Rotary Young Musician Concert St Edwards Church Hall Knighton

We were proud to welcome three talented students from Bedstone College to compete in the first round of Rotary's Young Musician competition, held in the form of a concert at St Edwards Church Hall in Knighton. Unfortunately two students could not compete due to ill health but the three remaining competitors gave high quality and polished performances, which impressed both the audience and the judges Roger Brown and Graham Tew. The afternoon started with 10 year old pianist Lydia Shen giving an exciting performance of a Schubert impromptu followed by a moving rendition of Gershwin's "September in the Rain" all without music. Then followed singer Amy Watkins with delightful performances of "The Silver Swan" ( Orlando Gibbons and "Where'er you walk" ( Handel ). The final contestant was Annika Kindermann with her confident rendition of two German songs "Hirschlein ging im Wald spaazieren" ( Peter Cornelius ) and "Deine blaues Auge" ( Brahms). After a cup of tea Annika and Amy did two impromptu duets which were very enjoyable. The judges then gave their verdicts in a very encouraging and constructive way which was much appreciated by the competitors. The winner of the instrumental section was Lydia Shen who, though the only competitor in this section, was deemed suitable to go forward to the next round in Llandrindod Wells in February. The winner of the vocal section, after much deliberation by the judges, was Annika Kindermann who will join Lydia in the next round of the competition.         

Many thanks must be given to the judges Roger and Graham, the accompanist Kristina Norton and to the small but very appreciative audience who came out on a miserable afternoon to give support and encouragement to three talented young musicians. We look forward to supporting the winners in the next round of the Rotary Young Musician competition!