Reg. Charity  513349

  TEXACO YOUNG MUSICIAN OF WALES COMPETITION

Past Winners

Where are they now?

 

Over the past 20 years, the Texaco Young Musician of Wales has been established as the preeminent classical musical event for young people in Wales. The competition is held in high regard, with many winners going on to achieve international recognition and success as professional classical musicians.

 

Ye-lin (Stella) Cho won the competition in 2005. Since scooping the title in 2005, 16 year-old Stella has been busy building her CV with a High Honours in the Trinity Guildhall Licentiate Diploma (LGSMD) and winning the violoncello prize at the XVII Curso Internacional de Musica Matisse, Spain. She played to an audience of more than 5,000 at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2007, as part of her prize for winning the 2005 Texaco Young Musician of Wales.

 

Daniel De Gruchy-Lambert, the 2003 winner, has played the Haydn and Arutiunian concertos with the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra and performed in St David’s Praise at St David’s Hall, Cardiff, with the Cambrensis Orchestra in May 2003.

Daniel won the brass category of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and performed in the final in May 2004, broadcast live on BBC.

 

Sarah Cresswell, who won the competition in 2001, has since performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London and toured Australia with Côr Meibion De Cymru, the South Wales Male Choir.

 

The 1999 winner, bassoonist Oliver Galletta performed with the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra at LLandaff Cathedral within weeks of winning the competition, and in the summer of 1999 performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the Welsh Proms.

 

After winning the 1997 competition, at the age of just 14, the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra invited Rakhi Singh to be the soloist in its 1998 tour of France. One of the concerts took place at the premier concert venue in Paris, the Salle Pleyel. Rakhi returned to perform with the orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto at St David's Hall, Cardiff in December 2003. As a result of this performance Rakhi has been signed up by a leading agency.

 

The 1995 title was taken by flautist Nicola Rowlands from Bangor-On-Dee in North Wales.

 

Daniel Bryan Hughes, from Gresford in North Wales, who plays the clarinet won the 1993 competition.

 

Ilyd Llwyd Jones, from North Wales won the 1991 competition playing the recorder.

 

Richard Ormrod, winner in 1989, went on to study music at Cambridge University and the Moscow Conservatoire. He is now a concert pianist performing around the world.