VIOLINIST James Li’s sensational win at the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year finals (on Sunday) was the best birthday present he could have given his dad.
“This has really made my day,” said proud father Raymond, who initiated his son’s musical journey in Hong Kong before the family moved to Cheltenham in 2021.
James’s impressive technique performing Paganini, Kreisler and Bach put him top of the judging panel’s list and won him the Hewitt-Jones Trophy and a cheque for £500 as the county’s new young musician of the year.
But for the audience, it was the youngest finalist, Stepan Ruzencevs, who won their votes. The 16-year-old Cheltenham College pianist’s sense of style playing Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Rachmaninoff, won him a cheque for £200 – sponsored by the Carducci Music Trust.
Hosted for the first time at his school’s Big Classical Hall, the contest had its own 10th birthday to celebrate since Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra took over running the event. This year saw a bumper entry of 19 candidates, which was whittled down to six for the finals.
They included a harpist for the first time – Reuben West from the Cotswold School – as well as oboist Grace Tushingham, from Cheltenham, who is studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, clarinettist Ben Gibson, from Pate’s Grammar School, and viola player Eden Saunders, from Gloucester, who is studying at the Royal Northern College of Music.
Winner James, who is looking forward to a performing career in the UK, is currently studying at the Mozartium University in Salzburg. His prizes include the opportunity to play a recital at Cheltenham Music Festival, as well as two concerto performances with the Gloucestershire Symphony and Youth Orchestras. Stepan will be playing at the Carducci Music Festival in May at Highnam Church.
The prestigious panel of judges, chaired by Gloucestershire Academy of Music’s recent president Professor Derek Aviss OBE, also included top British clarinettist and former BBC Young Musician of the Year Emma Johnson MBE, who will also be performing at the Carducci Festival, and GAM Patron Meurig Bowen, who is Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Britten Sinfonia and a former director of Cheltenham Music Festival.
Professor Aviss praised the high standard of this year’s finalists with its wide 16-22 age range. Emma Johnson announced the winner and presented the trophy along with founder of Gloucestershire Academy of Music, Caroline Lumsden and host Nicola Huggett, Head of Cheltenham College.
