History and Future

History

The Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition was originally part of the Bromsgrove Festival which was started in 1960 by Joe Stones, a violinist and founder of the Bromsgrove String Orchestra. In 1980 its new Chairman, Dr Mary White, on the advice of the Festival’s Artistic Director, Dr Donald Hunt, added a Young Musicians Platform as part of it, to give an opportunity for talented young musicians to perform publicly. She invited Joyce Messenger, an acclaimed local musician and music lecturer to run the Platform and she in turn recruited Peter Ward to assist her. This International Platform was then successfully held annually from April 1981, at first in the Bromsgrove College Hall and latterly at the New Guesten Hall in the Avoncroft Museum of Buildings in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire.

The Competition has always been judged by a panel of distinguished adjudicators, well-known musicians, providing a wide spread of expertise. Their first chairman was Richard Butt, a member of the BBC staff at Pebble Mill, the Birmingham Radio and Television Centre. Subsequently, Sir John Manduell, then Principal of the Northern College of Music, Manchester, served as chairman for many years until in turn his place was taken by Sir Philip Ledger, prior to his sad and untimely death in 2012. The present chairman, Edmond Fivet CBE, was then appointed.

In early 2013 Dr Mary White was unable to continue as Chairman through ill-health. The Festival itself faced a number of difficulties that put its future in jeopardy. Enthusiasts believed that the Platform should be saved, and a steering committee was formed. Their view was that the Platform should continue separately from the Festival, and the Directors of the Festival Company were consulted and agreed.

The Competition’s objectives were to further, encourage and advance the teaching and learning of music by the playing of musical instruments and singing by young people through the promotion of musical competitions in Bromsgrove.

In pursuit of those objectives in 2013 the steering committee was encouraged by Matthew Horton, a local solicitor, to form a closer partnership with Bromsgrove School of which he had been a governor and which had supported the Competition in earlier years. The fruition of the discussions he initiated was that Bromsgrove School became an important partner. They generously provided a new venue for the Competition, the Routh Hall, and accommodation for competitors and adjudicators.

Under the Chairmanship of His Honour Ian Morris the Platform then became The Bromsgrove International Young Musicians Competition, later in 2016 renamed as The Bromsgrove International Musicians’ Platform. It became a registered charity run by a board of trustees with public accountability and a professional management structure. Its sustainability depends as in the past on the generosity of music lovers. It is now widely known particularly in musical circles across the world simply as ‘The Bromsgrove’.

In 2015, the 35th Anniversary Competition ran for five days in order to expand the number of competitors that could be accepted to fifty four. The prize money and performing opportunities were significantly increased to attract the highest calibre applicants. The President generously continued a prize of £1,000 for the best performance of a piece of music composed after 1950. Extracts of the winning performances may be seen and heard under the 2015 Competition tab.

The Bromsgrove in 2016 attracted over eighty applicants from all over the globe. Again fifty four were accepted on merit to be competitors who travelled to take part from twenty two countries. These talented musicians contested the competition with vigour and an outstanding double bassist won first prize. A highlight of his performance may be listened to under the 2016 Competition tab. The Sir John Manduell Prize has been continued by the Trustees as a mark of appreciation following Sir John’s retirement as President in 2015. He continues to show a keen interest in the development of the competition. Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, now Principal of the Birmingham Conservatoire, presented the prizes and spoke of the importance of maintaining such prestigious competitions as The Bromsgrove. More details can be found here.

In 2016, The Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform also made its debut for those young musicians still at school. Its Chairman, Alison Webber, secured a strong team of supporters to launch it successfully. Worcestershire Music Services supported the venture in providing communication to State Schools. Nearly fifty potential finalists were auditioned at the Elgar School of Music in Worcester. The Finalists’ Concert took place at the Huntingdon Hall, Worcester on Thursday 10th March. There were two sections – a Junior Section for those 9 to 13 years of age and a Senior Section for those 14 to 17. The quality of the young musicians, even though as a pilot the Platform was restricted to entries from Worcestershire alone, was extremely high. Generous bursaries were awarded to winners and runners up in each section aimed at developing their musical talent.
Later in 2016 development of the Routh Hall began to include a new concert hall and rehearsal rooms as part of the school's development of their Arts facilities. The new Routh Hall will become the Competition’s permanent home as part of the kind and generous support the BIMC has received from the governing body of the school.

In February 2017 the Platform again held auditions in the Elgar School of Music in Worcester but the Finalists' Concert was held in the Memorial Chapel at Bromsgrove School as the Routh Hall was still in the process of re-furbishment. It had expanded to include the three counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. The Platform attracted much attention and a very high standard of musicianship from all those who took part. Following the final Monica Toso took over as Chairman of the Platform.

The Bromsgrove 2017 was held in April just after Mary White's demise and almost as a tribute to her innovation was the most successful ever attracting over a hundred applicants of thirty- three nationalities for the now usual fifty four places. Emily Sun who is an Australian violinist won first place and for the first time the two runners- up won equal monetary prizes. Edmond Fivet the Chairman of the Adjudicators for the previous five year term retired at the Finalists' Concert. His enormous service to the recent development of The Bromsgrove was acknowledged by all especially the Chairman and Trustees. Under his guidance the competition has reached towards a world class profile and attained acknowledgement round the globe. In 2018 his place was taken by Meurig Bowen, Director of the Cheltenham Music Festival for the last decade and now Artistic Planning Manager of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales. Roderick Williams OBE, the international baritone, and Sarah Bruce, manager of premier international musicians, joined the adjudicating team. At the Finalists' concert our new President, Professor George Caird, the recently retired Artistic Director of the Rotterdam Classical Music Academy; an international oboist, teacher and educator extraordinaire, was able to be with us for the first time. He presented some of the prizes and gave a short address. Peter Ward, the local outstanding musician of his time and a WW2 hero who was so involved in running the competition in its early days with Joyce Messenger, sadly died shortly after attending the 2017 final, aged 95. His own written history of those early days told of how the first competitors, who were hosted by Bromsgrove families, always commented on the friendly and relaxed atmosphere of the competition.

The winner of The Bromsgrove 2018 was Luke Jones (piano) who gave an outstanding performance of work by Rachmaninov and Medtner amidst brilliant competition from Irena Radic (piano), and Lewis Banks (saxophonist). The Sir John Manduell Prize was won by Bartosz Glowacki (classical accordion) who played an absorbing piece by Victor Vlasov.

The Bromsgrove 2019 was held from 9th-13th April; again generously hosted by Bromsgrove School. In the Preliminary Round, competitors from around the world were auditioned; twelve were selected to play in the Semi-Final on 12th April. The Finalists’ Concert was held at 7.00 p.m. on Saturday 13th April, and the result was as follows:
The 2019 winner was Hyungi Lee (Marimba), with runners up Maxim Kinasov (Piano) and Oliver Wass (Harp). The Sir John Manduell Prize went to Michael Matthews (Guitar) and the Accompanists Prize was awarded to Matthew Leung. 

Sadly, the 2020 competition, The Bromsgrove's 40th anniversary, was unable to go ahead because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Despite some restrictions still being in place, The Bromsgrove 2021 semi-final and finalists' concert took place 'in person' in Routh Hall. It was limited to fewer entrants due to COVID-19 but it was still heralded as a huge success. The 2021 winner was Sofiia Matviienko (flute), with runners up Nikita Lukinov (piano) and Siyu Sun (piano). 

The present trustees have been gratified to hear from most recent years' competitors that they have enjoyed a similar experience and that The Bromsgrove is one of the best organised international competitions they have attended. 

The Future

The trustees aim to continue raising the international profile of the Competition and to ensure that the significant growth in the number of world class applicants continues. The first prize of £6,000 will continue and we will also work with the winner to help them obtain concerto opportunities with organisations such as the Orchestra of the Swan, the Three Choirs Festival, and at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

The Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform, after evaluation of a highly successful third year, expanded again geographically in 2020, having already covered the Three Counties (Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Herefordshire) and the West Midlands. Going forward, all young musicians who are either resident or at school in the United Kingdom will be eligible to enter. Auditions and the Finalists' Concert will all take place at the new music facilities at Bromsgrove School, including the Routh Concert Hall.

In 2020, we launched our online concert series, which featured a number of former winners and ambassadors of BIMC. We intend to continue this using competitors' performances filmed during the Competition. 

The trustees intend that through the futures of both The Bromsgrove Competition and The Bromsgrove Young Musicians' Platform classical music will reach out to engage a much broader public and dispel the notion that such music is elitist.