YMY Competitors

Sevenoaks Young Musician of the Year

2024 - Young Musician of The Year Competitors

ASHLEY SOLANO (age 21)

Piano

Ashley, from Orpington, Kent, is an outstanding and talented young pianist who plays with character, energy and bounce. His repertoire includes works from the traditional classical repertoire, Latin American art music as well as his own compositions. He has performed in venues across the UK, including Southbank Centre (with the Arts Trains Ensemble), Wigmore Hall (with his piano trio as part of Trinity Laban’s chamber festival), All Saints Church in Orpington and St. George’s Church Beckenham. Ashley studies piano with Penelope Roskell and composition with Gwyn Pritchard at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, where he was awarded the Trinity College Scholarship. He has participated in masterclasses with several renowned musicians and has been a first prize winner at various festivals: Maria João Pires Scholarship at BYMT, Beckenham, Bromley, Dulwich and Maidstone Festivals and Kent International piano course (KIPC) and Dulwich Music Festival.

LIN DENG (age 21)

Piano

Lin comes from Hebel, China. She nurtured her passion for music from age four and started playing piano, earning accolades in various competitions. One of her achievements was attaining the ‘Gold’ place at The England International Arts Festival (Cardiff) for Piano Solo in 2017. After completing her studies at the Affiliated High School of China Conservatoire of Music with a degree in composition, Lin Deng aspires to make further progress on piano. Presently she is a third year undergraduate student at the Royal College of Music in London, where she is majoring in Piano. Lin is passionate about appreciating animation soundtracks, especially the series of Hayao Miyazaki’s animations performed by Joe Hisaishi. She is also a lover of cooking who is always ready for adventures with new ingredients, inspirations and recipes.

JEMIMAH QUICK (age 19)

Viola

Jemimah is from Haywards Heath, West Sussex and has attended the Yehudi Menuhin School since 2020, studying under Elliott Perks and Boris Kucharsky. She is hoping to continue her studies at the RCM next year. She began playing viola at the age of seven and was accepted soon after into the Junior Guildhall, before joining Chetham’s School of Music in 2018. As a soloist, she has performed with the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra across the UK and in the Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland and will perform with the Farnham Sinfonia in March of this year. Passionate about chamber music, Jemimah has recently performed alongside artists such as the Sitkovetsky Trio, the Brodsky Quartet and Maxim Rysanov. Outside of music and school, she most enjoys spending time walking and exploring around Ashdown Forest.

TRACY ZHAO (age 13)

Violin

Tracy is a 13-year old violinist from Melbourne, Australia. She began her musical journey at five, and has been studying with Peter Wang (AU) since age seven. In 2022 Tracy was awarded a place at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she studied with the renowned violinist Sebastian Müller. Prior to this, she had attended masterclasses and studied with several acclaimed musicians, including Mark Mogilevski (AU), Robin Wilson (AU), and Joel Smirnoff (USA). In 2021 Tracy won the Sydney Eisteddfod Violin Section (11 years) and in 2020 she achieved First Place and Judges Distinction Award at the American Protégé International Piano & Strings Competition. Tracy won the Crowd Favourite Performance award at the 2020 Sydney Eisteddfod. She has also been recognized on the international stage, receiving the Brilliant Talent Discovery Award at the 5th Singapore International Music Competition.

MARIIA SAAKIAN (age 21)

Piano

Mariia was born in 2002 and grew up in Moscow. She started playing the piano at the age of five with Prof. Karina Ayvazova, who laid a solid foundation for her playing. After a while she began participating in a variety of concerts and festivals, and is a laureate of international competitions. She has performed with a great diversity of orchestras and participated in programmes of the International Charitable Foundation of Vladimir Spivakov; she is also a winner of the Boris Berezovsky scholarship. In 2016 she entered the Gnessin Moscow Special Music School (College) in the class of Prof. Elena Plyashkevich, where she studied for five years. After graduation in 2021 she entered the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in the class of Prof. Yury Bogdanov. In December 2021 Mariia received a full scholarship for studying with her current teacher Tatiana Sarkissova in the Royal Academy of music. Mariia has great experience of concerts, participating in competitions and festivals in Russia, Italy, Armenia, Germany, Spain, France, where she received many prizes.

DANIEL NOWROUZI (age 14)

Piano

Daniel (born in London), started to play the piano at the age of five with Prof. Matej Lehocky, and won a number of piano competitions for children in the UK. Since 2021 he has been taught by Martin Cousin, ARCM(Performing), BMusRCM (Hons)1st Class, DipRCM (Teaching), DipRCM (PG). At age 11 Daniel won the Bach Open Challenge and became Junior Musician of the Year at the Woking Music Festival, UK. He passed Grade 8 ABRSM Performance Violin exam with Distinction in July 2022. Later in the year, he was the leader of a 72-strong SLYO3 Orchestra, South London Youth Orchestra, UK. In August 2022 Daniel was awarded Distinction (49/50) for his Piano ARSM diploma. In January 2023 he won a music scholarship to Westminster School, where he continued education from September 2023, playing both piano and violin.

JOE NEZU (age 13)

Violin

Young violinist Joe Nezu fell in love with his instrument when he was three years old and started having lessons with Claudio Forcada at the age of five. Born in London to Japanese parents, he was raised listening to various genre of music. Joe found that classical music is his passion at a very young age and has started to think he wants to touch the heart of people with his music. He played with an orchestra as a soloist for the first time when he was nine years old, winning a competition adjudicated by Simon Fischer. Joe was awarded a place at The Yehudi Menuhin School when he was 11 years old and is currently studying his instrument with Sebastian Müller. He also loves to play chess and tennis with his friends.

NIKOLAI IAUSHEV (age 21)

Clarinet

Nikolai was born in Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, in September 2002 and has a wealth of performing experience as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. In 2020 he entered Guildhall and then in 2022 the Royal Academy where he is still studying. He has been tutored by clarinet masters such as Michael Collins, Christopher Richards, Andrew Marriner and Ben Mellefont. Nikolai has played in numerous orchestral ensembles including the Academy and Guildhall Symphony Orchestras and the Manson ensemble. Keen to develop other skills in different areas, Nikolai enjoys conducting, composing and innovative contemporary performance. To that end, he has founded Innorchestra, an ensemble which specialises in commissioning and performing contemporary music. Nikolai has been awarded several scholarships including the Hill Foundation, which covers the entire tuition fee for his studies at the Academy. In his free time he enjoys playing chess, languages, cycling and running.

YUXIN PU (age 20)

Piano

Yuxin Pu is a pianist from China. She began learning the piano at the age of six with Yu Bai, Nikolay Sergeyevich and Qian Shu. She currently studies piano performance with Jeremy Young at the Royal Northern College of Music. Yuxin has performed in a number of concerts to much critical acclaim. She has also participated in several competitions and is the recipient of the Schumann Cup in China, the national piano competition Star-Sea cup Excellence Award as well as other notable awards. In 2022 she won the Shirley Cattarall Piano Award and the EPTA piano competition in 2023. Prior to commencing her studies at the RNCM, Yuxin performed as accompanist in University choral competitions. To promote a wider understanding of Classical music, she took part in public welfare activities organized by Dalian city and gave three public lectures on the subject which were very well received.

NATHAN PERRY (age 20)

Double Bass

Nathan grew up in Surrey where he attended the Yehudi Menuhin School for 10 years, studying with Caroline Emery. Continuing his studies with Caroline, he is now in his first year of study at the RCM, supported by an ABRSM Scholarship. Recent awards include 3rd prize at the International Society of Bassists Under 30s Solo Competition 2023, String Category Winner of Gregynog Young Musician of the Year 2022, and Finalist of the Haslemere International String Competition 2023 . Nathan has performed as a soloist with the Dorking Chamber Orchestra and Menuhin School Orchestra, and made solo appearances in the Lichfield Festival, North Norfolk Music Festival, and Kings Place, London. When not practising or socialising with friends, you can usually find him either honing his table tennis skills, or in the kitchen attempting to avoid burning down the student accommodation while making his dinner.

JAYDA LU (age 12)

Violin

Jayda was born in China and embarked on her musical journey at the age of four and a half. In 2019 she took a significant leap, leaving her hometown of Sydney and now lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she studies under the guidance of Professor Robin Wilson. More recently she undertook another bold step, moving to England to continue her studies with Professor Wilson at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Jayda’s deep passion for music has translated into remarkable accomplishments in both national and international music festivals and competitions, including prizes in the Melbourne International Piano and Strings Festival 2021, the 2022 Nomea Competition, the Shuhai International Mozart Competition 2022 and the Il Piccolo Violino Magico 2023. Her hobbies are swimming, reading and paddleboarding.

BOBBIE CHEN (age 12)

Viola/Violin

Bobbie, 12 years old, was born in Birmingham. She is in her second year at the Yehudi Menuhin School, where she is taking violin and viola as joint principal study, learning the violin with Sebastian Müller and viola with Louise Lansdown. She particularly loves playing baroque music and has already performed several Bach Suites, Sonatas and Partitas. She also loves chamber music and orchestral playing, and in 2022 was the leader of the NCO. Bobbie was awarded high distinctions for ABRSM Grade 8 on both violin and viola when she was nine. She has won local competitions and festivals such as Leamington Spa, Dudley, Northfield and Solihull Music Festivals. In her free time Bobbie loves to swim and read. She really wants to be a musician and travel the world!

GORDON CHAN (age 19)

Piano

Gordon is pursuing his undergraduate degree at the RCMusic where he is currently studying with John Byrne. Previously, he studied with Jan Loeffler and Jakob Fichert whilst attending the Junior Royal Birmingham Conservatoire during his gap year. As a keen soloist, Gordon has participated in music competitions and festivals, such as Rickmansworth Young Musician of the Year and the Kent international piano course where he was awarded the recital prize and an opportunity to play at the Steinway Hall in London. He has also performed at the Hong Kong City Hall’s Concert Hall. Furthermore, Gordon is an orchestral pianist for the City of Birmingham Youth Symphony Orchestra where he performed at the Birmingham Symphony Hall in October 2022. In addition, he enjoys playing chamber music, particularly piano trios and violin sonatas.

FIROZE MADON (age 20)

Piano

Firoze, from Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire, is currently a second-year undergraduate student at the RCM in London, studying piano with Professor Dmitri Alexeev, where he is generously supported by the Kendall Taylor Scholarship. Firoze started piano lessons at the age of six and was admitted to the Purcell School for Young Musicians in 2014 where he studied piano with Professor Patsy Toh and also took lessons in violin and composition. His love for music has taken him across the UK and internationally and he has enjoyed a variety of solo and collaborative concert opportunities, including performances at the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, Saffron Hall and Southbank Centre. Firoze was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2022 where his performance was broadcast on BBC Four and Radio 3. A few months later, he won the Gregynog Young Musician Competition in Wales.

ELSHA ZHU (age 13)

Piano

Elsha started to learn piano at five years old. Over the past eight years, she has won numerous International piano competition awards including The Conero International Piano Competiton, The Music and Stars Award, The 2019 Liszt International Youth Piano Competition, The seventh Global Outstanding Youth Pianist Competition, The 2019 Canada International Arts Competition and The 27th Chopin International Youth Piano Competition. From the age of eight Elsha has given an annual piano concert in several cities in China, always containing one piece of Bach, an Etude, three movements of a Sonata, a Romantic piece and a complete three movements of a concerto with a symphony orchestra. In September 2023 she started as a full time student at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK. She is sure that with her determined dedication, she will eventually realize her aspiration to be a great pianist.

Adjudicator

Ruth Gerald

Ruth Gerald was Head of Keyboard Studies at the Royal College of Music in London from 1992 until August 1999, having previously been appointed Faculty Adviser for Keyboard Studies in 1987.

Her career has always pursued a very wide path, solo and lecture recitals, concertos, chamber music, Lieder recitals, accompanying, adjudicating, examining and teaching. She was Head of Keyboard Studies at the Birmingham School of Music (now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) for a period of five years but relinquished this post in order to devote more time to performing, and teaching at the Royal College where she was a Professor of Piano and Piano Accompaniment for over 30 years. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal College in 1985.

Born and educated in Australia, Ruth Gerald began her musical career there, broadcasting regularly with the Australian Broadcasting Commission at a very early age. After winning the Elder Overseas Scholarship and gaining a Bachelor of Music degree at Adelaide University she continued with post-graduate studies at the Royal College where she was awarded many prizes, including the Hopkinson Gold Medal. Recently she has given Masterclasses in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Malta and Greece and conducted many Seminars for piano teachers in the UK, Malaysia and Singapore. She has been frequently invited to adjudicate at Festivals world-wide and is actively involved in many aspects of the work of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

Tim Wells

Tim Wells started learning the cello with William Bruce while a chorister at Westminster Cathedral and continued at the Royal College of Music, Junior Department. He read Music with both choral and instrumental scholarships at Christ Church, Oxford, and later studied at the Royal Academy of Music where he won most of the cello prizes and was subsequently elected an Associate.

Performing engagements have taken him to venues such as the Wigmore Hall, and he enjoys adjudicating at festivals nationwide. He taught cello at Dulwich Prep London for many years and has held Head of Strings posts at Eltham College and Bromley Youth Music Trust. Uniquely, students under his tutelage on their respective instruments have been awarded coveted places in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain on every instrument in the string family. His works - including internationally best-selling repertoire books - have been published in several volumes, and he examines for the ABRSM on both grade and diploma panels.

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