28 October 2025
The Bardi are delighted to announce that the winner of Bardi Young Musician 2026 is basset clarinettist Easher Austin.
The selection process, which has been ongoing since June 2025, reached its climax on 18 October for six young musicians. The range of instruments was interesting, our first ever orchestral percussion candidate with a marimba, a euphonium player, three violinists and a clarinetist.
The audition panel comprised BYM conductor Paul Hilliam, Bardi Orchestra Manager Robert Calow and violinist Michael Lessiter. Each auditionee had to play a piece for 10 minutes and then have an interview with the panel. To say that the panel were blown away with the standard of playing and interviews is an understatement, and their discussions went on for some considerable time before they finally agreed unanimously on Easher Austin from Mountsorrel, a pupil at Loughborough Grammar School.
Easher particularly stood out in his choice to perform the Mozart Clarinet Concerto on the basset clarinet, the instrument for which the composer originally wrote the work. The basset clarinet is a member of the clarinet family, similar to the usual A and B-flat clarinets seen in the orchestra but longer and with additional keys to enable playing several additional lower notes.
You will be able to hear this rare instrument played by Easher at Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, Leicester, in a concert with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Saturday 24th January 2026. Keep an eye on the Bardi website for more details.
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