Flute of Manchester Camerata, and has freelanced as an orchestral flute player since leaving the RNCM in 1998. She has worked with many major orchestras across the UK and abroad, playing BBC Proms concerts, festivals such as Glastonbury and Isle of Wight Festival, and numerous orchestral recordings and live broadcasts for radio and television, in both classical and pop.
Alongside her career as a stage performer, Amina is a registered music therapist specialising in dementia, older adult mental health and adult learning disability. This has put her in a unique position of being a music therapist resident within an orchestra, and allows for her roles as a performer, community musician and music therapist to inform and develop the role of the orchestra within it’s own local community. Amina also advocates for her work through media channels, having appeared on BBC Breakfast and radio stations numerous times and won an ABO award in 2024 for contributions to arts and health.
Amina is also Co-Director of String of Hearts CIC, which is passionate about connecting isolated older adults through music-making. Face to face sessions, online groups and a Telephone Music Hotline for those who are digitally excluded or housebound, take place in the local communities of Trafford, Wythenshawe and Manchester, also winning a Manchester Culture Award in 2024 for our innovative approaches to serving the community.
