This spring, nearly 100 amateur musicians from across the UK shared beautiful bird-inspired performances — and what an extraordinary outpouring of talent it was!

We’re thrilled to introduce our three category winners:

Amy Jerman (18–24 ) – The Starling, a bittersweet solo piano piece raising awareness of the birds’ decline.

Amy was inspired to write the work while watching the birds on the Purbeck coastline after hearing a performance at the Swanage Jazz Festival. A student from Wareham, Dorset, Amy is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose love of music began aged 14 on receiving her first saxophone. Jerman’s compositions have been awarded prizes by Bloomington Symphony (Indiana, US), Gonville & Caius, and MuseScore. A passionate advocate for arts and accessibility, she is a youth worker, a member of ABRSM’s Youth Advisory Board and has worked with local music education providers. Jerman plans to use her winnings to experience more live music in person.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist, Amy Jerman

 

Llewella White (25–39) – Murmuration, a poetic solo harp performance capturing the swirling dance of starlings.

Harpist Llewella White, from London, experienced an awe-inspiring murmuration of starlings while walking through a field; the encounter influenced her work for solo harp, Murmuration. Llewella, who works as a counsellor and a manager, began to learn the harp as a student. When working in a central-London emergency department during the pandemic, she noticed an increase of birdsong in the city during COVID curfews, when the city went silent from human traffic. She is now merging the symbolism of birds as a form of transcendence with music for her first solo album ‘When the Birds Came Out Again’.

Harpist, Llewella White

 

Rob Johnston (40+) – Mind the Birds, a joyful, virtuosic guitar piece inspired by a dawn chorus.

Guitarist Rob Johnston was deeply moved by the power of a dawn chorus of woodland birds, heard while camping near Petworth, West Sussex. The experience inspired his work, Mind the Birds, which judges described as “engaging” and a “joyful controlled explosion of  creativity and virtuosity […] as rich as the dawn chorus itself!”. Rob, a former art teacher from Southsea, Hampshire, has enjoyed a long and varied journey with music and plays guitar, piano, accordion and percussion. He has played in folk clubs, music venues and at various festivals and events around the South of England and hopes to use his prize money to fund a recording.

Guitarist, Rob Johnston

A huge thank you to every musician who entered — your passion and creativity made this competition truly special. Watch videos of all the winning performances and our competition highlights below.

 

Lark Music-Making Competition winning entries

Lark Music-Making Competition highlights compilation

 

Want to hear about the next competition? Register your interest here.

To read the full press release click here.