Seventeen-year-old pianist wins BBC Young Musician 2014
Seventeen-year-old Martin James Bartlett, from Essex, has been named the winner of BBC Young Musician 2014.
Published: 18 May 2014
It's such an amazing feeling. It's not just the highlight of my musical career, it's the highlight of my life.
The final of BBC Young Musician 2014 took place today at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh. It was broadcast at 7pm on BBC Four, presented by Clemency Burton-Hill, with Alison Balsom, Miloš Karadaglić, and special guest Nicola Benedetti (2014 Ambassador and winner of BBC Young Musician in 2004). It was also broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 7.30pm, presented by Jamie MacDougall and including commentary from Nicholas Daniel (winner of BBC Young Musician in 1980).
The three finalists performed with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kirill Karabits in front of a live audience and were judged by a panel of world-renowned musicians: composer James MacMillan, conductor Alice Farnham, pianist Alice Sara Ott, percussionist Colin Currie and recorder-player Michala Petri.
Martin James Bartlett performed Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Seventeen-year-old Martin began learning the piano at the age of six. Since the age of eight he has studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Emily Jeffrey, with whom he has also been learning at the Purcell School after becoming a student there in 2010. Martin also studies the bassoon and the recorder and by the age of 12 had achieved Grade 8 Distinction on all three instruments. Martin is currently studying for A levels in Music and Physics and has been awarded full scholarships to three London conservatoires. He regularly performs solo recitals and is passionate about researching piano music repertoire and listening to different interpretations of works. Please see the Notes to Editors for a full biography.
Martin said: "It's such an amazing feeling. It's not just the highlight of my musical career, it's the highlight of my life."
The 2014 BBC Young Musician Finalists were: pianist Martin James Bartlett (17), percussionist Elliott Gaston-Ross (15) and recorder-player Sophie Westbrooke (15).
BBC Young Musician is the UK’s leading contest for young classical musicians and, since its first outing in 1978, has established an enviable reputation for finding outstanding new talent. Fifteen-year-old cellist Laura van der Heijden was awarded the title BBC Young Musician 2012 to take her place alongside a star-studded list of former winners and finalists that includes Thomas Adès, Alison Balsom, Thomas Carroll, Natalie Clein, Michael Collins, Nicholas Daniel, Benjamin Grosvenor, Stephen Hough, Emma Johnson, Guy Johnston, Freddy Kempf, Leon McCawley, Lucy Parham, Jennifer Pike, Tom Poster, David Pyatt and Paul Watkins.
For the first time this year, BBC Young Musician announced an ambassadorial role for Nicola Benedetti, former winner and internationally acclaimed violinist. 2014 is the 10th anniversary of Nicola’s win, and for the 2014 final, BBC Young Musician returns to the scene of her triumph, Usher Hall in Edinburgh.
BBC Young Musician has also added a new Jazz Award in 2014. Running alongside the established classical music format, the first ever BBC Young Musician Jazz Award Final will be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday 23 May. Visit bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01sgf5x for exclusive content featuring Soweto Kinch and the Jazz Finalists.
BBC Young Musician is Managed and Produced by BBC Cymru Wales. BBC Scotland is delighted to be a key partner in bringing the BBC Young Musician Final to Edinburgh as part of the Commonwealth Games Cultural and Event Programme in this very special year.
For more information on BBC Young Musician 2014 visit bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/young-musician-2014
Twitter: @BBCYM2014
Facebook: BBC Young Musician
Notes to Editors
Martin James Bartlett (17)
Martin James Bartlett began learning the piano at the age of six. Since the age of eight, Martin has studied at the Royal College of Music Junior Department with Emily Jeffrey, with whom he has also been learning at the Purcell School after becoming a student there in 2010. Additionally, Martin has been studying the bassoon and the recorder, and by the time Martin was 12 years old, he had achieved Grade 8 Distinction on all three instruments.
Martin has performed in many competitions and festivals, where he has enjoyed considerable success. For several years running he has been a prizewinner in the Jaques Samuel Intercollegiate Piano Competition, which has resulted in a series of Wigmore Hall solo performances. At the age of 13, Martin won the Purcell School’s Middle School Concerto Competition, performing Mozart’s D minor Concerto K.466 with the Purcell Sinfonia. More recently, he has performed Mozart’s C minor Piano Concerto K.491 with the Vanbrugh Ensemble and, just this past Saturday, also with Watford Symphony Orchestra.
During his time at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, Martin has won the Teresa Carrno Competition, the Gordon Turner Competition, the Angela Bull Competition and the Peter Morrison Concerto Prize. He has also won prizes in the Freddy Morgan Competition and the Wigmore Hall Competition (both solo and chamber) at the Purcell School. Following his success in these competitions, Martin has performed solo recitals in the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall (Elgar Room), Steinway Hall, Bolivar Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Moscow Multi-Media Arts Hall and Novi Sad Town Hall. He has also been delighted to receive masterclasses from Lang Lang, Stephen Kovacevich, Mikhail Petukhov, Kathryn Stott, Aaron Shorr and Alberto Portugheis.
Further concerto engagements in 2014 include performances of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Windsor and Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra this summer, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra later this month.
Martin is extremely grateful to have been granted a Tsukanov Scholarship in 2012, which has since supported all his studies at the Royal College of Music. In December 2013, he achieve the award of three full scholarships to study at three major London Conservatoires. Martin has chosen to continue his piano studies at the Royal College of Music, where he is thrilled to have been awarded a coveted Foundation Scholarship. For the Final Martin played Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
MC4
