Established over 25 years ago, The Steynor Prize or RGS Musician of the Year, was set up by John and Hilary Steynor to showcase the amazing musicianship found here at the RGS. Since its inception, the competition has gone on to become one of the highlights of the school’s musical calendar. This year’s final was no exception and was an excellent reminder of the incredibly talented musicians that the school produces year upon year.
Following a fiercely contested preliminary round earlier in the term, six finalists made it through to this year’s final – Joseph Ryan (Piano), Jasper O’Conor (Trumpet), George Christiansen (Piano), Oscar Ford (Flute), Benedict Cunningham (Voice) and Alex Pop (Voice). Together they performed a recital that was simply breathtaking, not only in the breadth of its musical programme, but for the outstanding levels of musical accomplishment on display.
I was delighted to welcome Mr Robert Patterson to adjudicate this year’s final. After graduating from Cambridge, Robert has gone on to have an illustrious career. As an organist, Robert has held positions at Hampton Court Palace, New College, Oxford, and Winchester Cathedral. He was also principal organist at Canterbury Cathedral for several years where he was responsible for playing for the daily services, broadcasts, and recordings. Robert is also an accomplished choral director, former Director of Music at Putney High School, and is now on the music staff at Guildford High School.
Selecting a winner from amongst six exceptional and equally deserving finalists is never easy, but Robert’s decision was made even harder as each of the finalists tackled such complex music, performing it with dazzling displays of both technical and musical accomplishment. Robert’s warm and encouraging feedback commented not only on the outstanding musicality of each performer, but also on their ability to communicate with the audience. However, by the narrowest of margins, he awarded The Steynor Prize to a performer who not only displayed technical prowess, but who showcased their talent through a beautifully crafted programme – George Christiansen.
I am constantly astounded by what these boys can achieve. Just simply playing in front of an audience takes a huge amount of courage and maturity; to perform at such a high-level and to do so with such exceptional ability is testament to each of the performer’s amazing musicianship. Yet again, this event proved to be an exceptional evening of music making which had the appreciative audience enthralled from start to finish.