BBC names Young Musician semi-finalists

BBC names Young Musician semi-finalists

News

norman lebrecht

October 06, 2024

A televised selection process that raised concerns about the competence of two judges has yielded an unremarkable pack of six semis:

English/ Swedish violinist Maya Broman Crawford-Phillips (17), currently studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey
Surrey-born harpist Jamaal Kashim (17), a Royal College of Music student in the Junior Department
Violinist Shlomi Shahaf (17), born in Israel and raised in Ukraine, currently studying at the Purcell School
Cellist Hugo Svedbert (16) from Bournemouth, a former member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Pianist Ryan Wang (16) from Vancouver Canada, and currently studying on a music scholarship at Eton College
Pianist Jacky Zhang (16) from Surrey, a piano and composition student at the Royal College of Music

Comments

  • Michael says:

    Come on Norm! Incomplete reporting, by insinuating things that you fail to explain. “A process that raised concerns about the competence of two judges has yielded an unremarkable pack of six semis:” that’s all we get?
    A lot to unpack there.

  • Mark Taylor says:

    How far this competition has fallen. Nothing more than a reality tv show now in this viewers opinion. The old tried and tested format had small flaws but crucially, judges on each of the 5 panels included professional musicians with specialist knowledge of their subject . Diversity (on a jury panel) is important, yes, but not at the expense of expertise. Completely agree that with the exception of Alison Balsam the judges were not equipped to be making decisions about fantastic young musicians all of whom are much more proficient instrumentalists than they are.

    • Dr Presume says:

      Completely agree. I think the ditching of the five categories is a disaster, and it’s a shame that the new format has led to a pool of semi-finalists that means only two of the five instrumental groups will be represented in the concerto final.

      And I remember the “good old days” when the jury members were following performances with a score to really understand the skills and interpretative ability in the entrants’ work.

      • James Ross says:

        Surely as a competition juror, knowing all the works being performed thoroughly, and having a score, are basic requirements for the job?

        • Jonathan says:

          Can anyone truly know all the scores out there? Unless you restrict competitors to pieces from the canon…
          I seem to remember a percussion finalist (who went on to win) actually premiered a work

      • Mark Taylor says:

        To be fair and just for info, competitors this year did have to submit copies of all their music for the judges.
        It didn’t seem as if the panel was paying much attention to any scores, certainly from the what they were saying, but that is a separate issue I suppose.

      • Guest says:

        Replying to Dr Presume .. There’s certainly an argument and always a fair chance in this new, silly format ( with all instruments pitted against each other from the start) that strings and piano will be better represented in quarter final and semi final stages , as has happened here. This is due to arguably more impressive sounding repertoire , starting the instrument at an earlier age and having no issues with stamina and practice durability compared with wind/brass. BBC, please bring back the categories.

    • John Shepherd says:

      Totally agree, confirmed even more after last night’s semi final results. How could they overlook the harpist?

      • Guest says:

        And so much for Head of BBC arts and classical music ,Suzy Klein, boldly claiming that this year’s competition will be the most “ sustainable and democratic competition we’ve staged so far”
        “Sustainable”, no, please change the format, it hasn’t worked.
        “Democratic”, no, 3 out of 5 categories not represented in semi finals.
        As for more interesting and varied concerts, just strings and piano in semis and two out of the three final competitors are playing the same concerto in the final .
        I know several experienced teachers saying that if this format continues in the future, they will not be encouraging their students to take part.

        • Violin professor says:

          Suzy Klein head of bbc performing arts!
          She and her sister need to do more research..saying Paganini was born in Parma!
          Or Raphael was from Rome..duh

  • Observing2 says:

    What, Norman, is exactly ‘unremarkable’ about these particular talented young musicians?

  • Guest says:

    Regardless, Maya 100% deserves to be there. I was an orchestra member accompanying her in a recent concerto performance and she was fantastic. Musically and technically.

  • Adrienne says:

    Judges who know what they are doing? This is the BBC and that ship has sailed.

    “Diversity” in its worst manifestation must be imposed.

    • w says:

      If they were bothered about diversity they wouldn’t have ended up with 5 boys, 1 girl in the semi-final from an equal gender split selection of 12 in the quarters. Stop inventing grievances.

  • Ex-orchestra says:

    You spelt ‘Svedberg’ wrong – Hugo is the son of the principal cellist Jasper Svedberg of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

    Two years ago I went for a consultation lesson with Jasper and Hugo was practising next door. He was far better than I was… so it’s great to see his success manifest like this.

    • Steph says:

      For your next lesson, make sure you call him Jesper.

      • Ex-orchestra says:

        If I could edit, I would. Thanks for pointing it out. I knew something was amiss and the irony of complaining about typos is not lost on me. At least I’m not the journalist in charge, here, eh?

  • Hilary Fraser says:

    It’s fine to try and broaden the parameters (in terms of musical practice) of the judging process, but two of the three judges are artists whose stated aims in their own work are ‘disruptive’, which leads to something of an imbalance on a judging panel of only three members. It’s good to try something new, but it hasn’t been thoroughly thought out. Also, all these young players are at a very finely-balanced point in their musical development, so I hope they are getting lots of support and constructive feedback. It’s not failure to fail at this competition, but it might feel like it.

  • Davis says:

    Kids described as “unremarkable”? Here’s something remarkable: your consistent tone of intellectual superiority combined with the poorest English grammar I have read in a public forum.

  • Observer says:

    Looking at the list (and having watched every circus show leading up to it), the chosen few all have reliable training from reputable schools, so that’s all good then…
    However, this is despite of the worst box ticking adjudicating ever!
    It beggars belief that Dr HCJ (as she describes herself on her inflated self publicised website) as a so called multi everything researcher, educator, composer and broadcaster with her training and qualifications from the Ruskin school of ART is allowed to pass any musical opinion or judgement on young musicians which can seriously affect their career is shocking.
    She doesn’t know what she is talking about musically as she ain’t no musician (does conducting the Peckham Symphony Orchestra and radical lesbian Chiron choir count?)
    All she self indulgently seems to emote is how the music performed makes HER feel.. Me, Me, Me!
    Neither is composer/pianist/producer/classical soul (his descriptions) Alex Ffrench capable of adding anything of gravitas to the adjudication either.
    His ‘performance’ last night on Strickly, the results on BBC1 timed to co-inside with the Young Musician on BBC4 did himself no favours in his bland, dull, moderately OK piano solo.
    One has to wonder (and someone has to say it), if these two judges were not of a certain colour, would they really be employed as suitable judges on their musical merit chosen to select real musicians (not faux pretend) to appear in a competition, the crucial selection of which, could be a life changer to take part?
    At least the intelligent and musically experienced and highly regarded Alison was there to rescue the emotionally charged -rap that the other two spouted.
    Who chooses these incompetent clowns to make BAD reality TV??
    Walter Todds must be spinning in his grave!!

  • Guest says:

    Alexis Ffrench is managed by Modest Management who looked after One Direction and currently manage pop icons Olly Murs and Little mix amongst others. What did you expect from the BBC for the UK’s leading classical Music competition for talented young instrumentalists ?
    Real musicians ?

  • Andrew says:

    In the latest quarter final, the camera homed in on one of the female judge’s feedback sheets for a particular performance which was nearing it’s conclusion, (and it wasn’t Alison Balsom’s) which showed that absolutely no notes at all had been written down.
    Now bearing in mind each of the eight performers played at least two pieces, that would require some memory to recall a piece without any written notes amongst at least fifteen other pieces when it came to the judging phase at the end.
    Full marks to AB in retaining her composure and dignity in the midst of adjudicating within a panel, the majority of which, not only do not have the credentials to be judging but also contains at least one who believes the jotting down of written notes as the performance unfolds is unnecessary.
    You might as well put your finger in the wind to determine who goes through to the next round!
    Please put this right for next year, BBC, it just isn’t fair on the performers.

  • Open for debate says:

    I agree with the commentary regarding fairness to the competitors and the suitability of HCJ – there are no credentials there and the BBC should answer questions as to how she came to be selected. I can’t help but wonder why she would have accepted any such offer other than to enhance her own exposure. Such a selfish move on her part. She must have known how obviously apparent it would be to more learned viewers that she was utterly out of her depth. Alexis was trained at Purcell and RAM. He is a composer with a sound understanding of music and although he pursues more mainstream avenues, it doesn’t negate his knowledge, understanding and experience of music making. We can hardly lump him in with HCJ. I don’t understand why they are both being viewed through the same lens. Alison has credentials as a performer but does this then necessarily make her a good judge? I would argue, no. A judge should surely have had a vast amount of experience around the variety of instruments being showcased, understanding their technical ins and outs and also, a really thorough experience of working with young people so you actually have a sense of what an excellent musician at this point in their study sounds like. I was put off by the fact she was so ready to overlook multiple errors in multiple rounds by an instrumentalist who was frequently out of tune, repeatedly displayed issues with technical skills and was frequently out of time with the accompanist. You can’t put someone through because you apparently know their musical intention and because you believe they are going to be a soloist. The point is that they demonstrate their musical skill and you judge based on that demonstration. I’m sure lots of the young players had great musical intentions but there were plenty who weren’t put through on the basis of their technical skills so judge them all by the same yard stick. And come on, you cannot know someone will be a soloist but you might more sensibly wonder how having so many technical issues might impact progress. Those students tend to be stripped right back to basics when they hit senior conservatoire. Set up matters but Alison didn’t seem to recognise it or understand the implications and this showed a glaring absence of competence as a judge for this comp.

    • Guest says:

      Open for debate, I don’t agree with you about Alexis Ffrench who, judging from his remarks is not sufficiently qualified in my opinion to judge playing of this standard . Alison B works with the top musicians in the World daily . Alexis does not. His “ experience of music making” is not of a high enough standard to be able to make really informed comment on these performances .

      • Hello says:

        In the show Alexis did comment about the techniques issues that the player had in both audition and quarter finals.

        • Bored Muso says:

          He knows nothing about technique! Listen to his playing..
          he learnt nothing at The Purcell School (who does there?)
          or the RAM

      • Open for debate says:

        My point is not that he is of a standard to judge this comp, but that he is not within the same category of musical expertise as HCJ. He has trained at some of the top specialist music education institutions in this country for many years. HCJ has not. It is a fallacy to keep comparing these two as like for like. You point out that AB works with top musicians in this country daily. There appears to be an automatic acceptance that this therefore makes one a good judge. I don’t believe top soloist = top judge = top teacher. They are all specialisms in their own right and one might be a worthy candidate in one or any combination of, but it certainly isn’t a given. I think it is flawed to present AB as having merit in a judges role simply because she is a top soloist. Let’s judge her, and the others, on what we saw of them in the programmes. I based my comments on that. The ‘really informed comment’ you speak of, was very thin on the ground – so thin, I must have missed it. What examples can you present, specifically, that led you to draw this conclusion of AB’s worthiness ? I think we ought to pay heed to what Rebecca Roberts says here. And we should wonder what, if any, direction the BBC gave those judges. The judges focused so much on how the music made them feel it was as though they were deciding the outcome of a generalist audience prize. If the lack of specialist insight was as a consequence of programme direction, it did them no favours. But nothing could have saved HCJ. She just isn’t qualified for the role.

        • Guest says:

          Think we will have to agree to disagree but agree with Rebecca that this adjudication format is flawed in the current state

    • Hello says:

      100% agreeable!

    • Fiona says:

      Open for debate .. I’m wondering if I missed something ? “ Multiple errors in MULTIPLE rounds by an instrumentalist who was frequently out of tune , repeatedly displayed issues with technical skills and was frequently out of time with the accompanist “
      This obviously doesn’t apply to either of the two pianists or harp player from the 6 semi finalists as they play solo instruments. I don’t agree with your above description if it applies to one of the other three semi finalists , the cellist or two violinists.
      The quarter final (with 12 instrumentalists) was only the second televised round. How many multiple rounds have you been watching ?

      • Open for debate says:

        I’ve watched the same number of rounds as you probably, and heard some perform more than once, hence multiple times. You did miss something. It was noted by the panel multiple times too.

        • Guest says:

          Ah so just the two rounds then, thanks for clarifying.
          I must have missed “ it” ( the panel noting the multiple errors, frequent poor intonation, frequent poor ensemble and repeated technical issues all from the same instrumentalist ?)

    • Barry says:

      “Alison has credentials as a performer but does this then necessarily make her a good judge? I would argue, no.”

      “Alexis was trained at Purcell and RAM. He is a composer with a sound understanding of music and although he pursues more mainstream avenues, it doesn’t negate his knowledge, understanding and experience of music making.”

      So how does that “necessarily” make him a good judge? And what, precisely, is “a sound understanding of music”?

      • Open for debate says:

        I didn’t say he was a good judge. I said I didn’t understand why he was being viewed through the same lens as HCJ. She’s not had the training he has. Sound understanding of music? Well I’m assuming his years of study included classes on harmony, tonality, analysis, aural skills, history of music and more. I suspect he has studied composition, given that he composes, so he has probably written for a wide variety of instrumentation and had his works performed by his peers at school and music college as a minimum. This will have allowed him to garner a sound understanding of the workings of these various instruments. What they can do and what they can’t. What works on them and what doesn’t. What is playable and what isn’t. He will understand the stylistic nuances of different genres and composers. You don’t just stroll out of a four year degree at RAM and forge a successful career in music by accident. I’m not advocating for his judging skills, quite frankly I thought his biggest flaw was how little he spoke – but I was really glad he didn’t spend any time telling me about whether he was or wasn’t crying.

      • Observer says:

        Training at any specialist music school – partic Purcell is no guarantee of becoming a sound and competent musician.
        It’s still a SCHOOL

        • Open for debate says:

          I agree. The fact you ignore the degree from RAM and the career he has gone on to build suggests you are not interested in a full and fair appraisal of this man. Like a lot of people here, you have your opinion formed and seek proof to justify it, which necessitates selective attention to the information available. The face of bigotry.

  • Rebecca Roberts says:

    As a teacher who has entered students into this and previous BBC competitions, I realise what an enormous amount of work and preparation goes into each individual performance, also for Scottish people, big journeys! I would hope that my precious and talented pupils would get top rate adjudication and feedback from experts .Unfortunately this year it hasn’t happened and apart from the wonderful AB the judges were not competent. If diversity is sought, I can think of many much better qualified people who could have been on the panel. Different categories of instruments need to be brought back as well. I hope I might feel it’s worth me getting my students to enter this competition in future years.

  • PS says:

    Your relationship with the warmongering propogandists at the BBC is disgusting and so are their lies about Russia and “a new kind of Republican.”

  • Michelle T-C says:

    I don’t particularly like music competitions, and I don’t know anything about the adjudication process or the judges for this one. But to call a group of 16 & 17 year-old students ‘unremarkable’ is pretty appalling. Congratulations on a new low.

    • norman lebrecht says:

      You are being hypersensitive. Given the TV judges, we expected the worse. The final selection was unremarkable for its lack of trendiness. The adjective applied to the selection , not the individuals.

      • Neville Hamilton says:

        OK, thanks. But your phrase was ambiguous (perhaps deliberately so). More clarity needed in future, please sir!

      • Michelle T-C says:

        Erm, no, not hypersensitive, just expressing an opinion, as have you.
        I’m clearly not the only person to have misunderstood your choice of phrasing, which you have now clarified.
        Out of interest, what would a ‘trendy’ selection look like?

        • Cecily says:

          What would a”trendy” competitor look like you ask? Someone “truly remarkable” who had put in a lot of preparation as the judges would say – (That means he had left side of head completely shaved to let fresh air straight through to the creative brain /right side in flowing curls to compensate and encourage his Romantic side,, ‍↕️) Secondly, it would be someone “whose talent makes me feel fuzzy inside” as one of the judges will definitely say (This means he will play – just an arrangement at this stage,mind! – of a Charlie Parker jazz take on late Scarlatti Sonata/selected pages /through an inverted bamboo nose pipe with new modern semi – circular breathing – backways!) Wow! – his inventive technique was “truly remarkable” say the judges and she is tempted to re-think her old Baroque Bk 2 stuff, a book long overdue for a dusting down! Everyone has used up all their best “judgy” phrases but luckily it will soon be over and time to be “brought to tears!” Wonderful.

      • Liz Booth says:

        Unfortunately your poor use of English has misled many readers, including myself.
        My comments on the new format are firstly that it’s refreshing to try something new but I’m not convinced this is the correct way forward. The lack of brass and percussion players should be addressed.
        Secondly, the judges were lovely to the students who enjoyed playing for them however being ‘lovely’ isn’t really enough. A diverse range of instruments needed to be represented by people with a proven track record of musical excellence.
        Thirdly, the chosen semi-finalists are quite extraordinarily gifted. I didn’t agree with the judge’s decisions in all cases but that’show things go. I wish all students the very best for the future.

  • Dorothy says:

    I had had enough when one adjudicator ( not Alyson) commented that she did not like the oboe player moistening his reed. She may have heard an oboe before but obviously had never seen it being played. Please BBC employ experienced orchestral musicians. The competitors were all of a level of musicianship which far surpassed two of the adjudicators.

  • Mrs Jacoba Gale says:

    Hugo Svedberg…NOT Svedbert. Congratulations Hugo!

  • JTS says:

    The idea of different instrumentalists competing against each other makes nonsense of the competition. How own earth can we compare a piano against a percussion or flute? OK few had the grand finale to have an overall winner after the instrumental finals were done but now the whole thing has become a charade not worth watching apart from seeing some very talented musicians who have specialised early.

    • Guest says:

      Perfect summation !

    • Jane Wilford says:

      I don’t agree that you can’t compare different instruments. Music making is about how you convey your music to the audience not what instrument you are playing. I’ve never heard the harp played like Jamaal plays it – he communicates what he wants to say through the harp and it’s magical. Having said that, I hate the new format and I hope the BBC go back to the old one, and also get some judges fit to pass judgement on these players at such a crucial stage of their careers. Otherwise I fear that music teachers won’t want to put their pupils forward and the competition won’t attract the very top talent in the UK.

  • Welsh college tutor says:

    This competition has gone from bad to worse ..apart from the weak adjudicators ..the bbc are encouraging youngsters to believe in an international career.
    Listen to the level at the international competitions..Norman is right..
    These are promising students nothing more

  • JTS says:

    Having listened to the semi finals I would say there is nothing ‘unremarkable’ about these young musicians except today the standard is so high that what was remarkable when the competition started is now not so remarkable. What is remarkable is how they can have judges of such questionable competence.

  • Advocate4Winds says:

    String and piano players only? seriously?

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