Trumpets, Trombones, and Triumphs! First Round of Young Musician Contest Hits a High Note

On Tuesday evening, 4 November, the air was buzzing with excitement as the first round of the Cowbridge Rotary Young Musician (Instrumentalist) competition got underway. The Main Hall was filled with the beautiful sounds of the Trumpet, Viola, Piano, and Trombone, showcasing the incredible skill of our young musicians.

The evening kicked off with a brilliant burst of brass from Archie Edwards (Trumpet), who performed the lively Kim (Allan Street) and the soothing Peace Like a River (Stephen Bulla).

Then the piano took centre stage!

• James Freeman charmed the audience with a trio of pieces: Solseggietto (Bach), The Watermill (Esther Kahn), and the fun Pop Corn (Akira Yuyama).
• Next up, James Miles impressed with Scherzo (Beethoven), Adagietto Pianissimo (Alberto Ginastera), and Lowside Blues (Joanna MacGregor).
• The piano pieces continued with Poppy Lewis, who tackled Lowside Blues (Joanna MacGregor), followed by Le Coucou (Louis-Claude Daquin) and the beautiful Nocturne (Chopin).

We then swung back to the brass section with Samuel Humphreys on Trombone, delivering a smooth performance of Romance (Carl Maria von Webber) and the high-energy movements IV and V of the Whigham Suite.

The talent kept flowing with Osian Bowen, who earned the title of Runner-up for the evening. His accomplished performance on the piano included the powerful Pathetique (1st) and Sonata No.8 in C minor (Beethoven), and the dramatic Prelude in Eb Opus 23 No. 6 (Rachmaninoff).

A change of pace brought the strings to the forefront as Ffion Pavey performed on the Viola. Her set featured the melodic Adagio (Zoltan Kodaly), Fantasie No. 9 mvt 1 (Telemann), and the cheerful Christmas Dance (R Vaughan Williams).

The final performance of the night belonged to our overall winner, Gethin Budden! Gethin captivated the judges and audience with his masterful piano performance of La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin (Debussy) and the stirring Pathetique Sonata, 3rd mvt (Beethoven).

A massive congratulations to Gethin, Osian, and every single student who took part—you were all amazing!

Of course, the event would not have been possible without the support of our Rotarian partners; the wonderful accompanists; and, our guest adjudicators: David Miller, Lenny Sayers, and Caryl Thomas. Many thanks to all!