The Competition, which is sponsored by Lark Music Insurance, was launched by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra this spring to celebrate amateur music-making. It encouraged UK-based instrumentalists to submit a short recording of music inspired by birds.

 

AMY JERMAN, a student from Wareham, Dorset, wins the 18-24 category for The Starling. The bittersweet composition for solo piano aims to bring awareness to both the birds’ beauty and their plight as one of the UK’s fastest declining bird species.

 

The 25-39 category winner is LLEWELLA WHITE, a counsellor from London, who was similarly inspired by starlings. The birds’ murmuration reminded her of the choices we make in love, to turn towards each other: her solo performance on harp reflecting this.

 

Guitarist ROB JOHNSTON, a former art teacher from Southsea, Hampshire, wins the 40+ category for a performance inspired by nature’s own orchestra: a 5am dawn chorus of woodland birds, heard during a camping trip near Petworth.

 

The panel of expert judges featured musicians, broadcasters and producers from across the industry, including presenter Tom Service, violinist Tania Davis, and conductor Enyi Okpara.

 

 

Three amateur musicians are letting their creative ambitions soar, thanks to winning the first Lark Music-Making Competition – a new initiative launched by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and sponsored by Lark Music Insurance.

The three prize-winners have each won a £1,000 to catapult their creativity – and all 30 finalists, selected from almost 100 submissions, receive a year’s subscription to Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Digital Concert platform (RRP £170). Each of the 19 concert broadcasts are available to watch live and for 30 days. Upcoming highlights include performances from superstar baritone Roderick Williams OBE, and new music by composer Dani Howard from the BSO’s Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth and saxophonist Jess Gillam.

Members of the judging panel – of eight industry experts, including broadcaster Tom Service, conductor Enyi Okpara, and violinist Tania Davis – individually assessed the recordings based on creativity, expression and musicality.

Pianist Amy Jerman’s performance of a composition for solo piano – The Starling – was described by judges as “cinematic” and “incredibly well written”.  Jerman was inspired to write the work while watching the birds on the Purbeck coastline after hearing a performance at the Swanage Jazz Festival.

Jerman, a student from Wareham, Dorset, 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.

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. Judges commented that it was “beautiful to listen to” and was performed with “poise and confidence”, concluding that “the starlings are lucky to have this music written for them.”

White, 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’.

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!”

Johnston, 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.

The competition was launched by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra – one of the UK’s leading ensembles – in association with Lark Music Insurance, a specialist music insurer committed to supporting musicians at all levels and the generous sponsor of the competition’s prizes. The BSO creates a diverse mix of community music initiatives across the South West, from the BSO Young Associate programme – which supports aspiring community music leaders traditionally underrepresented in the classical music sector – to Symphony from Scratch, an inclusive music-making weekend that unites disabled and non-disabled professional and amateur musicians of all ages. Lark Music is a proud supporter of these two programmes.

Lark Music-Making Competition Judge and Joint Head of BSO Participate, Lucy Warren, said: “We asked for creative responses to birdsong, and what an extraordinary outpouring we received! The range of personalities, expression, and sheer joy that we’ve witnessed has been amazing and evidence of music’s ability to lift us beyond ourselves. Thank you to everyone who submitted recordings, you were brilliant – and congratulations to Amy, Llewella and Rob for your winning entries.”

Lark Music Insurance’s Partnership Account Executive, Brian Hillstead, said: “Day in, day out Lark Music Insurance supports musicians to do what they do best – create music. It’s been humbling to witness such an incredible outburst of creativity, as we’ve seen almost 100 submissions from across the UK. We’re thrilled for Amy, Llewella and Rob, who will continue their musical story with their win – and say thank you to all entrants, for being part of this extraordinary celebration of amateur music-making this year.”

 

For further information, and to register interest in future competitions, please visit bsolive.com/Lark

[ENDS]