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Young flautist Hanhan Qu said she feels “thrilled” to have won the Gordon Brown Woking Young Musician Trophy for the second year in succession.
Woking Music Festival hosted its annual Young Musician competition on Saturday 8th February featuring performances from eight outstanding performers vying for the title of Woking Young Musician 2025, as well as various other award winners.
Adjudicator Georg Caird called the evening “an amazing concert” and added “you are all winners”, expressing his effusive optimism for the future musical careers of these outstanding performers.
Additionally, Caird, a renowned oboist, commented on the winner 15-year-old Hanhan Qu, who played a “phenomenal showpiece” by Chant de Linos “in a way that was sheerly impressive”.
Qu who won £400 in addition to the trophy, said: “I feel thrilled to win again and it was very nice to share a new piece which was a full dimension piece and captured the attention of the audience. It has been a different performance this year in that I was playing for the audience and loved sharing my passion for performing with them. I hope to continue to inspire this and the next generation of young musicians. Thank you to the Woking Young Musicians committee for being so supportive.”
Second place was awarded to 19-year-old harpist Jamaal Kashim. Jamaal was a participant in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2024, reaching the semi-final round. He performed the Fire Dance by composer David Watkins who had won the first Woking Young Musician trophy in 1979. Jamal collected the Yorkshire Building Society Trophy and £325.
Anxo Garcia, a 16-year-old pianist was awarded third place, £250 and the H R Taylor Charitable Trust Trophy. He impressed the adjudicator with his impeccable Debussy toccata as well as his breathtaking interpretation of Chopin’s third Ballade.
All other competitors: Rentarou Nito, Liliia Konstantinova, Nicholas Yang, Jerry Liu and Miriam Grant received a cash prize of £125.
In a packed St John’s Church, the audience, which included The Deputy Mayor of Woking Cllr Amanda Boote and MP Will Forester, was captivated with solo performances from the Young Musician competitors as well as the other outstanding award winners including: Junior Musicians of the Year (Leah Yan and Anaiyah Kashim); Most Promising Young Singer of the Year (Chloe Ayres); Most Promising Young Actor Award (Hattie Wisby); Chamber Music Award Hanhan and Alex Qu); Most Memorable Performance of the Year (Harry Gordon – Bagpipes); Best Choral Performance of the Festival (A Capella ); Dame Ethyl Smyth Award, best performance of a work by a female composer (Yash Saran).
Jamaal Kashim was further awarded a bursary to participate in a Music Summer School.
Mel Benyon, chairman of Woking Young Musician Trust said: “It was a real privilege to be at the Woking Young Musician of the Year final last night. Words fail me. As though the first half wasn’t enough, we had the added bonus of hearing those who had won all the other prizes offered by the competition.
“We thank the Deputy Mayor of Woking Cllr Amanda Boote for presenting the awards as well as our sponsors and friends of the festival for all their ongoing support to enable the evening to be such a tremendous success.
“Well done and many congratulations to our prize winners of the evening.”
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