Past Winners

2010 finalists and adjudicators

The competition has taken place annually since 1983. 

Winners have represented the full spectrum of musical instruments and the following list shows the distribution:

• Alto Recorder (1) 
• 'Cello (3)
• Clarinet (3)
• Flute (1)         
• French Horn (2) 
• Guitar (1)         
• Harp (1)           
• Piano (7)          
• Saxophone (1)
• Violin (9)

Many finalists have won places at the major music colleges in the UK and even overseas. Some pursue careers in music, either in teaching or performing in chamber groups and orchestras.    
 
The 2010 competition had 51 entrants, a record for this event.  Eight passed through the preliminary rounds and appeared in the final which was won by Charlotte Barbour-Condini playing alto recorder. 

In 2011 we had rather fewer competitors but the standard was not impaired. The competition was won by Katy Smith playing the violin.

The field was very diverse and instruments played at the finals included Violin (2), Alto Recorder, Piano, Trumpet, Clarinet, Harp and 'Cello.

Past Winners


2011 - Katy Smith (Violin)
2010 - Charlotte Barbour-Condini (Alto Recorder)
2009 - Katie Kwong (Violin)
2008 - Joo Yeon Sir ((Violin)
2007 - Savitri Grier (Violin)
2006 - Alexander Ullman (Piano)
2005 - Ori Epstein (Cello)
2004 - Ashley Fripp (Piano)
2003 - Saira Clegg (Saxophone)
2002 - Tim Thorpe (French Horn)
2001 - Soojin Han (Violin)
2000 - Anna Beryl (Cello)
1999 - Kodo Osada (Piano)
1998 - Jennifer Campbell (Harp)
1997 - Anthony Sabberton (violin)
1996 - Michael Davidson (Piano)
1995 - Natalee Tomkins (Clarinet)
1994 - KonstantinArdakov (Piano)
1993- Susan Wallace (Clarinet)
1992 - Howard Jacobs (Clarinet)
1991 - Anthony Phillips (Guitar)
1990 - Nicola Baxter (Cello)
1989 - Simon Jordan  (Violin)
1988 - Jane Nossek (Violin)
1987 - Natalie Box (Violin)
1986 - David Pyatt (French Horn)
1985 - Sarah Oliver (Piano)
1984 - Nicholas Oliver (Piano)
1983 - Catharine Russell (Flute)



2005 - Alexander Ullman (piano)

Alexander was born in England in 1991 and began formal piano lessons at the age of six.  In 2002, he joined the Purcell School of Music with the Music & Dance scheme scholarship where he studied with the Head of Keyboard, William Fong.

Alexander has played in concert halls throughout the UK, including Steinway Hall and the Sage Theatre in Gateshead. He has performed Harrison's Clocks at the Wigmore Hall with Harrison Birtwistle, the composer, in attendance. Alexander has taken part in the Scarlatti Marathon at the Royal Northern College of Music and performed at Clarence House in the presence of the Prince of Wales. He has also received master classes from eminent pianists such as Gary Graffmann, Artur Pizarro, Alessio Bax, Yonty Solomon, Marios Papadopoulos, Mark Ray and Alexis Golovin.

Alexander was the winner of the South East of England regional final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2005 and was awarded the Hans Romney prize at the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Piano Competition a year later. He has also won the Christopher Duke Piano Recital Competition.

2001 - Soojin Han (violin)

Soojin was born in Korea and moved to the UK at the age of two. She began the violin aged eight and entered the Yehudi Menuhin School before moving to the Purcell School to study with Dr Felix Andrievsky. She then took lessons with Sakhar Bron in 2004. Having had close guidance from Kyung Wha Chung in her musical development, she went on to read music at Oriel College, Oxford.

Soojin has performed as a soloist with numerous orchestras, such as the London Symphony, Poznan Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, Korean Symphony, London Soloists Chamber Orchestra, L'Ensemble Ricercata de Paris, and has given numerous recitals throughout the UK and Europe, including such venues as the Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Barbican Hall, Royal Opera House Linbury Studio, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John's Smith Square (London), Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Witold Lutoslawski Hall, Adam Mickiewicz Auditorium (Poland) and Bunkamura Orchard Hall (Tokyo). She has broadcast on Polish, Dutch and Korean radio.

Soojin won second prize as the youngest competitor (and the youngest ever top prize winner) at the Wieniawski International Violin Competition 2001 in Poznan, Poland, where she was also awarded seven other special prizes including the Critics & Journalists Prize and the Polish Radio Award. She also won first prize in the Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition 2002, and also at the Bayreuth International Music Competition.

Other awards include the LSO Scholarship Competition 2002, the Musicians Benevolent Fund's Manoug Parikian Prize 2001, Royal Philharmonic Society's Emily Anderson Award 2002, Martin Music Scholarships, and Hattori Foundation Scholarships. Her love of chamber music has taken her to participate in Open Chamber Music at IMS Prussia Cove, Cornnwall. Further engagements include recitals in Germany, at the Wigmore Hall, Chichester Festival, Norfolk Festival and concerto appearances in Korea and Japan with the Tokyo Philharmonic and Maestro Myung Whun Chung.

1997 - Anthony Sabberton (violin)

Anthony began to play the violin aged just 2 and gave his first public performance aged 4. Since the age of 10, he has studied at the Royal Academy of Music with numerous trust awards and scholarships aiding his stuides with Ita Herbert.

At the age of 18, Anthony won a full scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in the class of Maurice Hasson. He graduated in 2005 with a First Class Honours degree in music. With the the generous support of the MBF, the Laurin & Arthur Glaze Trust Award, the Clarence Myerscough Trust Award, the Emily English Award and the Sir Elton John Award, he continued his studies as a post-graduate at the Royal Academy of Music as a student of Maurice Hasson.

In 2004, Anthony came to prominence as a prizewinner in the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition where he won the Chamber Music prize. In 2005, he was a semi-finalist in the China International Violin Competition in Qingdao which resulted in an invitation from Hu Kun to perform Saint-Saens' 3rd violin concerto in Xiamen, China.

Anthony has performed in many of Europe's most pretigious concert halls including London's Royal Festival Hall Queen Elizabeth Hall, Barbican, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Wigmore Hall and in Zurich's Tonhalle where he recorded for the CPO label as leader of the London Steve Reich Ensemble. He is also violinist in the award-winning Cappa Quartet with whom he performs regularly throughout the UK. Anthony is very grateful for the loan of a 1692 Guarneri violin from the Royal Academy of Music.

1992 - Howard Jacobs (clarinet)

Since training at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, Howard went on to study in Cuba with Conjunto de Clave y Guaguanco, Oba Werimele, Los Componedores de Batea, Afro-Cuba de Matanzas, Ire Otonawa, Iros Obba, Yoruba Andabo and others.

He is co-director of Orquesta Timbala, the formidable 30-piece Mozambique big band, for which he arranges and composes. He also plays percussion/clarinet/saxophone for experimental bands such as Homelife, Toolshed and RSL.

Howard has also played with the BBC Philharmonic and contemporary ensembles, including Chinook Clarinet Quartet and Cornelius Cardew Ensemble, and has toured with Forkbeard Fantasy Theatre Company with 'The Lotus Pedals', playing an array of instruments, from bass saxophone to waterphone.

1990 - Nicola Baxter ('cello)

Nicola was born in 1971. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Lionel Handy, winning prizes for both solo 'cello and chamber music. She graduated with First Class Honours and a postgraduate scholarship to study with Johannes Goritzki in Germany. Under a Martin Musical Trust scholarship she studied under Arto Noras in Vienna and William Pleeth in London.

In 1995, Nicola made her first broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as part of the Young Artists' Forum series. She joined Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now! scheme, giving recitals throughout the country. In 1995, she became an associate member of th Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields.

Nicola was a member of the Boccherini String Trio until 2000. In 1999, she won second prize in the International Beethoven Society's 'cello/piano duo prize. She has performed in masterclasses at Prussia Cove and the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh.

From 2001-2005, she was 'cellist of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, with whom she regularly performed in Europe, North America and South Africa, performing at concerts and giving masterclasses at several universities and festivals.

Nicola's solo repertoire includes many of the major 'cello concertos, which she has performed in the UK and the USA. She has performed all of the six solo suites by Bach in festivals in Scotland, England and Germany and given solo performances in Switzerland and the USA. She has played the Brahms double and Shostakovich's first concerto in London.

As a teacher, Nicola has taught at Hendon Music School (1997-1999), Caldicott Preparatory School in Buckinghamshire (2000-2002) and she teaches privately at her home in North London. She occasionally teaches at the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and has given ad hoc solo and chamber music coaching at universities in the UK and overseas.

Orchestrally, Nicola has worked with many London orchestras, including the Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish SO as well as the Camerata Roman in Sweden. She works regularly with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields chamber orchestra, City of London Sinfonia and the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square.

1988 - Jane Nossek (violin)

Jane was born in Harrow and began learning the violin with Marta Eitler. Her studies continued with Jaroslav Vanecek at the Junior Department at the Royal College of Music.

Jane entered RNCM, Manchester, in 1998, where she studied with Lydia Mordkovich and Maciej Rakowski. Whilst at the RNCM, Jane won many prizes and scholarships and founded the Nossek Quartet. Whith considerable support from patrons and musical trusts, the quartet enjoyed a 10-year lifespan, which took in international tours, media appearances and recitals at Wigmore Hall and Buckingham Palace.

As a freelance violinist, Jane played for the d'Art Lyrique in Aix-en-Provence, worked regularly with Remix Ensemble in Porto and played with many of the UK's orchestras. In 2001, she took up the position of Principal Second in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. After their marriage in 2005, Jane moved from Glasgow to Gateshead to join her husband Gabriel Waite in the Northern Sinfonia.

1984 - Nicholas Oliver (piano)

Nicholas won the Young Pianist of the Year Award in 1984 and second prize at the 1991 Dudley International Piano Competition, since when he has enjoyed a successful and varied performing career.

He is particularly active in the field of chamber music and is a member of several different ensembles. Nicholas has given numerous recitals with instrumentalists and singers for music societies and festivals throughout the UK. He appeared several times at London's South Bank Centre and at most of Britain's major concert halls. A performance of the Elgar Sonata for violin and piano in a Purcell Room recital was acclaimed in 'Strad' magazine for its 'whimsical playing, powerful, serene and grand with immaculate ensemble and balance'.

With 'cellist Richard May, Nicholas was a prize-winner in the inaugral EMI Jacqueline Du Pre competition for 'cello and piano duos. Following one of their many recitals, a critic for The Times wrote of the Shostakovich Sonata, 'simply one of the most gripping performances I have heard'.

Nicholas has undertaken concert tours in many European countries and has also performed in the Americas, Australia, Africa and Asia. He broadcasts frequently on radio and has released several recordings.