Only one Brit in BBC New Generation artists
mainThe six chosen by BBC Radio 3 for a career boost this year are:
Amatis Piano Trio from the Netherlands, Romanian cellist Andrei Ionita, British bass-baritone Ashley Riches, the US-based Calidore Quartet (pictured), Norwegian violist Eivind Holtsmark Ringstad and Egyptian soprano Fatma Said.
Getting chosen is a game-changer. The Iranian-US harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani writes: ‘I really mean it when I say that if the NGA offer hadn’t come when it did, I probably would have quit trying to be a musician and would have done something else.’
Amatis Trio has a British cellist Sam Shepherd
Hi Norman, I just wanted to point out to you that actually there are two Brits in BBC NGA this time around. I’m Sam Shepherd from Manchester and I’m the cellist in Amatis Piano Trio. Thanks for writing about the scheme and drawing attention to it. We are very excited to be part of it and I hope you are okay with me pointing this out. Best, Sam
Thank you, Sam, and congratulations!
Long live quotas, promoting musical diversity! Shame the Mongolian wind band didn’t make the cut.