Young Musician 2023-24

The Rotary Club of Dundee held its annual Young Musician competition on the 8th and 9th of November. Nineteen pupils from six secondary schools across the city took part in the Young Instrumentalist and Young Vocalist competitions held at Morgan Academy.

Hosted by Rotarian and Morgan head teacher, Johnny Lothian, pupils were marked on performances by adjudicators Chris Bragg and Claire Innes-Hopkins, Director of Chapel Music at the University of St Andrews, who assessed melodic accuracy/intonation, rhythmic accuracy, tempo and flow, mood and character, tone, and dynamics.

The winner of the Young Instrumentalist competition was 12-year-old Haolin Yin, from High School of Dundee who played Bach Concerto in A minor first movement, and Czardas by Vittorio Monti on Violin.

Runners up were Emily Hough, also High School of Dundee, who played The Duthart Fanfare by Alex Duthart on the snare drum, and Hamish Singer, from St Paul’s RC Academy, who played The spirit of radio by Rush, and Hanuman by Rodrigo y Gabriela on acoustic and electric guitars.

In the Young Vocalist competition, Cameron Brown from High School of Dundee took the top spot with his renditions of Take me to church by Andrew Hozier-Byrne, Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, and Pure Imagination by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley.

Runners up Aisha Alalami, from Grove Academy sang For the first time in forever, from Frozen by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and My House, from Matilda the musical by Tim Minchin, and Beth Rieu-Clarke, from High School of Dundee sang Think of Me by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Still Hurting by Jason Robert Brown, and I dreamed a dream by Claude-Michel Schönberg.

All six pupils will now go forward to Rotary District 1010 competitions to compete against others from across the north-east of Scotland.

Chair of the Youth Committee for the Rotary Club of Dundee, Lise Hudson, said, “This year we were focused on increasing participation from young musicians from across the city. The Rotary Young Musician Competition, provides an opportunity for young people to showcase their musical talents, build their confidence and experience the joy of sharing their music with others. We were delighted the response and the standard of the music making across two wonderful evenings..”

Club president Wendy Maltman presented the winner’s trophies and participation certificates to all of the performers. She said, “We’re delighted to run the Young Instrumentalist and Young Vocalist competitions providing these talented youngsters with a platform to share their musical talents and receive recognition for the many hours of dedicated practice required to hone their skills. We look forward to supporting Haolin, Emily, Hamish, Cameron, Aisha and Beth in the next round of the competition.”