BBC Young Musician Catch up, Forty Years Young on BBC 4

BBC Young Musician

Forty Years Young

To mark the 40th birthday of BBC Young Musician, a look back at this hugely influential competition, focusing on the soaring careers of the three finalists from 2016, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, saxophonist Jess Gillam and French horn player Ben Goldscheider.\n\nFrom its inception in 1978, BBC Young Musician has been a national institution and performers who've won or taken part amount to a roll call of contemporary British classical music. It's a showcase keenly watched by the music business and an appearance in the final often opens the door to a major career.\n\nEven by the high standards set by the competition, the most recent final in 2016 was very special indeed. The winner Sheku Kanneh-Mason is now Britain's most talked about young musician - he topped the classical charts with his first CD and played twice at the Bafta Awards. His co-finalists Jess Gillam and Ben Goldscheider are also making waves, Jess already featured as a soloist at the Proms and both tipped for stellar careers. This programme follows Sheku, Jess and Ben over the two years since the final, seeing how these young players, all are still in their late teens, are balancing the demands of a blossoming career with their studies at music school.\n\nThe pressures faced by Sheku, Jess and Ben are nothing new and alongside telling the stories of the 2016 trio, the programme also meets many former winners and finalists. These include violinist Nicola Benedetti, winner in 2004 and now an ambassador for the competition, cellist Natalie Clein who won in 1994, percussionist Adrian Spillett, victor in 1998, violinist Jennifer Pike who triumphed aged just 12 in 2002, and pianist Martin James Bartlett the winner of the 2014 final. Also interviewed is acclaimed trumpeter Alison Balsom, now a regular presenter of BBC Young Musician, who feels that while she didn't win in 1998, still sees the competition as an important springboard for her career.\n\nThe programme interviews Humphrey Burton who co-created the competition and presented it for many years, and oboist Nicholas Daniel, the second winner in 1980, who's since gone on to be one of Britain's most acclaimed classical soloists. Also interviewed is actor Richard Wilson, star of One Foot in the Grave, a long-time fan of the competition, who admits to getting slightly tearful at the sight of young musicians playing with such brilliance.\n\nWith contributions from conductor Mark Wigglesworth, music critic Jessica Duchen and principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Julian Lloyd Webber, the programme celebrates forty years of BBC Young Musician and shows that it's never been a more valued and relevant part of the UK classical music scene.

Source: BBC 4

Most recent episodes of BBC Young Musician

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Bbc Young Jazz Musician 2024

Celebrating the competition’s tenth anniversary, four talented young performers compete for the title BBC Young Jazz Musician 2024. \n\nPresented by YolanDa Brown and Hu ...

24-11-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Grand Final Performances

From the several hundred who entered, just three exceptional young musicians remain as the competition that’s launched some of the biggest names in classical music reaches ...

20-10-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Grand Final

Three exceptionally talented musicians vie for the coveted title as the grand final takes place in front of a packed audience in Britain’s newest concert venue. Hundreds o ...

20-10-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Semi-final

Just six musicians remain in the competition as BBC Young Musician 2024 reaches its penultimate stage. All of them have proved themselves to be stand-out performers, but only th ...

13-10-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Quarter-final 2

Six more talented musicians compete in the second quarter-final of this year’s BBC Young Musician, and the pressure is on, with only one of them guaranteed a place in the ...

06-10-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Quarter-final 1

The competition reaches the quarter-final stage and for the remaining musicians, it’s all to play for.\n\nPresented by star saxophonist and broadcaster Jess Gillam, hersel ...

29-09-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Auditions 2

The search for the UK’s next classical superstar continues as more amazing musicians audition for a place in the quarter-finals. With the best players from Wales, Northern ...

22-09-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2024: Auditions 1

The competition that has launched the careers of some of the UK’s biggest names in classical music is back with some amazing young talent to enjoy. \n\nIn this first progr ...

15-09-2024

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2004: Nicola Benedetti's Prizewinning Performance

Nicola Benedetti's plays Szymanowski's thrilling First Violin Concerto, the performance that, at the age of 16, won her the title of BBC Young Musician in 2004.

08-01-2023

BBC 4

All episodes

Bbc Young Musician

2022: 7. Jazz Final

Five emerging stars of jazz perform in the 2022 Grand Final of BBC Young Jazz Musician.\n\nPresented this year by DJ Jamz Supernova, the contest is once again part of the EFG Lo ...

20-11-2022

BBC 4

All episodes