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In a continued
campaign to increase opportunities for young brass players around the
UK, Black Dyke Band has initiated a Young Artist Scheme, designed to
support a young soloist for a twelve month period. The concept follows
on from the 'Young Composer-in-Association' scheme in helping a young
talent and promoting them within the brass band movement, as well as
further afield.
Matthew White named
as first recipient
On Saturday May
31st, during Black Dyke's performance at York Minster, euphonium player
Matthew White was named as the first ever recipient of the title.
Matthew has already
appeared as a soloist with Black Dyke as part of the Radio 2 Young
Soloist Competition and has been carving a name for himself through a
line of successful competition and concert appearances. During the last
twelve months he has appeared as a soloist with Leyland Band at Regent's
Hall, London, given an award winning performance of the Elgar Howarth
Concerto at Chetham's School and has been a recitalist at the Bergen
Festival, Norway. This September, Matthew will become part of the
coveted euphonium department at the Royal Northern College of Music
where he will continue his studies with David Thornton.
David commented,
"Matthew is a huge talent, his technique is fantastic, but the most
impressive aspect is his performance skills - we want to help him
achieve his full potential by giving him opportunities that he might not
otherwise have. He really has the ability to become one of the
movement's top players."
After the
announcement, an excited Matthew commented, "It's a great honour and has
topped off a fantastic final year at Chetham's! I'm looking forward to
the prospect of starting at the RNCM with these opportunities in front
of me."
Dr Nicholas Childs
added, " Our recent Young Composer schemes, working successively with
Peter Meechan and Paul Lovatt-Cooper have been a great success, and it
seems natural to extend the idea to young performers. It was a real
pleasure working with Matthew for Radio 2, and he has proved to be a
fine player and a well-rounded individual. We are eager to give him some
broader exposure in the coming months." |