Sunday 28th February marked the finale of our Competitions 2021, and what a day it was. We were treated to stunning performances from our selected Adult Amateur and Young Artists competitors, followed by a prize-giving and announcement of our Haynes Prize and Special Awards winners.

This time, we hosted the event on Zoom and also live-streamed it on Facebook. It was wonderful to see so many people tune in - more than 200 on Zoom and thousands via Facebook - and once again create such a supportive audience chat. We were delighted to welcome players from around the world - from France, Croatia and Ukraine to Mexico, the US and South Korea.

The day was hosted by BFS Chair Lisa Nelsen, who once again talked with each player to find out more about them and why they chose their piece(s). It was fascinating to hear from our Adult Amateurs who juggle flute-playing with their careers - from mental health nurse to air traffic controller - and who’ve come to it via many different paths. Amelia, for example, is a Parkinson’s disease researcher who took up the flute as a lockdown hobby, while Julie dusted off her flute after a 35-year break as physiotherapy after a finger accident. Former School Performer winner Sagar was inspired as a teenager by seeing James Galway live, while playing has taken software engineer Hannah to unusual places - like a cameo in Peter Andre’s autobiography!

We also enjoyed learning more about our Young Artists, from Rebecca who’s teaching her grandma flute in lockdown, to Sofiia who first took up playing to help with speech problems, and went from teaching herself online to studying at the Royal Academy of Music. We were very impressed to see Simon Kelly give a virtuoso performance wearing a custom mask (made for his university by out-of-work Broadway costumiers!), not to mention Imogen Davey playing her own composition for flute and electronics, with live sound modulation.

We hope you’ll agree that it was a very special day, with so much beautiful playing and a lovely community spirit. While going online has presented many challenges, it has also offered some positives, and a memorably different Competitions. As adjudicator Atarah Ben-Tovim put it, ‘because we haven’t been able to do a normal competition, we've had lots of unaccompanied works and lots of works that nobody knows; we heard performances from all over the place, and we heard the best of everyone's playing because they weren’t nervous. I think it’s been amazing. Thank you to every player and every teacher - I've enjoyed every second of it and I hope you all feel the same.’

Adult Amateur 2nd Prize winner Marion Gough

Adult Amateur winners

Adult Amateur 3rd Prize winner Victoria Earthey

1st prize - Sagar Masani (Pan et Les Bergers from La Flûte de Pan by Jules Mouquet)
2nd prize - Marion Gough (Kokopelli by Katherine Hoover)
3rd prize - Victoria Earthey (Concertino Op. 107 by Cecile Chaminade)
Highly Commended - Hannah Lindsey-Clark (l’Alouette de Champs - Charles Le Thière) and Steven Coyle (Syrinx by Claude Debussy)
Commended - Julie Crombie (Fantasia No. 2 for Solo Flute by George Philipp Telemann)
Special Mention - Peter Moody (Méditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet)

Sagar wins the Benslow Music Prize (a comlimentary place on a Benslow Music course of his choice) & the chance to perform at a BFS event

Marion wins the Newmoon Insurance Prize - a £150 Just Flutes voucher

Victoria wins a £30 Wonderful Winds Music voucher and Beaumont Music accessory

Young Artist winners

1st prize - Sofiia Matviienko (Homo Ludens by Volodymyr Runchak)
2nd prize - Wong Ka Wing Karen (Tsuru-no-Sugomori (Nesting of Cranes) for Solo Flute. Traditional Japanese, arr. by Wil Offermans)
3rd prize - Sarah Maschio (Caprice No. 4 by Niccolo Paganini)
Highly Commended - Sophie McLaughlin (Within by Ian Clarke); Imogen Davey (∆P (for flute and live electronics) by Imogen Davey); Daniel Ephgrave (Excerpts from Carnaval de Venice Op. 14, by Paul-Agricole Génin; Un Oiseau en Mai, by Jean Sichler, Arr. D. Ephgrave)

Sofiia wins Yamaha TW-E3A Truly Wireless Earphones & MusicCast WX-010 Wireless Speaker, a £275 All Flutes Plus voucher & the chance to perform at a BFS event

Karen wins a Wiseman Cases traditional flute case and a £100 ALRY Publications voucher

Sarah wins a £30 Forton Music voucher and Beaumont Music accessory

Adult Amateur Highly Commended winners Hannah Lindsey-Clark and Steven Coyle

Judges’ feedback and advice

Adult Amateur category

Adjudicators Atarah Ben-Tovim and Stephen Clark emphasised how much they’d enjoyed all the playing. 'Wonderful performances - joyful, musical and sensitive,’ said Atarah. ‘It was a nightmare to judge - I would’ve given prizes to everyone and so would Stephen’. Stephen added, ‘We admire amateur flute players for taking part - I know as someone who makes a living out of flute playing how tough it is, so I can’t imagine how hard it is for amateurs when they have a whole other life going on to get everything together to make these performances.’ Stephen also emphasised that, ‘competitions are really just showing a snapshot of what people are capable of, so at the end of the day, please don’t read too deeply into the results.’

‘In terms of coming to the results, it was quite a quick process - we tended to agree almost on everything. The thing that was the most important for me was listening to people who oozed the most joy in their flute playing. I wanted to see someone who oozed fun and joy and commitment to music, and who made me want to pick up my flute and practice more.’

Adult Amateur Commended and Special Mention Julie Crombie and Peter Moody

1st prize - Sagar Masani (Pan et Les Bergers from La Flûte de Pan by Jules Mouquet) - ‘He had incredible control, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he was a great storyteller with what is a beautiful piece. Overall he just gave a fantastic performance overall - well-deserved’.

2nd prize - Marion Gough (Kokopelli by Katherine Hoover) - 'It’s a piece I have to confess I wasn’t hugely familiar with, and Marion managed to create the most beautiful atmosphere, especially at the beginning of the piece. As soon as I’d listened to her play it I ordered as I thought 'I have to play this piece’. Atarah and I both agreed she was a very worthy winner.’

3rd prize - Victoria Earthey (Concertino Op. 107 by Cecile Chaminade) - ‘She had so much bravura and commitment and energy and control over what is a very virtuosic and difficult piece, and we both really enjoyed her performance.’

Highly Commended - Hannah Lindsey-Clark (l’Alouette de Champs - Charles Le Thière) - ‘Hannah played this very virtuosic, funky piccolo and just absolutely went for it. She was having the time of her life - she whizzed up and down it like there was no tomorrow, and it was impossible to ignore that performance.’

Highly Commended - Steven Coyle (Syrinx by Claude Debussy) - ‘He gave a fantastic performance - he created a beautiful atmosphere, and actually made me want to go play this piece that I haven’t played in a long time. As soon as I finished listening I pulled out Syrinx and played it a few times through.’

Young Artist adjudicator Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren

Commended - Julie Crombie (Fantasia No. 2 for Solo Flute by George Philipp Telemann) - ‘She clearly had really thought about it - she knew exactly what she wanted to do with the music, and she was giving a really intelligent and committed performance to a piece that we’ve heard a thousand times. It came across as beautiful and fresh and we both loved it very much.’

Special Mention - Peter Moody - (Méditation from Thaïs by Jules Massenet) - ‘He just had such fantastic commitment - he looked like he was having the absolute time of his life, and he had so much courage for playing it on alto that we couldn’t go without mentioning him.’

Young Artist category

Adjudicators Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren and Thomas Hancox were blown away by everyone’s talent. ‘I want to thank and congratulate you all for the wonderful performances’ said Anna. ‘Tom and I were sitting together and listening over and over again, it was such a joy with so many beautiful musical ideas and moments - they touched our hearts.’

Young Artist 2nd prize Wong Ka Wing Karen

‘Also touching was the technical effort of what you did - in this closed-in situation to break out with music. It was really wonderful to hear and to see - you’re all winners, because you went and made it and you dared. I also want to applaud you for playing so many contemporary pieces with high technical difficulty but still very musically - this is always a challenge.’

Young Artist 3rd prize winner Sarah Maschio

Thomas also touched on the difficulties of recording in lockdown. ‘We're full of admiration for everybody for having the determination to work in the dreary acoustics of your own homes. One of the other challenges of recording an entry is that you raise your stakes in some way - you do it again and again, and deciding which one to submit is very challenging. Your concentration and ability to sustain and project a musical performance from beginning to end is also challenged in a way that it isn’t in a live in-person competition where you're on-stage and off, with that one moment of adrenaline, focus and drama.’

The adjudicators listened to all the performances individually, then had a shared listening session comparing notes. ‘It was really difficult for us to decide winners because the level was really high - it was amazing’, said Anna. ‘We didn't look for video quality, but for striving musical talents, beautiful musical ideas, and who was able to focus the musical line from the beginning to the end - who came through the medium of video and could make music that made us sit up and listen from the fist note to the last. Then, it was quite clear whom we should pick for the prizewinners.’

Young Artist Highly Commended winners Sophie McLaughlin, Daniel Ephgrave and Imogen Davey

Thomas added, ‘Our prizewinners were all people whose performances managed to transcend the space, the technology and the strangeness of this and were able to communicate and sustain their musical message and argument from beginning to end.’

1st prize - Sofiia Matviienko (Homo Ludens by Volodymyr Runchak) - ‘This was a performance that seemed to transport us both into the moment. It felt as if live - it had all the drama and commitment that you get in that single take opportunity. It took us on the journey from beginning to end - there was a real arc and intensity and drama to it.’

2nd prize - Wong Ka Wing Karen (Tsuru-no-Sugomori (Nesting of Cranes) for Solo Flute. Traditional Japanese, arr. by Wil Offermans) - ‘This was an incredibly impressive performance that was both technically highly accomplished but also musically wonderfully engaging, captivating, and, as the piece should be, a superb evocation of the Japanese flute the shakuhachi.’

3rd prize - Sarah Maschio (Caprice No. 4 by Niccolo Paganini) - ‘A very virtuosic, technically accomplished but musically appropriate performance of a Paganini Caprice - it was capricious and seemed relatively easy and thrown away.’

Highly Commended - The judges wanted to specially commend three people where, in Anna’s words, ‘you could feel the love of the music they were making. That's such a pleasure as a listener - it puts you at ease, makes you want to engage, and makes you feel such goodwill towards the person who's playing because they’re clearly enjoying it and doing it for all the right reasons.’

Sophie McLaughlin (Within by Ian Clarke) - ‘She played a really fine performance - beautifully executed, a lovely sound, and what came through again was a love for the music.’

Imogen Davey (∆P (for flute and live electronics) by Imogen Davey) - ‘Imogen played her own work and I thought it was so imaginative to create this new, very different sound world and yet also have this very beautiful sound. I’ll remember forever the moment about halfway through the piece where we get this absolutely gorgeous middle octave sound which was so clear and so well-produced.’

Daniel Ephgrave (Excerpts from Carnaval de Venice Op. 14, by Paul-Agricole Génin; Un Oiseau en Mai, by Jean Sichler, Arr. D. Ephgrave) - ‘Commended in particular for his alto flute arrangement - a very beautiful song, and we thought it was so tender and so heartfelt.’

Haynes Prize

Haynes Flutes artist Gareth McLearnon presented the Haynes Prize of a handcut Solid Silver Headjoint to Aleksandra Esakova (who also won our Young Performer category 2nd prize). She was chosen from a large number of applicants as the person who would most benefit from the prize. According to her application, Aleksandra is about to start university and the headjoint will allow her to concentrate on music rather than technical issues. Congratulations Aleksandra!

Best piccolo performance winner Japheth Law

Special Awards

We also presented four awards honouring specific kinds of performances:

Best low flutes performance winner Emily Hicks

Best piccolo performance - Japheth Law (Patrick Nunn - Sprite for Solo Piccolo)
Best low flute performance - Emily Hicks (Walpurgis for Solo Alto Flute by Friedgund Göttsche-Niessner)
Best performance of a piece by a woman composer - Imogen Davey (∆P (for flute and live electronics) by Imogen Davey)
Best performance of a piece by a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic composer - Ece Selin Yüksel (Aegean Whispers for Flute & Piano - Hakan Halit Turgay)

Japheth wins a £25 All Flutes Plus voucher & the chance to perform at a BFS event
Emily wins a £25 Tetractys Publishing voucher & the chance to perform at a BFS event
Imogen wins a £25 Furore Verlag voucher & the chance to perform at a BFS event
Ece Selin wins a £25 ALRY Publications voucher & the chance to perform at a BFS event

Best performance of a piece by a BAME composer winner Ece Selin Yüksel

Audience vote winners

We also held an audience vote, with the following winners:

The day ended with heartfelt thanks from Lisa (who was also celebrating her anniversary - congratulations!) and an announcement that we’re saying goodbye our Vice-Chair Julie Twite - a massive thanks to Julie, who will be very missed. Taking up the role is Liz Wrighton, our Competitions mastermind - congratulations Liz!

Well done to all our Competitions winners and entrants for your phenomenal talent. And thank you to all our adjudicators across the two days - Beatriz Macias, Ian Mullin, Atarah Ben-Tovim, Stephen Clark, Anna Garzuly-Wahlgren and Thomas Hancox - to our Chair Lisa Nelsen for hosting both events so wonderfully, the BFS Council for all their hard work putting it together, our prize sponsors for making the day possible, and the hundreds of you who watched on Zoom and Facebook and created such a brilliant atmosphere.

If you’d like to watch the event, you can view the Facebook livestreams of the sessions (Adult Amateur, Young Artist and Prizegiving) below.

If you have any thoughts or feedback about the event, we’d love it if you could fill in our audience survey!

british flute society competitions 2021 sponsors logos.jpg

Competitions 2021 - Adult Amateur, Young Artist, Haynes Prize and Special Award winners