We are absolutely thrilled and extremely proud to
announce the winners of the 2012 June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad
Prize. They are:
Royal Northern College of Music
Lekker Quintet
The Lekker Quintet is an exciting wind ensemble, formed in Manchester in 2011. Formerly studying at the University of Manchester, all players have studied at the Royal Northern College of Music.
The Quintet tour the UK performing a varied repertoire at a variety of venues; including the Bridgewater Hall, St. Martins-in-the-Field and the Carol Nash Recital Room. Musical education is close to the group's ethos and they enjoy giving educational recitals and workshops.
The ensemble have participated in the North West New Music Festival (2011), the Royal Northern College of Music Chamber Festival (2012) and the Per Nørgărd and Hans Abrahamsen festival (2012). This coming October the quintet have been asked to perform as part of the Malcolm Arnold Music Festival in the Midlands. The Quintet are regularly coached by Matthew Hunt, Malinda Maxwell, John Miller and Tim Reynish.
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama
Anime Duo
The Animé flute and guitar duo formed in 2010 while studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. It was here that they established their shared passion for ensemble performance, finding a particular enthusiasm for the music of the 20th and 21st Centuries. The duo aim to bring the music for this unique combination of instruments to a wider audience in an engaging and approachable style.
Animé were accepted onto the Live Music Now scheme in April 2012, a charity which aims to organise concerts for those who may have limited access to live music. They went on to be selected by the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for the June Emerson Launchpad Prize The duo have also performed in a number of recitals around Wales and the rest of the UK, including a performance at the Arcomis International Flute Festival held at the Wales Millennium Centre.
Royal College of Music
Echo Trio
The Echo Trio, formed in 2011 at the Royal College of Music (RCM), is an exciting combination of saxophone (Amy Green), violin (Radu Ropotan) and piano (Alexandra Zlatior).
They participated in the Chamber Music and Woodwind Ensemble competitions at the RCM in 2012, winning the June Emerson Launchpad Prize.
Based in London, they have performed in the concert series at St Mary Abbots Church, High Street Kensington, and in St John’s Church, Notting Hill, in conjunction with the Music Chamber series. This engaging trio enjoy working together and performing a diverse range of music.
About the Launchpad prize
The
Launchpad Prize was an idea that began as a desire to help young
musicians in some significant way. With our limited financial resources
it was difficult to come up with something that would make enough of a
difference to make it worthwhile. The idea of sponsoring a prize at one
of the UK music colleges was something we just couldn’t afford, and we
also felt that we’d like to be able to offer something to more than just
one college and be a little more ‘hands on’. We eventually decided that
we would assist one young (predominantly) final year wind ensemble from
each of the major UK music colleges to launch themselves onto the
professional circuit.
The Launchpad Prize consists of practical help
including: a substantial JEWM music voucher; dedicated space on the JEWM
website; publicity at any time through our online media channels (JEWM
blog, Twitter, Facebook etc); editorial coverage wherever possible;
unlimited free advertising flyers in JEWM music orders in order to
publicise themselves; exclusive access to the JEWM shop with use of all
music and facilities; complimentary copies of any existing and future
Emerson Edition titles which fit their instrumental line-up; anything
else we can think of.
We’d like to wish the 2011 winners all the very
best for a successful future. Please support them by going to hear their
performances - they’re all incredibly talented ensembles and you won’t
be disappointed! They are: Les Trois Canards, Vesuvio Wind Quintet, Kudo
Saxophone Quartet, Hafren Quintet, HMS Quintet and Bells Up!
UPDATE
Follow the link to see two more
Launchpad Prize winners for 2012.
