Meet the Gold Medal Competitors – Group 5

Today we meet final group in the 2014 RNCM Gold Medal Competition, Delia Stevens, Richard Evans and Alexander Panfilov, who will be performing from 6pm in tomorrow’s competition!

We hope you’ll join us (completely FREE of charge) to watch the exciting competition unfold tomorrow, from 10am in the Cosmo Rodewald Hall at the Martin Harris Centre. Visitors may join at the beginning of any group performance – full details in our Gold Medal leaflet

If you missed any of our blog profiles this week on the students taking part, you can catch up here. In the meantime, let’s meet Group 5…

Name: Delia Stevens
Age: 22
Nationality: British
Study Option: Percussion

Delia Smith 

Year of Study and Tutor: Fourth year undergraduate with Simone Rebello, Liz Gilliver, Ian Wright, Dave Hassell and Paul Patrick

When did you start to play percussion? Aged nine

Where’s the most unusual/exciting place you’ve ever performed?
Unusual: in a glade in Sherwood Forest. Exciting: Queen Elizabeth Hall to members of the Royal Family.

Who in the music industry do you most admire?
I’m a big fan of anyone who is honest, original, innovative, passionate and sincere in their music making. I love all kinds of music so I can’t pin it down to an individual – I did try but it’s too difficult!

If you weren’t studying music what would you be doing?
Tough one!

How do you feel about being chosen to compete for the RNCM Gold Medal?
I feel honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to showcase this amazing set of pieces for percussion on such a prestigious public platform.

 

Name: Richard Evans
Age: 23
Nationality: American
Study Option: Composition

Richard Evans 

Year of Study and Tutor: First year MMus with Adam Gorb and Paul Patterson

When did you start composing?
In 2012

Where’s the most unusual/exciting place you’ve ever heard your music performed?
As a composer I wouldn’t say there has been anything unusual about where my pieces have been played (yet). but in 2007 I auditioned as a percussionist to be in one of the US youth orchestras. We toured Europe for two months, which was probably the most significant experience to me becoming a musician and moving outside of Missouri (where I grew up) a few years later. But perhaps the most unusual experience was in the summer of 2012. I was the first international performer to be invited to attend the Fukui Marimba Festival. I adapted and performed on marimba Schoenberg’s The Book of the Hanging Gardens with a vocalist, which was also a very unusual first at the Festival. Fukui is a very small town in Japan’s countryside and in the centre of one of the rice fields is the most beautiful concert hall.

Who in the music industry do you most admire?
My past teachers, Nancy Zeltsman and Julius P Williams. I cannot think of any teacher who has devoted their lives to the well-being and artistry of their students the way they have.

If you weren’t studying music what would you be doing?
I’m not sure. Before I committed to becoming a musician I had thoughts of studying architecture, physics, psychology, or creative writing. I suppose computer sciences wouldn’t be bad either, or maybe having a farm.

How do you feel about being chosen to compete for the RNCM Gold Medal?
I’m happy that I get to have a piece performed at such a great event at the RNCM. Writing for a saxophone quartet wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I suppose the challenge of finding a way to write for the ensemble without completely abandoning the musical language I prefer to write in is what gave the process its worth.

 

Name: Alexander Panfilov
Age: 25
Nationality: Russian
Study Option: Piano
Year of Study and Tutor: Second year MMus with Graham Scott

alexander panfilov

When did you start to play the piano?
Aged six

Where’s the most unusual/exciting place you’ve ever performed?
Almost every place seems exciting to me. One concert that specifically stands out was in the Northern-Siberian Russian city of Khanty-Mansiysk. It’s surrounded by thousands of kilometers of Taiga wild forest and the temperature when I was there was
– 30°. I also remember an open-air recital I was giving in the Baroque city of Ragusa in Sicily. It was a brilliant atmosphere.

Who in the music industry do you most admire?
My idols are pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, Maurizio Pollini, Mikhail Pletnev, and soprano Anna Netrebko.

If you weren’t studying music what would you be doing?
I guess I’d be a scientist or IT specialist as it was a tradition in my family and I’m always interested in new technologies and how things work.

How do you feel about being chosen to compete for the RNCM Gold Medal?
It’s absolutely great and I’m looking forward to it. It’s another opportunity to perform for my favourite public and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there.

13 June 2014