Semi-Final BBC Young Musician

challenge to date. With just three places in the final to play for,

they'll need to give the performance of their lives. This is

the semi-final of BBC Young If you've been following our

coverage on BBC Four, you will know that the standard has been high.

Two years ago I was blown away by the level of performance. This year

has been better. Each of our categories has been closely

contested with our juries having to make some tough decisions. We can

expect tonight's semi-final play- off to produce something very

special. Is it's time for our five category winners to compete against

each other. They have to prove they have what it takes to make it

through to the final and win the title of BBC Young Musician 2012.

This round is different. They are compete against other instruments.

It will get the adrenaline going up a notch. They will, all of them now,

benefit from the exposure and experience they have had from this

competition. It's a big thing, a special thing. Unique opportunity.

It gives them a fantastic platform. A great start to your professional

career. A very important competition. It's a role call of

who is who in British classical music. It opens doors for people.

For our young competitors, the jury to this semi-final started months

ago. After two tough adution rounds, each went on to win their category

final. They will repeat their category winning programme in front

of a new panel of judges. After achieving so much, none of them

will want to leave the competition at this stage. They will really

have to give it their all to make it through to the final. Let's meet

our five semi-finalists. From 16- year-old Hyun-gi Lee from Seoul,

gave a spell binding performance to win the percussion final. Seamless.

The movement between instruments, and the complete control. Very

impressive. Did you feel in your heart you did enough to win the

category? I think so. I did my best. How do you raise your game for the

semi-final? I need to make big. When I play I don't think about

anything and I go into the music. The second piece I need to listen

to the track accompanying. It's a huge achievement to have got this

far. Having made it to the semi- final, how determined are you to go

through? I am vae determined. I'm very determined. I'm hoping to

play a con cert owe. Fingers crossed. Winner of the strings

title and the youngest musician left is 14-year-old cellist Laura

Vandher Heijden. She had total command of her instrument. I would

never have known she was 14. did you feel when your name was

called? Absolutely amazing. It's hard to describe the feeling

because it's overwhelming, to be honest. Are there any musical

challenges or pit falls? beginning of each piece, getting

the mood exactly right I find difficult. The beginnings of the

three pieces I'm playing are a little bit tricky. I'm never going

in with the view I want to win this or I want to get through. I go in

thinking, I want to play the best I can. I'm having a great time right

now and winning is a huge, huge bonus. 16-year-old Alexander Kelly

from Manchester blew emp away in the brass final. What a warm player.

He cared about every single note that he played. How expressive and

how lyrical your programme was? think of the big symphony. I'm

trying to bring across that there are nice pieces. It can be played

like a normal instrument. Semi- final day, how do you raise your

game? Get into the music. Try and be at one with it. Get it over to

the audience and make them enjoy it as well. At just 15, Charlotte

Barbour-Condini from London made BBC Young Musician history by

becoming the first recorder player to win the woodwind category.

were with her from the first note to the last note. Just magic.

Secretly, did you think had you done enough to get through? I had

no idea. Really, I didn't know. I'm still in shock. Two weeks before I

was panicking slightly. All my pieces were starting to not, well,

Knott work, there were gliches in there that weren't going away. I

think it was a nerves thing. did it feel on the night? Were

there high points or low points? wasn't as nervous as I thought I

would be. I felt relaxed. The nerves kicked in half way through

my programme. How would it feel to get one step further? There is only

so much you can do. I will give it my best shot. Our last semi-

finalist and winner of the keyboard title is 15-year-old Yuanfan Yang

from man chaster. He communicated a very personal tone of voice

throughout. What did you learn from your performance at the keyboard

category final? Learning to enjoy the music even more and I'm looking

forward to playing the same thing again. Hopefully, every day it gets

a bit better and better. special is it for you to be here in

the semi-final playing one of your compositions? Composing has been an

important thing for me. It's part of me. I love to play one of my own

pieces here. It represents who I am. How does it feel to be here now?

feels great. To be able to come back here and play again in the

wonderful hall. I'm really looking forward to tonight. So, that's our

line-up. Five superb young musicians who have already proved

themselves by winning their categories. Tonight, they go up

against each other. For the three who make it through, the final

awaits. You can join us for coverage on BBC Two tomorrow

evening when we head up to The Sage Gateshead. There, our three fine

alists will perform a complete concerto with the Northern Sinfonia

under acclaimed conductor KirillKarabits. I for one can't

wait. The pressure is on four our semi-finalists. Every spare send is

spend rehearsing. With the audience gathering, the time is fast

approaching for the first competitor in this BBC Young

Musician semi-final. Our five semi- finalists are waiting backstage.

It's an exciting line-up, five contrasting instruments. Five

different performers, each with something special to say. For me,

it's the most impossible to choose between them. The decision is in

the hands of our expert jury. They are. Marshal Marus, director of the

South bank Centre's ElSistema Programme. Fearlessness, technical

excellence, a kind of hunger. Acclaimed composer, Tansy Davies.

I'm looking for variety. To get a sense of the personality of an

individual performer. Someone showing an interest in different

styles and eras of music. HuwWatkins, pianist and composer.

Someone who makes me fall in love with something I have never heard

before. And our General Adjudicator, conductor and founder of

SinfoniaCymru, Gareth Jones. will be a tough job tonight. It's

the way you do it more than the piece itself. It's a thrilling

challenge for them. It's about going out and enjoying their 20

minutes. So, here we go. The first to take the stage, here at the

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama is 16-year-old Hyun-gi Lee

who gave a mesmerising performance to win the Percussion Category.

Born in South Korea, Hyun-gi Lee, or Gima, is a full-time student at

the Purcell School. Studying in the UK makes her elible to compete in

the BBC Young Musician. I practice six hours a day. It's not hard

because that is what I want to do. She knows she has to put in the

hours of practice. She is one of the most sensitive marimba players

I have come across. I love this instrument so much. She has been

study at the Purcell School since moving to the UK with her family

four years ago. After two years, her family had to return to Seoul,

but she stayed to season her studies, with her parents blessing.

It was a hard choice to stay here on my own without my family.

Whenever she can, she makes the long journey home to spend precious

time with her family and friend. When I go home they always miss me.

Back in the UK, she heads to the Royal College of Music Junior

Department for a percussion lesson with teacher Cameron Sinclair.

think she has it all. She has a fantastic technique. She plays

things with clarity and great feel. The most important thing about her

is her musicality. She plays with love and care. That was clear when

she came here for her audition as 13 yearly. It was obvious she was

playing from the heart. She has an additional reason to play from the

heart in this semi-final. If I go through to the next round, my

parents promised me that they're going to come over to England to

watch me. So, it would mean quite a lot of things for me. With a lot

riding on this performance, and to open the BBC Young Musician 2012

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It is meant to be like an African peace but I'm also doing a Japanese

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APPLAUSE Huyn-Gi with a dazzling start to her programme. Next, she's

going to play a modern multi- percussion piece.

I'm also playing garage drummer by James Campbell which is accompanied

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APPLAUSE the thing about percussion is that it is amazing the 80 and

she has got this off to a captivating start.

De - amazing theatre. In a beautifully balanced programme,

Hyun-Gi also performed her own arrangement of a Chopin Etude. To

end, we're going to hear an unaccompanied piece for marimba.

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is very majestic and musical, very Hyun-Gi getting this semi-final

underway and giving the jury plenty to think about. She's such an

engaging performer. She is a natural performer at and

you can see that this is someone who is going to have a career.

was very physical in her performance and you got a real

sense of joy. How does it feel? feels great now that I have done it.

Did you enjoy yourself? It was fun to play.

Hyun-Gi getting this semi-final off to a cracking start. Well, next up

it's 14-year-old cellist, Laura van der Heijden. It's extraordinary to

think that Laura is the youngest competitor in this semi-final

because, as we saw in her triumphant Strings Category

performance, she plays such maturity, such grace and also such

Laura attends a secondary school in West Sussex where her musical

talent is supported and encouraged. It is a normal state school and the

way that they support me is they give me a lot of free time. And I

can take time off one I want to do music. Laura travels to London

every weekend for classes at the Royal College of Music's Junior

Department. At my school there were not many people like me who were

involved in music so I wanted to see what it was like to be with

like-minded people. I have been coming to the junior Royal College

of Music for six years. Throughout the week I'm pretty much by myself

practising and making music. One of the nicest things about making

music is to be with other people because you can share and talk

through music together. But Laura's musical education

doesn't stop there. She travels to Hanover for one to

one tuition with Russian cellist Leonid Gorokhov.

I began when he still lived in England and sown after I started

within he moved to Germany. Because he is so fantastic I have followed

him to Germany and now come to Germany quite regularly.

She makes everything her own, it is quite extraordinary. Of course she

wants to be very good but not for her own sake, she wants to bring a

lot of joy to others. The class, I think they said the other day there

were 11 languages spoken in his class and I think that Laura very

much enjoys this. He has six students and a huge Friday of

countries that they come from. -- variety. Music is like a

language and I do not want to be talking to myself, so expressing

yourself with someone I think is very special. It's time to find out

if her performance will speak to The first movement of the Sonata is

a fun and a flirty peace and I love to play it because it is exciting

and very Italian. Because I'm playing on an Italian instrument, I

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Such a high pressure occasion, especially for a 14-year-old. Shect

she's playing that Sonata by Brahms that so impressed the judges in her

Strings Final. It's a warm and colourful movement. You can see the

relationship between the piano and cell o working it's very much a

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duet. The piano has as many She is a class act, Laura Van Der

Heijden, only 14 years old. Playing with such grace and sophistication.

It's amazing. Laura will end with an arrangement for cello of Rimsky-

Korsakov's Golden Cockrell Fantasy. It's flamboyant and beautiful

singing lines that I love playing. MUSIC: Rimsky-Korsakov's, Golden

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Laura Van Der Heijden bringing her semi-final recital to an end, with

a flourish. Her parents seem pleased. Has she done enough to

convince the jury to win one of the places in the final? I think Laura

has a great potential. She has much maturity. Brahms was a difficult

piece to bring off. She had a calm stage presence, at the same time,

she was incredibly brave. She wasn't afraid to go for it. Huge

congratulations. That was stunning playing. How did it feel to you?

Amazing. I had a great time. Yeah, I mean, still quite hyper now.

There is no tension in the playing. Very relaxed. She has an engaging

manner with the public. I had a good time and did the best I could.

With the task of following Laura, next it's Alexander Kelly, winner

of the Brass Category. 16-year-old Alexander Kelly is having a kick

Sonata by Brahmssonsonson with his mates, but they're not your average

bunch of teenagers. We have Patrick who plays the cello. We have a jazz

pianist. They are all from Chetham's School of Music where

Alex studies the bass trombone. Alex may enjoy his football, but

music will always be his passion. Music is my life. I couldn't think

of what I'd do if I didn't play the trombone, I wouldn't have anything

to do. It takes up, literally, all the time I have. Alex's bass

trombone is in high demand. He is Principal at the National Youth

Orchestra. He is also keen to show off the trombone as a solo

instrument. His lessons with his teacher Les Storey is never a shore.

We have a lat laugh, but the serious bit he takes seriously.

Don't rush it there. Alex boards at school, but at weekend he and his

brother, who is also a Chets pupil, swap musical excellence for

ordinary life. On a Saturday afternoon, when they finish having

rehearsals at school, they will leave their instruments there and

come back here and we have Sunday as family day. There has to be

another part of your life as well. Yeah. They need to rest. They try

it get normality when they come back here. Will Alex's competitive

streak serve him well and see him through to the final? I would love

to. It would be fantastic. It would be the best thing in my life.

got plenty of support from his family in the audience. He opens

with MarceauSmphoniqe, by Guilmantaccompanied by Hillary

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MUSIC: Marceau Symphonique by Guilmant was a French composer. It

starts off slow with the melodious line and then finishes with the big

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The great reaction from the audience there. Next a piece by

another French composer. My next piece is by someone who was a

professor at the Paris Conservatory. It is quite slow and quiet and

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He is such a warm character and makes such an expressive sound with

that instrument. This piece is quite Russian, it is

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loud but also quite quiet in some A gutsy performance from Alex, and

a proud moment for his family in the audience. But what will the

jury think? This guide makes such a wonderful

sound, I'd really love his sound in all dynamics. How did that compared

to the category final? It was a bit scary. I was a bit more nervous

beforehand but hopefully it did not show. I was impressed with the

fluidity and he was so on top of the technique. He can't really get

these low sounds which are just fantastic. But he also has this

lire courtside to his playing and it is wonderful to have that

contrast. Any particular highlights? Well at the last piece

in particular. I hope I did it justice.

Lovely warm playing there from Alexander Kelly. Now remember our

five semi-finalists are competing for just three places in the final.

Next it's 15-year-old Charlotte Barbour-Condini who made BBC Young

Musician history by becoming the first ever recorder player to win

Like most people, Charlotte's introduction to the recorder was in

group lessons at primary school. Soon she started to take it more

seriously, moving on to individual lessons. When I tell people that I

play the recorder at they usually say it is not a proper instrument.

A lot of people have played it at primary school and it is seen as a

stepping stone to other instruments in the future.

But the recorder's not Charlotte's only instrument, she's a bit of a

musical all-rounder. She's Grade 8 on both the piano and the violin

and has a collection of competition trophies at home to show for her

hard work. I still do not know if I will be a pianist, recorder player

or violinist or a mixture of all three. I would like to keep all

three for as long as possible. But there does have to, time when I do

focus and decide which is my main instrument, because I just do not

do know. He will ask which is her favourite

and she says, which ever won I'm playing.

Charlotte's passion for music sees her attend classes, every weekend,

at the Royal Academy of Music with teacher Barbra Law. She introduced

me to quite a lot of more modern stuff as well as very early stuff

which is nice because I have a wider repertoire. I think we

abattoir is everything at this stage. Without that we are missing

the Classical and Romantic pieces that other instruments draw upon.

So we need to make it as varied as possible. So if that means going

back to medieval then that is the way to go. She is really

enthusiastic about the recorder which is really good because it

gives me confidence. And does Charlotte feel confident that the

recorder can compete with the other instruments here in the semi-final?

I do not think it is the size or volume of an instrument that

matters. I would just like everyone to see what the recorder can do. It

could Challenge people's views about the recorder.

Charlotte's immediate challenge is to convince the jury that she and

the recorder deserve a place in the final.

I'm playing a medieval dance that would have been played around

Europe with travelling fans. I'm being a company to on percussion

and we are trying to recreate the kind of atmosphere of a travelling

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A rousing start to her programme. Next, joined by accompanist David

Gordon, Charlotte's playing an early Baroque piece - Sonata

Seconda by Castello. It does not have separate movements

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as such, it is just one piece with Effortless grace from Charlotte

Barbour-Condini. Her programme reflects the range of what he can

do as a performer but what the recorder is capable of. As part of

her varied programme, Charlotte also performed two contemporary

pieces, Music for a Bird by Lind and a piece for the tenor recorder.

For each line of the poem there is a particular phrase. Have you to

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try and bring out what the word are Fantastic reception in the hall.

Charlotte's mother looks delighted with her performance. Surely, she's

proven that the recorder can more than hold its own. She impressed us

all. It's a really impressive recital. When I saw it was a

recorder I thought, umm, I was blown away by Charlotte. You looked

beautiful out there. Were you feeling nervous at any point?

felt more nervous than the Category auditions. She glided effortless

between different styles. It was beautiful. Very elegant almost

intoxicating recorder playing there from Charlotte Barbour-Condini. Now,

to close this semi-final we will be hearing from Yuanfan Yang, the

winner of our Keyboard Category. He is also a bit of a veteran of this

competition having reached the Category Finals two years ago. He

triumphed with a Diaz ling technical display this year.

performance in this year's keyboard final won the unanimous vote of the

jury. Not a bad outcome given he almost didn't enter the competition

this time around. It was only near the deadline for entering that

friends and family urged me by saying, "why not give it another

go". He has continued his studies at Chetham's School of Music where

he's been a full-time student since he was 11. As well as per --

performing he is passionate Sonata by Brahmssonsonson composing.

not just Sonata by Brahmssonsonson like playing music, it's Sonata by

Brahmssonsonson creating new music as well. With the piano he has this

first-rate technique. He writes in a way that use it is very

effectively. They both help each other as well. He does have an

extraordinary knack of finding colours and sounds in an exciting

way. To play music, to compose music, I think, is absolutely

fantastic. Having knead through to the semi-final this time, can

Yuanfan succeed in going all the way to the final? I'm quite

determined. I will be overjoyed if I make it to the next round. Will

his perseverance pay off? First, we're going to hear him perform

Debussy's La Terasse desAudiences du Claire de Lune. It's really

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APPLAUSE. A bewitching performance from

Yuanfan in his Debussy. As part of his recital, he also performed the

First Movement of Beethoven's Sonata in E flat. Now he showcases

one of his own compositions, The Haunted Bell. It is boat the belt

of a clock tower which sounds 13 times throughout the piece. Ghostly

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An unbelievably assured performance. He seemed to love every second of

that. The last piece I'm going to play is

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a Chopin. It is just really fun to Well, Yuanfan's performance has

certainly pleased his teacher and parents. His mum's looking very

emotional. It's going to be a difficult decision for the jury, as

this semi-final draws to a close. What a way to end the evening. It

was just something wonderful. was amazing, how do you feel?

feel really great after that, it was a privilege to perform on the

stage again. I thought it was magical. A fabulous sense of

authority and a quiet confidence. So, that was Yuanfan Yang, bringing

the last of our this BBC Young Musician Semi Final Semi-Finalists

to a close. We've heard five truly outstanding young performers. A

real range of both repertoire and instruments. It's going to be a

very tough call. Tasked with making the decisions:

Marshall Marcus - Director of the Southbank Centre's El Sistema

Programme. Acclaimed composer, Tansy Davies. Pianist, composer and

teacher, Huw Watkins. And our General Adjudicator, conductor and

Founder of Sinfonia Cymru, Gareth Jones.

The first person on this evening was Hyun-gi Lee. This girl has got

great energy and I love the way she just glides around.

The engagement for the audience is probable wall. A wonderful

performance and almost like a dance piece. She was moving her body so

intricately. Second-team we had Laura Van Der

Heijden. In her programme she had a sonata as her middle piece. I

thought that was a high point in the evening. We were all left at

the end thinking, what a piece of music. When you have that you know

that the player has done something very special. Wonderfully engaging

performance. The next semi-finalist was Alexander Kelly.

I love his sound. He was able to achieve that really deep sound that

can crackle in the room. Dante was moving freely between the two which

was wonderful. There is a level of fluency and

fluidity and beauty to that phrasing that makes you think again

about the trombone. In the first two pieces of the

recorder, that was so spontaneous. It was complete confidence and

mastery with each instrument. She communicated to the audience

that it is nothing to her to play something old and something very

new. I think that is an important quality and it is so rare.

And a final semi- finalist was the pianist, Yuanfan Yang.

Loved his piece, The Haunted Bell. Soft sounds in the Debussy, which

is hard to do. He was using time at his ledger to make it work for him.

There is an integrity to his presentation and performance.

I think we have a really difficult decision to try to a live act.

-- arrive at. An agonising decision for the jury,

but what are the audience thinking? My favourite was the recorder.

would put through the pianist, the percussionist and the cellist. I

think the wild card is the recorder, she played so beautifully.

person that stood out to me was the pianist. Why thought he was

fantastic. The whole evening, such young but such confident musicians,

it was inspiring. So, the wait is almost over. People

here have their favourites. For two of our semi-finalists it's going to

be the end of their BBC Young Musician journey. But they will be

leaving as Category Winners. For three, a place in the BBC Young

Musician 2012 Final awaits. Here to announce the names of the three

going through is our General Adjudicator, Gareth Jones.

We have had the most amazing evening of music making from five

enormously talented young musicians. We have arrived at the decision and

it is my pleasure to tell you that the FT semi-finalist going through

to the final are, in no particular Pianist Yuanfan Yang the first

through to the final, but who will join him?

Charlotte Barbour-Condini. Congratulations to Charlotte, the

first recorder player ever to make it to the final of this competition.

So just one place remains. And Laura Van Der Heijden.

So, cellist Laura van der Heijden completes the line-up for the final

of BBC Young Musician 2012. The thrilling prospect of performing a

concerto of their choice, with the Northern Sinfonia conducted by

Kirill Karabits, awaits. Congratulations too to Hyun-Gi and

Alex for getting this far in the competition. They of course leave

as winners of their individual categories. There were five

musicians there, all of them could happily have gone through to the

final. So it was difficult for the judges. We have got three real

performers going through to the final. They will need time to take

it in. Fantastic. Did you have any sense to live that Laura had done

it? They'd just had this assurance and confidence that made me feel

completely safe but also excited. We feel very happy, very happy to

get through to the next stage. the people going through certainly

have the capacity to stand up there and really communicate them used to

County and their feelings about whatever piece they choose to

perform. You must be an extremely proud mother. I am extremely proud.

She did amazingly well to have got through. And a rallying cry 84

recorders everywhere. All three have got this quality of internal

assurance and they know what they're doing. That gives me the

impression that an orchestra will not faze them.

Congratulations and well done to Laura, Yuanfan and Charlotte, who