Daniel Thomas, a sixth form student at Rhymney Comprehensive School has been crowned Caerphilly County Borough Schools’ Young Musician of the Year 2011.
Daniel plays the Euphonium and impressed the judges at Blackwood Miners Institute with a brilliant account of “Varied Mood” by Woodfield.
Tomos Nicholls, a sixth form student at Lewis School Pengam, was awarded the title of Caerphilly County Borough Schools’ Young Composer of the Year 2011 after submitting a composition called “Rhapsodie Hungaroise”.
Both winners received their trophies from the Mayor of Caerphilly County Borough James Fussell along with Mrs Jill Lawrence (Assistant Director, Learning, Education and Inclusion) who helped present the finalist certificates. Each finalist also received £50 prize money and £50 for their schools. The Young Musician of the Year received £150 prize money and £150 for his school.
The specialist adjudicators (Graham Bradley, Vyvyan Brooks, Mervyn Burtch, David J Davies, and Richard Hamer) were impressed by the quality of the performances on display at the event. In total there were 173 entries and 22 Best in Class Awards.
The event was organised by Caerphilly Music Service under the direction of Dr Keith Ellerington, Principal Officer for Music
Finalists
Keyron Hickman-Lewis – Piano – Coleg Gwent
Aimee Daniel – Singing – Cwm Rhymni
Rachael Parry – Strings – Bassaleg
Owen Ralph – Woodwind – St Martins
Daniel Thomas – Brass – Rhymney
Richard Morgan – Percussion – Lewis Pengam