Woodwind Final BBC Young Musician

Last week, 15-year-old Elliot Gaston-Ross

beat off strong competition to win the percussion title.

There's something special about him and he's really got something.

We'll see Elliot again in two weeks' time

along with violinist William Dutton...

..when BBC Young Musician reaches the semifinal stage.

Tonight, the spotlight is on woodwind.

Two flautists,

two saxophonists

and a recorder player

have made it through to the category finals here in Cardiff.

After all those hours of practice, each one of them

will be hoping to put in a winning performance.

What's at stake? The category title.

And that coveted place in the semifinal

of BBC Young Musician 2014.

It was the biggest musical experience of my life.

BBC Young Musician is the most important competition in the UK.

I'm extremely grateful to the competition...

..for making my dreams a reality.

As a young musician, it just lifts your playing to a different level.

When you see all these teenagers play, they have such love of music.

It will be an unforgettable experience for them

which will make them love music even more.

The last two years have been a roller-coaster ride.

-Laura van der Heijden.

-CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Winning the BBC Young Musician gave me a career.

Since the competition started back in 1978,

just three woodwind players have won the overall title.

Oboe-player, Nicholas Daniel

and clarinet-players Emma Johnson

and Mark Simpson.

Tonight's finalists will all hope to follow in their footsteps.

We will be meeting them in just a moment

but, first, here is a reminder of how they made it this far

and what lies ahead for the winner.

Nearly 500 young hopefuls entered this year's competition

and, after two audition rounds,

25 were selected for these televised finals.

Those 25 are divided into five categories -

strings, percussion, woodwind,

keyboard and brass.

One winner from each category will progress to the semifinals,

where they will compete for just three places

in the BBC Young Musician final.

The three finalists will perform a concerto

at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on May the 18th

with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

under the baton of Kirill Karabits.

One will be named BBC Young Musician 2014.

Taking part in BBC Young Musician

can be such an important crossroads in a musician's life,

as I discovered when I reached the final back in 1998.

This competition can help launch a career,

but it can also be quite a daunting experience.

Most of these young people will be used to taking part in auditions

and will have faced competition juries many times before.

But few of them will have experienced the lights,

the cameras and the general paraphernalia of television.

What these players have to do now is just put all of that

out of their minds and think about their music.

Tonight's woodwind finalists are...

17-year-old saxophonist Nick Seymour

who comes from Cornwall and studies in Manchester.

I'm quite relaxed about the whole experience, to be honest,

I'm just looking forward to be playing for these guys.

I'm going to do my best and just not think too hard

that I'm being filmed or judged or anything like that.

Honestly, I didn't think that I would make it this far

and I'm really happy that I have. I'm going to give it everything I've got.

Flautist Hannah Foster is 18 and from Edinburgh.

When people see a flute,

they automatically think that it's going to be quite pretty,

but there's a lot of darker stuff that people don't expect.

I'm hoping that I'm just going to really enjoy it.

Our second saxophonist,

15-year-old Jess Gillam from Cumbria.

You can practise all the time in the world,

but performing and sharing it with people is what I love to do.

I never thought I'd be here on the telly!

When you watch it on telly, I never thought that would be me.

I've always wished it would be, but I never thought it would,

so it's great to be here.

Recorder-player Sophie Westbrooke

is 15 and from Sevenoaks in Kent.

I love performing.

It's so much fun and it's just really nice

to feel that you can kind of make people happy, in a way?

Sounds really cheesy, but, yeah.

I'm just waiting for it to hit me that I'm actually here.

And, completing the line-up,

19-year-old flautist Daniel Shao,

who's a first-year student at Oxford University.

I love performing. I play much better while I'm performing.

Connecting with other people through music is the whole reason we do it.

I'm just happy to be playing in such a nice hall

and such a great environment.

And there we have our five woodwind finalists.

I seriously cannot wait to hear our five talented players this evening.

There will be a variety of instruments and styles

and a repertoire ranging from medieval to the 21st century.

However, in order to secure their place in the semifinal,

they will need to impress three very important people.

Tonight's judges are...

..Simon Haram, one of the UK's leading saxophone players.

Things that I'm looking for this evening - a dynamic performance,

some real excitement and, basically, an entertainer.

Marie-Christine Zupancic, principal flautist

with the City Of Birmingham

Symphony Orchestra since 2006.

I'm just looking for the most thrilling performance tonight.

Someone who really convinces us.

And our general adjudicator,

Director of the Cheltenham Music Festival, Meurig Bowen.

I'm going to be looking for something indefinably special.

Not only a musical intelligence, but an emotional intelligence, too.

They're going to have to demonstrate a real passion

for what you're doing, basically, and that will show through, instantly.

At the end of the day, it's how they communicate with the audience.

That's the most important thing.

I'll just see and let myself be surprised tonight.

After months of preparation,

the waiting is nearly over for our five woodwind finalists.

With the audience arriving,

there is a real sense of anticipation all around the hall.

As you can see, we are literally moments away

from the start of this final.

The judges are about to take their seats

and waiting eagerly backstage

is our first contestant, saxophonist Nick Seymour.

The very first thing he played was the mouth organ, and then,

when he was about six, he came into my bedroom one morning and said,

"I NEED to play the saxophone."

So it sort of went from there.

Nick studies at Chetham's School Of Music in Manchester.

I think I must've been 14 when my mum thought

that she would get me an advice audition up in Chetham's

to see whether I was any good.

And it turned out I was quite good, they thought,

so I came here and it's just been fantastic ever since.

THEY PLAY UPBEAT PIECE

NICK PLAYS COMPLEX SOLO

With a background in dance,

mum Eva understands Nick's passion for performance.

Music is something that has just taken over his life,

as in, it's something that he absolutely loves doing

and he's constantly looking at new types of music, but the classical...

I think he's really found himself in classical,

and in classical saxophone which he thinks,

you know, "Its time has come".

A lot of people think of it as a jazz instrument,

it's not part of the orchestra, it's quite modern.

But there's so many different kinds of music

and every piece is individual.

He's really inspirational.

He takes control quite a lot

and he just keeps us all trailing behind him.

He's really good to learn from.

FLOURISHED END TO MUSIC

HE PLAYS FLOWING PIECE

I love the sounds I can make with the saxophone.

HE PLAYS FLOWING PIECE

There's so many different tone colours I can produce

with the instrument and it depends on what reed

or set-up you're playing on. That's really fascinating.

But, generally, just playing music is fantastic.

Someone like Nick, I would say that music chooses him.

I've been teaching Nick for the last four years.

Nick's a very determined player.

He finds out new skills that he's developing all the time.

He's very interested in extended techniques on the saxophone,

so a very exciting player to teach.

HE FINISHES PIECE

Whenever he gets the chance, Nick heads home to Penzance in Cornwall.

It's great to be home. It's just really nice to see all this again.

Quite regularly, we go out for walks, we sometimes go cycling.

We go to the beach quite a lot.

It's really lovely to just look at everything and it does...

It's really tranquil and it makes me feel quite calm,

so it is nice to play while I'm here.

Just the landscapes and the nature is really inspirational to what I do.

Quite a contrast to Manchester.

It's a lot quieter, the pace of life is a lot slower

and I can just wake up when I want, which is nice!

He rehearses at home all the time.

It's quite loud and it can get annoying.

Especially when you're hearing the same stuff over and over and over.

But, I mean, we're really proud of him and he's a big inspiration.

Performance for me is what it's all about, really,

that's what I aim for, as a musician,

and that's what I want to do in my career.

So it really gives me a fantastic buzz, there's nothing like it at all.

I'm really here to play as much as I can and perform to all these people

which is going to be a fantastic experience,

whether or not I get through.

CLAPPING

AUDIENCE APPLAUDS

So here is Nick Seymour to open this woodwind category final.

When I'm performing, I want people to enjoy what they're hearing.

I'm going to play Ku Ku by Barry Cockroft.

He's an Australian saxophonist and composer.

Ku Ku, the name itself, is Swahili for "chicken",

and that obviously has crazy connotations

and, like, gives you the idea of madness.

APPLAUSE

Nick Seymour opening this final with a performance of Ku Ku by Cockroft.

I'm then going to play Aria by Eugene Bozza.

This piece was originally written for the saxophone.

It's not really got anywhere to breathe. It was probably...

He probably had a violin more in mind when he wrote it,

but it's a great challenge to play well,

and, if I pull it off, it'll be great.

APPLAUSE

The last piece I'll play will be Pequene Czarda by Pedro Iturralde.

The piece is quite a big bang to go out on, definitely.

I think everybody will be happy at the end of it.

APPLAUSE

17-year-old Nick Seymour

giving us a fantastic start to the woodwind final here this evening.

Such a great choice of programme,

showing off many different qualities.

So, Nick, breaking the ice,

opening the competition with such a virtuosic first piece!

Yeah, I guess that was pretty hard.

-I was breathless!

-Yeah, me, too.

That was absolutely amazing.

Incredible technique, but also

such a beautiful sound of incredible musicianship there, I think.

He really ran the gamut of techniques that the saxophone can do.

Really impressive.

I was on the edge of my chair and everybody else was -

-what a reaction you had! I mean, seriously!

-Great, thank you.

Nick Seymour setting a high standard for this woodwind category final.

Whoever wins tonight will progress through

to the next round of the competition,

where they will compete against the other category winners

for a place in the grand final.

The last time it was held in Edinburgh was back in 2004,

when Scottish violinist,

the wonderful Nicola Benedetti took the title.

This year, she returns to the competition

as its first ever ambassador

and we all really look forward to seeing her there.

Our next competitor, flautist Hannah Foster,

will be surely looking to emulate Nicky's success

as she's our only Scottish competitor in the category finals.

18-year-old Hannah Foster lives and studies in Edinburgh,

but her chosen instrument, the flute, is not her only passion.

Art and painting helps me to relax, it gives me a bit of peace...

outside of the music.

I'm doing Advanced Higher Art

and my folio is on tigers.

I went to Edinburgh Zoo in the summer,

thinking I was going to do my whole project on Edinburgh Zoo,

but seeing tigers and thinking about issues

have really made me love tigers!

Tigers, in quite a lot of cultures, are a symbol of strength.

But, actually, they're very vulnerable.

I think the flute is misunderstood in a way as well,

because it's viewed as quite a pretty, girly instrument.

I think there's a lot of darkness and intensity that you can find,

because I can kind of bounce off ideas from art into music.

THEY PLAY BAROQUE PIECE

Anything to do with flute makes me feel happy.

It's like singing.

It's kind of like the human voice.

I can't sing, but, I don't know,

it feels very much like it's part of you in your playing.

I go to St Mary's Music School.

It's a lot of practice, which is good. Orchestra and chamber music.

PIECE ENDS

Hannah has flute lessons with Matthew Studdert-Kennedy.

'By the time I started teaching Hannah,

'she was already clearly a wonderful flute-player.'

The middle one...

'What I try to help Hannah do is to find things in the music'

that excite her. Find her way of doing things.

Matthew, my flute teacher, is fantastic.

Or from the top, whichever you prefer.

He really tries to get me to think independently,

about, musically, what I want to say.

So he nit-picks on a lot of different things in a piece.

You know, tiny things, but it really does affect the music.

I'm sorry to stop you... The breaths just take ever so slightly too long.

I'm nit-picking, I'm really nit-picking...

And what was the other thing? Here. No crescendo.

# Do-di-da-di-dum, boo-doo-doo-bom. Bi-bi-dum! #

There's the crescendo.

Once, do it from those up bits.

SHE PLAYS COMPLEX PIECE

'She has flair, she has great, solid technique

'and she has an absolutely amazing determination.'

She's just better than all the others!

HE LAUGHS

Hannah comes from a musical family

and was introduced to the flute by her dad.

As soon as she starts playing the flute, she gets into the zone.

From the minute she started playing,

she expected to play every day.

I entered BBC Young Musician

because it just seems like a great opportunity

for people like myself to go for.

I don't see why not, I think. It's there for everyone.

So here is Hannah Foster,

the first of two flautists in this woodwind final.

APPLAUSE

When I was programming, I wanted to have a wide spread

of different things that you can do on the flute.

I'm starting with the third movement of the Bach Sonata in E Minor.

It's like an aria, it's really song-like and it's very simple.

It's kind of like an improvisation.

APPLAUSE

I'm following Bach with Eugene Bozza's Image,

which is quite a fizzy piece.

It's unaccompanied, so it's really exposed

and you just have to go for it, because there's nobody else there.

APPLAUSE

That was Bozza's Image for Solo Flute played by Hannah Foster.

After the kind of bubbliness of the solo piece,

I'm playing Frank Martin's Ballade, which was composed in 1939.

The Ballade is just a really dark piece.

It's really...kind of evil!

Er, which is... which is a good contrast

but it's also really enjoyable to play cos it's so gritty.

APPLAUSE

Hannah Foster there,

giving us a captivating performance through all of her repertoire,

starting with JS Bach -

the perfect way to start a journey, in my opinion.

Congratulations.

-Thank you!

-How did it feel?

-You happy?

-Um, it was, like... quite a rush.

Um, it was...

it was...fun!

I think what I liked best about Hannah

was the communication with the audience.

She was really sort of taking us through these different worlds

and, yeah, I really enjoyed that.

Hannah's clearly a very intelligent, sensitive player.

Lots of moods in a very widely-contrasting programme.

I think she was nervous and it was very apparent to me

that she'd very much relaxed by her third piece,

the Frank Martin and she really went for it in that piece most of all.

-Well done, it's time to rest now.

-Thank you!

-Ciao!

-OK, thank you.

Still to come, we have recorder player Sophie Westbrooke

and flautist Dan Shao but next to perform

we have 15-year-old saxophonist Jess Gillam.

Saxophone player Jess Gillam lives in Ulverston in Cumbria.

I've worked in my mum and dad's tearoom since I was 10.

BELL TINKLES

It's given me the base for a lot of what I do now,

so I earned money here to be able to buy my saxophones

and also to meet a lot of different people

and it's really helped with my people skills as well

because I find that, in the music industry, it's not just about

the playing, you need to be able to communicate properly

and to deal with people, so working here has really helped with that.

-Thank you.

-I'll bring the hot milk out now for you.

Brilliant.

I used to busk on the corner over the road

and that really helped because

there were people there who would come up

and tell you people to listen to.

BELL RINGS

Also, the people who don't enjoy it so much, as well,

it's all good practice for when, when I'd like to be a performer,

when people might not enjoy it!

Jess's dad is a drummer

and he knows how to deal with a tough crowd.

Can be quite an unreceptive bunch, people, when you're busking

so it's good training for future musical life

to grow a thick skin and also

get a chance to play to an appreciative audience.

SAXOPHONE PLAYS

-Would you like to try this one now?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

I teach Lewis, a boy with Down's syndrome, once a week

in my mum and dad's tearoom.

I really enjoy teaching

because it makes me understand what I'm doing more, as well,

so going back to basics and really simple,

it makes sure you've got all the foundations

to do all the more technical things.

It's really nice to be able to pass on what I can do to other people.

-This bit was much better.

-Mm-hm.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

And you remembered all the B-flats through here, yeah?

-Yeah.

-It was much better.

Every weekend, Jess makes the two-hour journey to Manchester

for lessons at the Royal Northern College of Music.

I started studying saxophone and piano

at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music in September 2011

and I studied saxophone there with Ruth Bourne.

And I get on really well with her because it's nice that we can...

have a laugh in the lesson as well as get on with the music.

Yeah, all of that section...

'I've never known anybody so at home on their instrument,

'certainly at her age - she just... It feels like'

the instrument's just part of her and so, technically,

there doesn't seem to be many barriers,

so that the things that she can do expressively,

or the things that she wants to do expressively, she can just do.

Many people can be technical musicians

but I think Jess's strength is she's a performer.

Some of her personality comes out in her playing

and her passion for music comes out in her playing.

And that counts for a lot in-in music.

She's got the technical ability and-and the performance skills.

The performance side of music is what I love doing most.

I mean, I love to study and do the other things as well

but performing is what I love and I think that's what it's all about

and having the different opportunities to perform

in different settings and to different people

is really important to me.

And it's just what I love to do.

She's someone who clearly loves the stage.

Here is 15-year-old saxophonist Jess Gillam.

APPLAUSE

I've tried to put a programme together

that has some of my personality in the music

and it's all music that I love to play.

I'm opening with the Tango Etude no.3 by Piazzolla.

I love to play this one

because it's all about the Argentinean tango.

Different parts of the music, I imagine different scenes in a tango.

To follow Piazzolla's Tango Etude no.3,

Jess is going to play the 4th movement from

Tableaux de Provence by Paul Maurice.

When I'm playing this one, I imagine a haunted, spooky castle

with spirits and ghosts over the top of the castle,

um, floating around and it's-it's a beautiful piece

but it's quite eerie and dark.

What an atmosphere.

And such stillness at the end of that piece by Maurice.

I'm finishing with Deep Purple by Peter DeRose,

arranged by Rudy Wiedoeft.

And Rudy Wiedoeft was an American saxophonist

who took popular music of his time and put a whole new take on it.

So this one is the jazz tune, Deep Purple,

and he's taken it to lots of different levels.

APPLAUSE

What a brilliant performance by 15-year-old Jess Gillam.

I completely forgot I was in a competition

and just felt her really performing for us.

I hope she's really proud of herself,

let's find out what she thought.

Jess, Jess, Jess, you seemed to me that you had the time of your life.

It was just...

I love performing and that was just a performance of a lifetime,

I won't get that opportunity again, so I just had to make the most of it.

Jess blew us away - great sound, lovely performance.

She really carries the tune.

Fantastically enjoyable playing from Jess.

She's a real stage animal,

it looks as though she doesn't want to be anywhere else except on stage.

JESS: I just forgot I was there!

And then I looked and I saw the sign in the back -

BBC Young Musician, and I thought, "Oh, dear, I'm here!"

That's less important,

the most important thing is that you are having the time of your life.

-Yeah, that's great, thank you very much.

-High-five.

SHE CHUCKLES

We now come to our only recorder player

still left in the competition -

Sophie Westbrooke.

Recorder player Sophie Westbrooke lives in Kent

and at weekends travels to London to study

at the Royal Academy of Music

I started going to Academy in year four.

I just found it so exciting to be in a place where

everybody felt the same way about music as me.

Sophie is taught by Barbara Law.

She's a really good teacher,

she always pushes us to do something outside of our comfort zone.

I think this needs to be much more theatrical, generally.

I think maybe some alternative fingerings for there,

for the D and the A,

F, because that would be nice to have a really wistful sound.

That needs to kind of melt there, doesn't it? Once more.

The repertoire available to the recorder is limited

but, for Barbara, this can be an advantage.

You have to be more creative and you have to go out and find things,

you have to transcribe things.

Yes, so I think it can be an exciting instrument

from that point of view.

And Barbara should know -

her other star pupil is Charlotte Barbour-Condini,

who made history in 2012

by becoming the first recorder player to reach the final

of BBC Young Musician.

Charlotte still studies at the Academy

and regularly plays with Sophie.

Seeing Charlotte two years ago made me think,

"Well, maybe it is possible for someone playing the recorder

"to get through."

Whenever she plays, it's so expressive and you find

she really connects with the audience and I think, from playing with her,

I learnt a lot about what performance is and she's...

she's really nice, she's a really fun girl.

The main thing is just to enjoy it, really, cos...

Yeah. It is an enjoyable process and...

..yeah, you'll have a lot of fun, you will.

During the week, Sophie goes to school in Sevenoaks in Kent,

where, alongside her studies, she's kept very busy with music.

I'm in two orchestras, three choirs and three chamber groups.

Symphony orchestra, string orchestra, Sennocke Consort,

which is the senior choir,

choral society, which is all the choirs, girls' choir...

and... Yeah!

I started playing the recorder

in class lessons when I was about six.

I don't think I ever intended it to be my main instrument

when I was that young, it just kind of...happened!

Sophie is an incredible collaborative musician,

she very spontaneously contributes to a group ethos.

It's almost like having an extra coach in the ensemble.

She's very versatile -

I can't believe some of the stuff she actually plays.

A lot better than us, I can say that for certain!

THEY LAUGH

I really like to bake because, well...

I really like cake and also... it's just really relaxing

and therapeutic and I find, even though music is really relaxing

and really enjoyable, sometimes it can get a bit stressful

if you have lots of things going on...

So baking is something where you really don't have to think too hard

and you can just enjoy yourself and be creative

without having to get stressed about it!

Sophie was introduced to music at a young age by her mum

who herself reached grade 8 on the piano.

She sang before she could really talk,

she used to come out with the noises

that matched the nursery rhymes in the car

and, um, I used to sing her to sleep every night

and she sang in harmony,

which I thought was quite strange for a three-year-old.

THEY LAUGH

I couldn't believe she got through to the category finals.

It was something we were just trying to see how it suited Sophie

and whether she'd enjoy the experience,

certainly weren't expecting her to get this far

and she was delighted.

When you're performing, nobody really expects what you're doing,

so I think it's really nice to be able to show people something new,

something they might not have seen before

and kind of open their eyes to what the recorder can really be.

APPLAUSE

And for her appearance in this final,

Sophie has put together a wide-ranging programme

featuring a number of different recorders.

She's joined on stage by David Gordon on harpsichord

and Carl Herring on guitar.

First, we are going to hear two pieces

that take us back to the medieval period.

The lament is really sweet and it's really nice to play

and then it moves into the rotta

which is more energetic and the tension really builds up

throughout the two pieces.

From the medieval period,

Sophie now takes us straight into the early baroque

with Castello's Sonata Prima.

To end her programme, Sophie is going to play Choro.

It's based on a keyboard melody by CPE Bach

and has been arranged for recorder by her accompanist, David Gordon.

It's a really sweet melody and it's really, really lyrical

and it's just the kind of piece that makes me smile and like, "Aww!"

APPLAUSE

Well, what a truly mesmerising performance there

from Sophie Westbrooke on recorder.

Along with her guitarist and harpsichordist,

she covered so much repertoire so seamlessly.

It was really intelligent programming.

I feel as if you transported us

all into some sort of a parallel universe.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, it was so much fun. It was so good. I kind of...

I almost want to do it all again but I think I would explode!

-My heart was going so fast.

-And so was ours.

It was such a complete performance, it was just every hand gesture.

Even when she just picked up an instrument,

it was sort of part of the music,

so it was just a wonderful performance altogether.

I loved the way Sophie stretched our idea of what a recorder can do

and what it can be.

It was a really stylish, brave and assured performance

and I really enjoyed it.

I want to play it again! LAUGHTER

You want? Can we...? We have to make it happen.

LAUGHTER

Last to perform in this woodwind final

and our second flautist is Daniel Shao.

At 19, he's the eldest of tonight's competitors.

It's Chinese New Year and Daniel Shao is celebrating with his family

at his father's London restaurant.

ALL: Cheers!

Included in the party is great auntie Noreen,

a retired flautist and the widow of Gordon Heard,

himself a professional flautist.

THEY LAUGH

Playing the flute is clearly in the family genes.

When he was a little boy, he played at a concert

for Gordon and my golden wedding

and when this little boy strode onto the platform, very serious,

held his flute beautifully, played out...

announced what he was going to play,

I could see he was on the right path.

And being on the right path also means the family

having to get used to him practising everywhere he goes.

HE LAUGHS

MUSIC: "The Pink Panther Theme" by Henry Mancini

Daniel is a first-year music student at St Catherine's College, Oxford,

where he's won a scholarship

to play in the contemporary ensemble, Isis.

And it was a modern piece that first guided him to the flute.

I started playing the flute when I was nine years old

and I actually began to play because I heard someone playing

the Pink Panther on the flute in my school assembly.

Um, and that got me hooked.

I was Dan's flute teacher from the age of 12.

He's one of the funkiest pupils I think I've ever taught.

There was one occasion when he came in to one of my lessons

with absolutely fluorescent green hair and from that moment I thought,

"He's got a real personality that needs to then come through

"in his playing," which I think he shows really well now.

The academic side of Daniel's Oxford studies

fuels the performance side he loves so much.

My dream is to study at the Paris Conservatoire

and from there I'd love to have a career doing everything possible

from orchestral playing to chamber music.

You swim...?

..swimming costume.

Dan is one of those performers that immediately stands out.

He clearly has a hunger to engage with

more than just, um... playing the notes

but understanding what's happening inside them

so that, in his performance, he can really explore something new.

I'm definitely enjoying doing such an academic degree.

I think it really informs my performance.

I feel so much more reassured that I can perform a piece well

if I know enough about the composer and the piece.

My dad likes singing around the house and on family occasions.

Sometimes in the foyers of... random concerts

which, um, attracts a crowd, very strange.

He always dreamed of being an opera singer but, unfortunately,

his childhood growing up in China didn't allow that to happen.

But I still think he has a lovely voice nowadays.

Dan... wish you the best, you can do it.

We... I will come to support you.

Best of luck.

HE SINGS NESSUN DORMA

APPLAUSE

Daniel is going to begin his performance in this final

with Telemann's Sonata in F major.

And, as promised, his dad is the hall to support him,

together with the rest of the family.

I wanted to begin with something slow and mournful

to catch the audience's attention and really, um, like...

make them try and focus in on the playing.

To follow the Telemann,

Daniel transports us to the end of the 20th century

with a piece titled Sprite.

It's written for piccolo and the composer, Patrick Nunn,

is in the hall for the performance.

I really wanted to play a piece by a living composer

to give them exposure as well as play something

which you could actually have a dialogue

with the composer themselves about the piece

and so that's why I'm playing Patrick Nunn's Sprite for solo piccolo.

It's quite rhythmically complicated, which is a lot to take in

in a first listen but it's meant to sound very exciting.

APPLAUSE

Daniel is going to finish his recital

with another 20th-century piece, Sonatine by Dutilleux.

It is quite a technically demanding piece

but I don't want to just be, um, showing off technical flamboyance.

I want to have some integrity to my programme.

Daniel Shao there, giving us a tremendously assured performance

and a really rousing finish to tonight's woodwind final.

So, how did it feel?

Brilliant, yeah, it's a fantastic audience.

Loved every minute of it.

'Daniel's performance was really sparkling.

'He really got the character of all three of his pieces,

'particularly the middle one, called Sprite -'

it was one of the most spritely performances I've ever heard.

It was great.

I think he was particularly impressive

in the final piece, the Dutilleux.

incredibly assured, vibrant and lively playing.

The result is almost here, let's wait and see what happens.

Whatever happens, I enjoyed playing.

Five incredible performances from our finalists this evening,

showcasing the most extraordinary array of talent and musicianship.

I think the jury has a very tough job this evening.

Making the decisions, Simon Haram,

one of the UK's leading saxophone players.

Marie-Christine Zupancic,

principal flautist with the CBSO.

And our general adjudicator, Meurig Bowen.

So, Marie-Christine and Simon, we have an agonisingly tough job

-ahead of us, haven't we?

-Oh, yes.

So with our first saxophonist, Nick,

he's got a really classy, luscious tone, hasn't he?

And a programme with massive range.

Yeah, technically, Nick was really impressive.

He was running the gamut of all the extended techniques

you can do on the saxophone.

It was a very, very convincing performance,

and the sound was just absolutely beautiful.

And so our first flautist, Hannah, I had a feeling that, to begin with,

she was quite nervous and that it was affecting

her playing physically, but she seemed to loosen up.

Yeah, I think so, too.

She did try and really create different styles

for all the different pieces, which I really liked.

In the Bach, she tried to imitate the Baroque style,

which, on a modern instrument, is actually quite tricky.

So, Jess, she's only 15, but she played with staggering confidence.

She has very sort of intense stage presence as well,

which makes you look at her the whole time. You can't look away.

But I perhaps had the sense that maybe there were

a couple of technical limitations as well.

She was right at home on stage.

She is a born performer, definitely.

But you're right, there were a few tiny little technical problems.

So our recorder player, Sophie, such a beautiful, beguiling,

surprising sequence of intimate chamber music.

-Not what I was expecting at all.

-Yeah, I thought it was mesmerising.

From the moment she walked onto the stage,

there was such a presence there.

Not one for the early music purists, perhaps,

but I actually loved the way they were playing around with it

in almost jazzy...such a free way.

-I loved it.

-Yeah.

And then finally, our second flautist, Daniel,

another really technically assured performance.

Amazing sound as well, and the piccolo again,

lots of trick techniques in there, which you have to work really hard

to make them feel part of the piece, and I think that really happened.

And an adventurous programme as well.

I have a hunch that that Dutilleux

is one of the really demanding pieces of the repertoire.

It is, yes, it's very difficult, but he...

You couldn't tell, he played it with such ease.

Well, now we have to whittle this down to one out of the five.

Not an easy job.

Well, a very difficult decision for the jury.

Tonight, all of our finalists have given performances

their parents must be proud of.

Really, really happy for Sophie.

I think she did brilliantly, and she looked like she was having fun,

and that's great.

I'm so glad. He's already in the final,

so it doesn't matter if he wins or not. I'm happy.

I'm very pleased with what he achieved. That's it.

'So who will get the audience vote tonight?'

I really enjoyed Nick's performance.

The saxophone player at the beginning.

His modern piece was really committed and kind of used the whole stage,

which was really interesting to watch and listen to.

I think it would have to be Daniel's performance, I think, at the end.

It was a very well-balanced programme, there was variety,

even a contemporary piccolo piece in there as well.

And then, the Dutilleux at the end, I think, sold it for me.

Tonight was just outstanding.

What a night.

We have got five people waiting backstage,

so we won't delay things too much further.

To announce the winner of this woodwind category final,

the performer going through

to the semifinal of BBC Young Musician 2014, Simon Haram.

Thanks very much, everybody.

I'm sure you'll appreciate it's been a really difficult decision

this evening. We have come to a decision, you'll be glad to know.

I am very pleased to announce that

the winner of the BBC Young Musician 2014 Woodwind Category Final

is Sophie Westbrooke.

APPLAUSE

'Sophie's performance was spellbinding.'

I really forgot that I was listening to a competition for young people.

It was absolutely professional, beginning to end.

-Tell me, how are you feeling right now?

-It feels so weird.

That was not what I expected at all. Everyone was so good. It was amazing.

From the first minute until the last,

it was just a very complete performance,

and it was totally mesmerising.

I completely stopped taking notes.

As somebody who, for his living, books people to do things,

I can confidently say, I would book that today, and she's 15.

Outrageous.

-Congratulations once again.

-Thank you very much.

-Congratulations.

Thank you.

Great job.

Huge congratulations to Sophie Westbrooke.

Of course, we'll be seeing her again in the semifinal

in just over a fortnight's time here on BBC Four.

In the meantime, there are still two more category finals to be fought,

so join us again next week as we meet five talented pianists.

Until then, a very good night from us all here in Cardiff.

-Good night.

-Good night.

It's an amazing privilege to even be here and to get this far.

I try to make the audience understand as much

about the music as I can give them.

The moment I walk on stage, it will actually register that this is it.

It would mean the world to me to go even further.

If I do win, it would make such a big difference to my career.

If you can actually cope with it, then you can cope with anything.