Young Musician of the Year Competition!

Monday 27th of September marked the start of a week of year group finals for the first annual Dulwich International High School Suzhou Young Musician of the Year Competition! The rounds and heats of this competition have been running quietly in the background since the start of term with excitement building towards the finals!

There is a considerable amount of evidence that musical competitions are beneficial to both students’ musical education and their overall development. The healthy competitiveness fostered by the Young Musician of the Year competition goes beyond musicianship to teach valuable life lessons, improve motivation, and promotes creativity. The competition offers our students the perfect environment for musical growth as they practice and hone their skills to a razor-sharp competitive standard. Competitions encourage students to take a deep creative dive, as they truly master every aspect of a specific piece of music.

The Young Musician of the Year Competition provides an excellent way to celebrate the diverse array of musical talent at our school. For the next few weeks, we will publish a new article every week, following the Young Musician of the Year Competition. We will follow it round by round, giving you the opportunity to watch videos of the performances and read interviews with the musicians. Here’s a taster of what’s coming soon!

Finalists:

Year 13

Lily S.

Gloria X.

Alex Y.

Solomon Z.

Year 12

Scarlett J.

Sebastian L.

David W.

Genevieve W.

Miranda X.

Molly Y.

Year 11

Austin T.

Kayla W.

Joe W.

Joseph Z.

Alex Z.

Year 10/IG1

Mia D.

Teresa Q.

Zixuan W.

Harris Z.

Three Judges from amongst our teaching staff (each with a strong musical background) listened carefully and took extensive notes during each performance, then once the performances were complete, retired to discuss the merits of each performer in turn. Frequently, this led to lengthy discussions as the judges often found it difficult to establish a clear winner, as the standard of musicianship was so high.

Here’s what Mr. Mulliner, our Director of Performing Arts had to say:

“At Dulwich International High School Suzhou, we are lucky to have a wide selection of musicians throughout the years of the school. It was particularly nice to see musicians getting involved who we have not seen in a music classroom or studying within the school before. We have been exceptionally impressed with the high quality of musicianship, passion and enjoyment that the students have shown throughout this event.”

The grand finale of our Young Musician of the year competition will take place later this month, when the finalists from each year group compete against each other for the title of overall winner of the Young Musician of the year competition! We can’t wait!