Who will be hitting all the right notes at this year’s PwC Jersey Young Musician of the Year Competition?

This Saturday 1 March, six exceptionally talented, young local musicians will take to the stage for the final of the ‘PwC Jersey Young Musician of the Year 2025’.

Organised by Jersey Music Service and sponsored by long-term supporter PwC, the competition, which is in its 33rd year, incorporates the well-established sectional competitions for string, woodwind, piano, brass, voice and percussion. The event provides young musicians in Jersey with performance and competition opportunities, with many previous finalists having gone on to pursue successful careers in music.

To reach the final, the young musicians have already had to compete in and win their particular heat in competition with other instrumentalists and vocalists in their section. Now, the heat winners go head-to-head at the Jersey Arts Centre, and will no doubt produce an array of timbres, musical styles and genres.

Each musician will perform a short programme of music of their choice, and the finalist who gives the most expressive and technically accomplished performance of their chosen repertoire will be named the PwC Jersey Young Musician of the Year 2025.

This year’s finalists are:

• Island Music Woodwind Heat – Emma Mwanga (flute)
• Jersey Premier Brass - Brass Heat – Summer Watkins (trumpet)
• Jersey Vocal Trust - Vocal Heat – Savanna Vogt (vocal)
• Wendy Falla Piano Heat – Jason Hoare (piano)
• The Band of the Island of Jersey Percussion Heat – Oliver Hutton (percussion)
• Dorothy Chapman String Heat – Edward Clark (violin)

The evening, which is a firm favourite in the Island's annual performing arts’ calendar, will be adjudicated by David Chatterton, who led the Brass, Percussion and Jazz departments at Chetham’s School of Music from 2002 and helped develop, over many years, a range and excellence of provision typical of music as a whole in the school. He was appointed as Assistant Principal and Head of Brass, Percussion and Jazz at Chetham's in 2020, and recently retired after almost four decades at the school. David has coached ensembles such as the National Youth Wind Ensemble, National Youth Chamber Orchestra and National Youth Concert Band. In addition, there will be a featured performance from flautist Cosimo Dhami-Hounsome, last year’s winner.

The winner will be awarded with the coveted trophy, along with a cheque presented by PwC for £1,000 in support of their ongoing music studies. In addition, the Jersey Symphony Orchestra (JSO) Award will go to one of the finalists whose performance demonstrates potential to benefit from a structured programme of participation with the JSO over the following 12 months.

Dr Graham Cox, Principal of Jersey Music Service, said:

Abigail McDermott, Marketing Director at PwC, commented:

At the final, the category winners of the PwC Jersey Junior Musician of the Year Competition will also be presented with their trophies, having won their respective categories on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 February 2025.

This year’s junior winners are:

• Junior Piano Competition Winner – Jack Murphy (piano)
• Junior String Competition Winner – Emily Coates Rodriguez (violin)
• Junior Brass Competition Winner – Theo Robson (cornet)
• Junior Woodwind Competition Winner – William de la Haye (bassoon)
• Junior Vocal Competition Winner – Prutha Tejpal (vocal)

The final will take place on Saturday 1 March at 7pm at the Jersey Arts Centre. Tickets are on sale at £15 and £8 for students and seniors.