2024 Competitors
YMCC Winner Kiki Skinner with Tasmin Little CBE
Aubrey Thonger trophy recipient Suanoi Sophonpanich
The 2024 WMSO Young Musician Concerto Competition attracted 20 competitors with a variety of instruments, aged between 10 and 19. Each competitor provided a video submission of their performance. From these, the adjudicators selected finalists to perform at the final on Sunday 13th October 2024 at St. Piran’s Centre, Maidenhead.
On the finals day, seven finalists each performed an extract from a concerto with a piano accompaniment in front of an audience and the panel of adjudicators.
The chair of the adjudication panel was world-renowned violinist Tasmin Little CBE. Her fellow adjudicators were Leon Gee, the conductor of the Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra, Robert Roscoe the Conductor Laureate of the Orchestra, and the well-known local pianist Nigel Wilkinson.
First place was awarded to 14-year-old cellist Kiki Skinner from Cambridge, who played the second and third movements from Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1. Kiki’s prize of £1,000 was a generous donation from Bishop Strings of London. She also received an engraved glass trophy and will perform a concerto with the Windsor & Maidenhead Symphony Orchestra in its 2025-2026 season.
The second prize of £250 was awarded to outstanding young violinist Sophie Chung who played the first movement of Sibelius Violin Concerto.
The Deputy Mayor of Windsor & Maidenhead, Councillor Mandy Brar, presented the Aubrey Thonger trophy, which was awarded to flautist Suanoi Sophonpanich for his stunning performance.
The orchestra’s Chairman, Dr Frances Jones, said: “This year the standard was extraordinarily high with amazing performances. I did not envy the task of the adjudicators to choose a winner”. She also thanked Handel Pianos of Sunningdale for the loan of a beautiful Bechstein piano for the day, and thanked the Louis Baylis Trust and the Royal Borough for their support for the competition.
Our next competition will be held on Sunday 12th October 2025.
Read about previous YMC Competitions here.