After the cancellation of 2 major solo events in the Brass Band movement, the BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Soloist of the Year and the British Open Solo Championships, I decided to apply for the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2012 competition. The series itself leans itself towards instruments of an orchestral nature, in fact the instrument was referred to as ‘an unusual instrument’ by presenter Clemency Burton-Hill.

Regional auditions took place around the country, welcoming applications from anyone that wished to give it a try. My first stage took place in mid-October at the MediaCity UK Studios in Salford, Manchester, where I played alongside renowned accompanist John Wilson. I performed my own ‘Rondo from Sonata for Tenor Horn’ and ‘Capricorno’ by Philip Sparke to a panel of 3 top orchestral musicians and was delighted to be invited through to the Category auditions, to be held at the Royal College of Music in London, on a cold, early Friday morning in December!

The category finals accommodate the top 30 entrants from around the UK, across the 5 different musical classes; Keyboard, Brass, Strings, Woodwind and Percussion. Here, each audition is filmed for potential use in the TV series as part of the introduction to each Category Final. I chose to play my own transcription of Alexander Goedicke’s famous virtuoso showpiece, ‘Concert Etude’, followed by the beautiful 2nd movement from Martin Ellerby’s Tenor Horn Concerto and used ‘Capricorno’ once more to finish. This number would be reduced down to 5 to go through to the Brass Category Final to be held in March at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, so I was thrilled, as a representative of both my instrument and the brass band movement as a whole, to be given the opportunity to showcase both to the full on BBC4 television, when I received the email informing me of my success at the London stage.
Before each of the performances on TV, there is a short documentary, giving an insight into the lives of each of the competitors. The BBC cameras followed my life for a few days in February, coming to my house and filming my day-to-day activities such as composing my Concerto for Tenor Horn and Orchestra (the first of its kind) and conducting a training band I helped to form at my first ever band, Thurlstone. The documentary was singled out by Clemency when she appeared on ‘Live with Myleene Klass’ on channel 5 as “one of her favourite moments of the series” when questioned about separating the competition from the ‘elitism’ of the modern classical world. The camera crew also made a visit to a concert with my band, Black Dyke, at ‘The Hawth’ in Crawley, interviewing conductor Nicholas Childs, along with other members of the band.

The date of the final came only 2 days after winning the Yorkshire Regional Championships with Black Dyke, so practise time leading up to the event was somewhat as and when! Having spent the majority of the previous weeks with a lump of metal stuck to my face, I travelled down to Cardiff, once more accompanied by John, to perform against 4 of the top young brass musicians in the country. I chose to use the 1st movement of the Ellerby Concerto, Eric Ball’s exquisite ‘September Fantasy’ and ‘Capricorno’, so the world could really get to hear all the elements that the instrument can cover. I played to a panel comprising of Gareth Jones (founder and conductor of the Sinfonia Cymru orchestra), Naomi Atherton (a French Horn soloist and previous Brass Final winner), and renowned international Euphonium soloist (and again previous brass winner) David Childs. The final was broadcast on BBC4 on Friday April 20th and the feedback received was entirely positive. Hopefully now a wider audience can understand what a fantastically diverse instrument that the Tenor Horn is, and give the orchestral world a chance to see what they are missing! Just from watching the broadcast, I have been offered already a chance to perform my orchestral Concerto upon completion, as well as being asked to give solo recitals for Leeds College of Music.

For any young player, this is an opportunity you should really consider trying for. The journey as a whole from the start in Salford was one of the best times as a musician I can remember, and the exposure you can give yourself, and the movement, is truly sublime. The experience of performing for panels of top musicians around the country is a real eye-opener as to the life of a professional musician and the feedback you receive, whether successful or not, is crucial to development and will certainly enhance confidence ahead of exams/auditions in the future!