Young Musician of the Year named

The future of music making in East Lothian is certainly in safe hands with these talented young performers

Pupils from Dunbar Grammar and Knox Academy were also commended at the event which concluded with a gala concert in the evening.

Fifteen soloists from eight schools took part in the final which was held at St Mary’s Church, Haddington. The young musicians performed a range of instruments including strings, wind, brass, percussion and piano. Corey Dodds, an S5 pupil with Ross High School was announced as the winner by adjudicators Christine McGinley and Jonathan Gawn. Corey performed Preludio from La Catedral by Agustin Barrios Mangore and Tango en Skye by Roland Dyens, giving what the judges described as “a mature and masterful musical performance”. Corey will now travel to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to represent East Lothian at the Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year final on 29 May.

Two runner up prizes were also awarded to clarinettist, Sam Russell (S6), from Dunbar Grammar School and drummer, Ben Gentil (S5), from Knox Academy for their superb performances.

East Lothian Senior Brass Ensemble

The evening also saw the inaugural performance of the East Lothian Senior Brass Ensemble, as they performed and recorded their submission for the Scottish Young Musicians Brass Ensemble of the Year 2022. The event was a superb opportunity for young people to perform to a live audience, in a stunning venue, for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

'Superb performances'

East Lothian Council Instrumental Music Service Team Manager Jonathan Gawn commented ‘It’s been truly inspiring to hear the young people performing in person again. St Mary’s is an incredible venue but a vast and potentially intimidating one for any performer. It was amazing to see our young performers embrace this opportunity and rise to the challenge of the occasion in this incredible space. You could really see their confidence grow throughout the day and they all delivered superb performances on the evening”.

Fellow adjudicator Christine McGinley added: “It’s been a really impressive display of music making all day and we had the impossible task of trying to pick a winner from fifteen superb performances. A huge congratulations to everyone who performed in the solo competition, the brass ensemble and East Lothian Council’s Instrumental Music Service. The future of music making in East Lothian is certainly in safe hands with these talented young performers and I wish Corey all the best as he prepares to perform in the Scottish Young Musicians national final.”

View photographs of the evening performances on our facebook page

Brass Ensemble - Trumpet – Samuel Torrance (Ross High School), Will Lucas Evans (North Berwick High School), Kirstin Greenwell (Knox Academy), David Hunter (Knox Academy), Hannah Scott (Musselburgh Grammar School), Horn - Ben Neighbour (Ross High School), Trombone - Sula McDonald (Preston Lodge High School), Tuba - Jamie McDonald (Preston Lodge High School)