The BFS Competitions are a chance for players to showcase their talent, receive feedback from top judges, connect with other musicians, and win brilliant prizes.

In our 40th anniversary year, we’re hoping the day will be a fantastic celebration of fluting, with lots of wonderful music to listen to from our talented players, as well as lunchtime performances and trade stands - a great chance to find your next flute, upgrade your kit or discover some fab new repertoire!

Location
The event will be held at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (RBC). The Conservatoire has maps and extensive info about getting to the venue on its website.

Schedule
The three categories will run consecutively throughout the day, with each category followed by a prize-giving. There will also be a lunchtime concert with performances from the 2023 Competitions winners Cyrus Lam, Joseph Geary and Mayukhjit Chakraborty; and trade stands on-site throughout the day, including Just Flutes, Wessel Flutes, Schott Music and piccolo headjoint maker Fergus Davidson.

Approximate timings for the day are as follows:

School Performers category: 10:00 - 15:00
Young Performer category: 10:15 - 17:15
Young Artists category: 10:30 - 17:00
Lunch break and Lunchtime Concert: 13:00 - 14:00
Prize Giving: 17:30 - 18:00

Please note these timings are subject to change.

Book your free audience ticket to the Competitions 2024:

School Perf Prize Winners with judges.jpeg

Adult Amateur Flautists’ Workshop

This year, the Adult Amateur section of the Competitions will be non-competitive. Instead, we’re hosting an event for amateur players to come together, play flute ensemble music, and have the opportunity to perform to a friendly and supportive audience.

The Adult Amateur Flautists’ Workshop will include:

Ensemble playing
An optional opportunity to perform - either as an individual or with an ensemble you’re part of - and receive constructive feedback from our workshop leader, the fantastic Carla Rees - Professor of Low Flutes and Contemporary Flute at the Royal Academy of Music in London and Programme Leader at the Open College of the Arts
A chance for questions and discussion about all things flute!

It’s open to non-professional players of any standard aged 25 and over. While everyone who signs up will take part in the ensemble playing, performing is not compulsory - you can choose to watch, support and enjoy the performances instead if you’d like.

If you would like to perform, you can do so on your own, with an accompanist (we can provide you with a BFS accompanist to rehearse and perform with on the day), or if you’re already a member of a duo / trio / quartet / quintet, together as an ensemble.

For more details and to sign up, please visit our event page:

adult amateur flautists' workshop

Rules

Please click the button below to download the Competitions Rules 2024 (PDF). Please read these carefully.

Competitions rules

Adjudicators

For more information about the adjudicators, please visit our ‘Meet the Adjudicators’ page:

Meet the Adjudicators

School Performer

Susan Torke

Susan teaches in the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music, where she also studied with William Bennett on a Leverhulme scholarship. She has worked with many London orchestras, performed in over 16 West End shows and National Theatre productions, and toured extensively with many chamber groups. She has recorded for Deutsche Grammophon - DG, BBC, radio and other session work.

Jane Spiers-Keelan

Jane studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Musik Akademie Basel Switzerland. She has played with many of the leading UK orchestras and with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and now concentrates on chamber music and solo work, and is also pursuing a secondary career in art as a painter.

Young Performer

Fraser Gordon

Fraser is Principal Contrabassoon of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Head of Woodwind at the Royal Academy of Music. He is a regular guest player with orchestras around the UK and with the World Orchestra for Peace; he studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

His involvement in the RPO's community & education programme RPO Resound is extensive and includes working in prisons and in the STROKEstra programme, helping stroke patients in their rehabilitation through music.

Vourneen Ryan

Vourneen Ryan is a professional flautist, teacher and performance coach. She is currently a teacher of flute studies at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and utilises mental skills training techniques to motivate and inspire her students. She holds a Masters degree in Sports, Exercise and Performance Psychology.

She joined the Royal Liverpool Philharmonicin 2004 where she held the position of Sub-Principal Flute. She performs regularly with many of the major orchestras in Ireland and the UK, and is also a keen chamber musician and a member of Trio Táin (flute, viola and harp), Musici Ireland and Glas Quartet.

Young Artist

Gareth Davies

Gareth Davies is Principal of the London Symphony Orchestra, teaches postgraduate students at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and is involved in the LSO Discovery programme taking music to the East London Boroughs.

He also can be heard on many TV, movie and video game soundtracks including Star Wars, Harry Potter and, most recently, the new movie Maestro about Leonard Bernstein. Gareth has also written education projects for the LSO and his book, The Show Must Go On, was a book of the year in the FT and Classical Music UK. Gareth is a Wm. S. Haynes Co. artist.

Eliza Marshall

Cross-genre music making has always been at the core of Eliza Marshall's creative world. She has performed and collaborated with musicians such as Peter Gabriel and The Who, and recorded with artists from Stevie Wonder to Sam Smith; soloed with the BBC Concert Orchestra and on blockbuster Hollywood movie scores; whilst also recording and touring with her own award-winning folk band Ranagri.

She is artistic director and producer of the pioneering, 5*-reviewed multi-media project Freedom To Roam. 2024 will see the release of Eliza’s debut solo album and tour, supported by PRS Foundation and Arts Council England.

Prizes

School Performer - Sponsored by Yamaha

1st Prize - William Bennett Prize of £500, and the opportunity to perform at a BFS event
2nd Prize - £125 Just Flutes voucher
3rd Prize - £50 June Emerson Wind Music voucher

Young Performer - Sponsored by All Flutes Plus

1st Prize - William Bennett Prize of £1000, and the opportunity to perform at a BFS event
2nd Prize - £200 All Flutes Plus voucher & the Newmoon Insurance Prize - £125 voucher to spend at Just Flutes
3rd Prize - £50 Forton Music voucher & £30 Wonderful Winds voucher

Pearl Prize

Pearl PFP-105E piccolo. Selected by the adjudication panel, this prize will be awarded to a competitor in the BFS 2024 Competitions Young Performer category.

Young Artist - Sponsored by ALRY

1st Prize - William Bennett Prize of £2000, and the opportunity to perform at a BFS event
2nd Prize - The ALRY Prize of £150 towards a flute service, £150 towards a lesson or flute course, and year's membership to the BFS and the NFA; and the Newmoon Insurance Prize - £125 voucher to spend at All Flutes Plus
3rd Prize - £50 Tetractys Publishing voucher & 50E Furore Verlag voucher

Musician’s Answering Service Prize

One year’s free subscription to the Musician’s Answering Service. Selected by the adjudication panel, this prize will be awarded to a UK-based competitor in the BFS 2024 Competitions Young Artist category. The Musician’s Answering Service is the leading UK diary service for orchestral and session musicians. You can find out more about them at https://maslink.co.uk.

Atarah’s Legacy Fund Memorial Prize

Atarah’s Legacy Fund was established shortly before her death, according to her wishes to support the musical education of entrants to the annual BFS Competitions, through the award of one cash prize for a candidate of sufficient merit, musical integrity, and potential. Musical integrity is something Atarah particularly wished to encourage, so the panel will be looking for a core musicality, rather than a display of virtuosity. The BFS Council will be responsible for awarding the Prize each year, and the Prize will be available to the value of £500.

The recipient will not necessarily be one of the prize winners in the competition, and will be chosen by the competition adjudicators and BFS Council, where possible supported by members of the Fund Advisory Group. There will be one winner each year for as long as the funds are solvent.

Entrants wishing to be considered for the Prize should make their application using the Prize entry form (which will be sent to all competitors once they have made their entry), indicating how they would use the Prize to further their musical education, for example through lessons, music courses or other educational activities.

Winners will be required to write a report for Pan, the BFS journal, on the benefit they received from being awarded the Prize.

About the William Bennett Prize

The BFS are honoured to award the William Bennett Prize at the BFS Competitions for the first time this year (as the first prize for each category, to the amount of £500, £1000 and £2000). We are incredibly grateful to Michie Bennett for entrusting us with this legacy, which will enable us to award this prize for a number of years. As one of the founding members of the BFS, and our President for many years, we cannot think of a better way to commemorate Wibb’s extraordinary life and his profound impact on the flute world.

Testimonials from past competitors

Attending the BFS competition for the first time was a thrilling experience. I was amazed by the performances of all the participants and I met so many new talented friends during the competition, who all share the same passion for the flute.

Despite feeling apprehensive, the supportive and friendly atmosphere put me at ease and allowed me to enjoy the day to the fullest. The BFS competition was a great experience that I will cherish and I am looking forward to attending again!
‘I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in the BFS Young Performer Competition. The comments by the illustrious judges were so thoughtful. As the 1st Prize Winner, I was awarded an incredible piccolo, and we are now inseparable! I would definitely recommend participating to my peers.’
‘These fantastic competitions gave me such brilliant milestones to work for during my studies. It really boosted my confidence whenever I entered them - even when I didn’t win I got so much brilliant feedback, and then finally when I did win, it gave me so much more confidence - leading to my orchestral career’
‘It was a big confidence boost for me, as I’d never really seen myself as someone able to win a competition like this, so when I found out I’d won it was a huge shock! It helped me to feel a lot more confident about my playing, as well helping me to focus on the things I still need to work on.'
‘For anyone who is considering entering a competition, but doesn’t think they’re good enough or have enough experience, just go for it!
Being a runner-up has given me a whole new wave of confidence, both personally and musically, and this carries through into my playing. I still get nervous when I perform, but I just remind myself of this achievement and my nerves soon turn into excitement!'
It was great to see other people’s playing, and from that, I learned a lot more about what I might be able to do to improve my own playing.
Competing in the event was like a concert - there were so many amazing musicians, the music was excellent and I loved performing and being a part of it.
‘It was a joy to take part in a live competition at last and I was thrilled to be selected as the winner of the Young Performer category.
I've made some great new friends in the flute world and that's what it is about!
‘I won the Pearl Piccolo in this year’s BFS competition (2022). I watched the other Young Performers in my category and the standard of the playing was incredibly high so you can imagine how amazed and delighted I was to hear my name announced as the winner of the piccolo. Seeing all the performers and hearing new repertoire across the categories was really interesting. I also appreciated having the judges feedback.’
‘Winning the School Performer Category of the BFS competition meant so much to me; it was such an amazing experience and it was great to hear so many talented players - thank you to everyone who made this fantastic competition possible!’
I received very valuable feedback from many areas - everyone really liked the piece and my interpretation - and supportive guidance from the judges.

Volunteer

To help ensure the day runs smoothly we will need some help. If you would be willing to volunteer some time at the event, please get in touch by emailing membership[at]bfs.org.uk.

Accompanists

Richard Shaw

Pianist Richard Shaw enjoys giving concerts and broadcasting with a wide range of instrumentalists and singers. His many broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 include duo performances with violinists such as James Ehnes, Viviane Hagner, Leonidas Kavakos and So-Ock Kim, cellists Matthew Barley, Narek Hakhnazaryan, Richard Harwood and Li Wei, Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Martin Fröst (clarinet) and singers Nicole Cabelle, Jennifer Smith, Ailish Tynan, Alice Coote and Ruby Philogene.

He is staff accompanist at the Royal Academy of Music. He is currently writing a biography of the distinguished Russian mezzo soprano, Maria Karinskaya (1882-1942), following his discovery of an unknown 400-page Russian manuscript based on Karinskaya’s lost memoirs. His music album, Malcolm Arnold: Songs and Arias, is published by Novello & Co/Music Sales. Recent CDs for the Deux-Elles label include music by Phillipe Gaubert, with Kathryn Thomas (flute), the chamber works and piano solos of Sir Harrison Birtwistle, ‘Piper’s Dream’ (with Ensemble Lumière) featuring the piano solos and chamber works of Cecilia McDowall, and ‘Fauré and his circle’.

Joanne Sealey

Jo has become widely recognised in the UK as a specialist in woodwind and brass accompaniment and currently holds the position of Head of Accompaniment in Wind and Brass Studies at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as being a Senior Tutor in Accompaniment and Coaching.

Jo accompanies regularly for the British Flute Society, Dublin Brass Week, National Youth Orchestra, and is the official pianist for Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Competition. Jo has had the pleasure of performing with many of the world’s leading players in their field including Phil Cobb, Rex Richardson, Peter Moore, Allen Vizzutti, Ian Bousfield, Zoltan Kiss, David Childs, Nicholas Daniel and Michael Collins.

FAQs

If you have a question that hasn’t been answered on this page or in the Competitions Rules 2024 PDF, please contact competitions@bfs.org.uk
We have given extensive consideration to how to balance making the Competitions accessible to as wide a range of people as possible with fairness and transparency. We have decided that, as in 2023, the Competitions 2024 will be live only, as we cannot ensure sufficient parity in judgment between live and video types of entry within the same competition, and do not have the capacity to run two competitions simultaneously. We will look to run a competition with a video entry option again in the future.
We will share the schedule for the day closer to the event; please note, the three categories will run consecutively throughout the day. We regret that it's not possible to choose your performance slot.
Please note that all competitors are required to attend the adjudication and prize giving at the end of their category and are expected to watch and support as many of the other competitors’ performances as possible around their own performance preparations. If this is not possible, please notify the BFS before the day of the competition by emailing competitions@bfs.org.uk.
We expect all under 18s to be accompanied by an adult; if you're having difficulties with this, please get in touch.

BFS Competitions 2024

Saturday 17 February
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire