Young Musicians of the Year

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Anyone watching?

Quite enjoying the auditions, although not sure if it a dumbing down from the previous format.

The presenter and judges are good.

who does everyone like from last week and this week?

Not enjoying this new format at all. Too much inane chat and not enough music. No brass players or percussionists in the quarter final either - almost all strings players. It was much better when there were the different categories so each instrument family had the chance to shine (and also encourage the next generation). Very disappointed. Not sure I'll bother watching the rest of the series...

It’s very BGT-ish.

i agree, it’s not so inspiring.

Was hoping the saxophonist would get through - really thought she was good and a good advocate.

I'm finding the format quite dumbed down. Don't particularly like the judges and as for wildcards?

Much better to have the old sectional finals - now we're got too many strings. Nothing against strings as the cello was my instrument but it was better when there was more variety.

I'll stick with it but hope they return to the previous format next time.

I didn’t mind the judges in the auditions, but am surprised that they’re judging the quarter finalists. I assumed they’d get new, more prestigious, judges.

Apparently the format was changed so there were musicians from across the country.

Who do you think will win? Theres one person I definantly think will be in the final, based on their length of video (good musician, but I preferred other musicians).

And yes, the old format was much better and prestigious. If they want regional finalists, they could have one each from the four nations in each music section final, plus a couple of wildcards (can’t remember how many musicians per night there were).

(and I don’t routinely listen to classical music, but always enjoyed Young Musicians).

Who do you think will win?
I have someone I want to win :)
I think the problem with the judges is that they are not necessarily experts for the instruments they are judging which is why there is so much talk about wow factor and programming and connecting with the audience. I assume that the entries before they got to the auditions were judged by people who play the instrument they were judging.
I'm in awe how fabulous all the participants are.

I haven't seen it for years, and caught up with one of the quarter finals last night.

Not convinced by the new format, as all the instruments have such different degrees of difficulty. Having sectional winners is a much better idea, as they are judged on technique etc as well as musicality. Then the final can be all about 'the wow factor' or whatever.

I'm a bit bitter. DS was in young chorister of the year, and the judges banged on about stage presence etc, whereas what choristers actually do is just sing beautifully in a non-showy way!

“Not convinced by the new format, as all the instruments have such different degrees of difficulty. ”

I think that’s partly why I was surprised there weren’t fresh judges in the quarter finals, who would bring different knowledge to the competition. and impartiality.

Yes I agree, something about this new format doesn't work.

I don't mind that there are more string players, because I always thought that some of the categories like percussion had a lot fewer entries and it seemed a bit unfair that so many good string players were out of it early on. But this isn't quite working for me either.

We only see such tiny snippets of their performances. And they definitely need judges experiences in the category and technique at the early stages - the wow factor stuff was always for the semi-final or final stage where you knew already that they were technically great and were just being judged on the musicianship and performance skills by then. It's too early to have them judged mainly on that.

I liked when you could see more of the performance, or at least catch up on iPlayer. This seems both more hidden away now that it's only on BBC4, and at the same time, a bit classic-FM in style with just the odd movements or short pieces shown.

Choosing two winners from the random division into groups of 6, plus extras, seems unfair as well, as already it says who the judges like the most, and then they are the same judges in the final.

But as always, the performers are amazing, and so talented at such a young age, and so professional-seeming already!

@herbaceous

On a much lesser level, my daughter was playing her cello in our local Young Musician contest. She was up against bum wiggling violin players grinning at the judges and audience etc. She wasn't placed although was technically a much better player.
Her feedback was that she needed to smile more and interact with the audience more. The piece she played was ........ The Theme from Schindler's List!

She didn't botherentering again.

I just find this year's BBC contest too dumbed down and casual. I think they're trying to make it more appealing to the general public but there was nothing wrong with the way it was.

I’m not actually sure how much the general public know about it - it’s not been publicised much.

Yes that's what's frustrating - they are both trying to dumb it down to make it more appealing to the general public, but then also hiding it away so that the general public doesn't really know about it, and the people who do know and care find it too dumbed down! Lots of classical music things seem to be going this way, trying to make them more appealing to the general public, but at the same time, changing them so that the core audience doesn't like them anymore, and satisfying nobody.

Harder to call tonight. I knew straight away Jamil would win last week, the judges favourite.

I quite like the violinist on now, Rose, especially the first piece she did (the second, she was good but seemed a little quiet/thin in the upper ranges, or maybe the piano was too loud). I didn't fully hear the last two though as I was cooking dinner, but they also sounded good.

Yes, Rose was good. Finn seems to be getting a lot of tv coverage, and Jackie was a previous finalist ( or semi finalist).

I was shocked at the outcome tonight. Tonight's harpist was way better than Jamal.... The winner was right though. What really shocked me though was that with 2 female judges they had 4 male semi finalists and one women and 4 female "failed" semi finalists and one male. Utterly disgraceful given that one o the girls was better than last weeks winner

Also if Jacky were to turn up at RCM playing that Byrd the way he did he'd be laughed out of the historic keyboard class - how can he even thin about pedaling Byrd?

I wasn't that keen on Jacky either. I liked the harpist, though I agree that her second piece was perhaps not right for the programme.

I noticed the male/female split (I thought 5 males an only one female) but I'm not sure), but I didn't mind it. I was pleased that they weren't trying hard to make it balanced just for the sake of it (the fact that the quarter finals were perfectly balanced makes me think they probably did for that). So they must have felt those were the best. I still liked some of the others better, the violinist Rose, and the harpist. I didn't like the clarinettist as much tonight, though I'm sure she was excellent - just didn't appeal to me.

I preferred Rose as well. Surprised Finn didn’t get through.

Don’t mind the male/female mix - I want the best musician to go through regardless of sex.

Why have so many wildcards when only a couple go through as winners? Better to have more winners. If you were a wikdcard, you probably think your chances of getting through are slim if you have the same judges.

I really liked the harpist that didn’t go through from the auditions as well - more of a traditional harpist but have a lovely time. Today’s harpist I initially wasn’t so keen on, but then as she performed in the audition, I got her. She was making the harp more relevant for today.

Still wish the saxophonist got through from the auditions. She was my favourite. Liked Hugo as well.

I think Jamil will win (not my favourite finalist).

From the first auditions, I liked Hugo and Rose. It seems odd that Rose, as leader of the NYO, couldn't even get through to the semi finals. I do think the judges come out with some strange comments and hope there are different ones for the semi and final.

Finn is the lead cellist in the National Youth String orchestra, so has pedigree as well.

I fear it’s the same judges throughout.

Is there a public vote in the final?

I do get why Rose didn't make it over the other 2 violinists that didn't - she was technically amazing but didn't "sell" the performance as well. There was an integrity to Maya's playing that was captivating (TBH she should have won over Jamaal).

I think maybe they also need to have a look at the eligibility criteria as 2 things seem a bit unfair.First there are a lot of competitors still at school and juggling music and public exams and others who have managed to get into conservatoire very young - Jacky for example is in his 4th year at RCM - its hard to see how a 17 year old living a "normal" life could find the same hours to practice. Perhaps they should debar anyone in the second or later year in tertiary education.

Secondly, I wouldn't mind the male/female mix if I broadly agreed with the judges but I don't, so the question of unconscious bias does arise - men are usually seen as more confident/showmen which might have a bearing on how the judges see their performance. I think that may also have in part been Dafne's downfall - she wanted her programme to say something heartfelt about the world (and as she's Turkish it must all see very close to home) rather than just her personal brilliance which led to the judges not liking her repertoire choice. The Berlin Phil famously increased its (admittedly previously woefully poor) male female ratio when it instituted blind auditions so they couldn't see who was behind the curtain.

Blind auditions are good. My sister has done quite a few, and they also tell you not to wear heels as walking on to the platform in heels gives away women even when behind a curtain.

I managed to catch up on this. I didn’t like Shlomi’s Wieniawski at all- it was too erratic in its intonation. There is a contradiction in putting him through on the basis of promise but saying that Maya was too polished. Make up your mind!. I thought Rose was better than Shlomi. Jamaal was good but I thought Ryan Wang was in a different league to him.

I taught Jess Gillam when she was at school. Not to play saxophone though, sadly.