Sussex Young Musician of the Year is crowned

Sponsored by Traditional Oak and Timber Company Tradoak, the competition gave young musicians the chance to receive cash grants to help support their music studies.

This year the highest number of entries to date were received, which were judged by a panel of industry experts including Olivier Award-winning conductor Mark Wigglesworth, broadcaster Katie Derham and composer Jonathan Dove.

It was Toril’s percussion talents that won the judges over and he was awarded the first prize of £1,000 to help him with his undergraduate studies at the Royal College of Music.

Toril said: “I feel both humbled and valued as a performer. I heard all the other candidates’ performances and thought they were amazing. This is going to help me so much with my future studies in London.”

26-year-old Helen Lacey (soprano) from Wadhurst was then selected as the runner-up receiving £500 to help with her setting up an arts company promoting art-song, poetry and story while she is studying at the Royal Academy of Music.

23-year-old Eliette Harris (violin) from Brighton, 24 year-old Georgia Mae-Ellis (mezzo soprano) from Laughton and 18-year-old James Andrews (organ, piano) from Brighton were named as finalists and each received £250 to help towards their music studies.

Catherine Kent, chairman of Coro Nuovo, said: “Huge congratulations to Toril on winning this year’s competition, and to Helen, Eliette, Georgia and James for their achievements. We were absolutely astounded by the volume of entries to this year’s competition and the quality of the audition performances.

“We launched this competition five years ago as we became increasingly aware that embarking on a professional music career does not come easy—especially with mainstream schools scaling back on the arts and the ever-rising cost of tuition, exams, and instruments. I really hope these bursaries help out and I look forward to following these young musicians’ careers.”

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