Young Musician (instrumentalist) competition

On the evening of Wednesday 7th November the club and area heats of the Rotary Young Instrumentalist Musician Competition were held in the hall of Cowbridge Comprehensive School. The competition, which was organised by the Rotary Club of Llantwit Major, aims to provide a platform for encouraging the best local young instrumentalists to compete at the highest level. The audience was treated to a very wide ranging programme of music. Olivia Chester, a flautist, played Summer Music by Richard Rodney and Telemann's Sonata 2 in G Major - Allegro. Pianists Warren Ryland, Katie Wynne and Toby Swann all played Beethoven's Rondo from the Pathetique sonata in addition to other pieces. It was fascinating to hear the differences in interpretation and intonation in the 3 renditions of this well-known piece. Clarinettist Joe Stephenson played Rachmaninoff's Vocalise number 14 from his opus 34 and Donizetti's Andante Sostenuto, First Movement from the Concertino in B flat. Niamh Gallagher was awarded third prize for her performance on the violin, playing the Adagio, First Movement from Sonata in G by J. S. Bach and Reverie by Angela Morely. Second prize was awarded to Catrin Howells for her rendition of Weber's Clarinet Concertino and the Clarinet Sonata number 2, Second Movement by Brahms.

The unanimous winner of the competition was Katie Wynne with her second performance of the evening, this time playing her clarinet with 2 very different pieces, the first being Dance Prelude number 1 by Lutoslawski and the second Benny Goodman's Mission to Moscow. The judges commended Katie on her obvious feel for playing jazz, in what was a difficult piece.

The judges Helena Braithwaite, Nic Treharne and Mary Noyes commented on the very high standard achieved by competitors in this year's competition, a theme which was echoed by the President of Llantwit Major Rotary Club, John Clarke.

For the first time there will be another strand to the Young Musician competition, that is Young Vocalist, which will be held on Wednesday 14th November in Cowbridge School. It is certain that this will provide even more evidence of the fabulous musical talent of local youth in the Western Vale.