BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition winners announced

Published: 24 June 2016

Six budding young composers win a BBC Proms performance, a broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and a coveted BBC commission
Young Composers aged 12 - 18 are invited to free BBC Proms Inspire Sessions with leading composers and musicians Jules Buckley, Hannah Kendall and the Multi-Story Orchestra

The Competition is the culmination of the BBC Proms’ annual scheme which gives the nation’s brightest young composers aged 12 - 18 years old the opportunity to explore their musical boundaries and get a taste of what it means to be a composer in the 21st century.

For the past 18 years the BBC Proms Inspire scheme has offered a platform to young musicians across the UK to develop their skills, share their ideas with like-minded composers and get their music heard. This year, the scheme has also expanded, offering composers of the future new opportunities and events year-round to encourage and support them.

At the heart of the Inspire scheme is its competition for young composers aged 12 – 18 which offers its winners the unrivalled opportunity to have their composition performed by professional musicians at the BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical music festival, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, as well as a coveted BBC commission. Previous BBC Proms Inspire winners include established composers Tansy Davies, Mark Simpson, and Tom Harrold whose new work Raze will be given its world premiere at the Last Night of the Proms on Saturday 10 September.

The 2016 judging panel comprised of composers Anna Meredith, Joe Cutler, Fraser Trainer, Jonathan Dove, Judith Weir CBE, Kerry Andrew and BBC Proms Director David Pickard, who looked for pieces that were original, unique, and inspiring.

The winners of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition 2016, announced today on BBC Radio 3’s drive time programme In Tune, are:

LOWER JUNIOR CATEGORY (12-14 years):
Shoshanah Sievers – Les Nuances de la Lumière (Shades of Light)
Jack Robinson – Hound Hunter

UPPER JUNIOR CATEGORY (15-16 years):
Sam Rudd-Jones – ANGRY
Morgan Edward Overton – Two Boys

SENIOR CATEGORY (17-18 years):
Alex Jones – Sensim Mutationem
James (Ka Wai) Chan - Litany

The nine Highly Commended entrants are:

LOWER JUNIOR CATEGORY (12-14 years):
William Kidner – The Crazed Mind
Lilly Vadaneaux – Nocturne No. 4
Lizzy Gur – Wolves of the Sky

UPPER JUNIOR CATEGORY (15-16 years):
Peter He – 146 BC
Miles Lavelle Golding – Urban
Theodore Karpinski – Unknown Landscapes

SENIOR CATEGORY (17-18 years):
Ellis Howarth – Light, Refraction, Spectrum
Max Jake Bilbe – Little Piece
Sarah Frances Jenkins – Noah's Zoo

The winning pieces will be performed by the Aurora Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Collon, at the BBC Radio Theatre at New Broadcasting House on Monday 15 August and recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

There are more opportunities for 12-18 year olds to be inspired during the 2016 Proms season.

Booking is open for BBC Proms Inspire Sessions throughout the Proms festival. Free workshops with leading composers and industry professionals, the series begins with composer Hannah Kendall picking apart new music from one of today's most exciting composers, Helen Grime, and offering participants to create their own collaborative musical response with a team of professional musicians (6 August).

Composer, orchestrator and conductor Jules Buckley (known for his Proms collaborations with the likes of Pete Tong, Laura Mvula and this year Quincy Jones) and a band of professional musicians will lead a workshop on arranging music (24 August) and there will also be the opportunity to spend an afternoon creating music with members of the Multi-Story Orchestra: the resident orchestra at Bold Tendencies multistorey car park in Peckham, delving into the minimalist music of Steve Reich, exploring the venue's 'concrete jungle', and coming up with site-specific ideas which will be pieced together into a performance at the end of the workshop (27 August). Participants will be offered free tickets to selected Proms which feature the artists and music featured in the workshops.

For more information and to sign up to BBC Proms Inspire Sessions please see BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers’ Competition