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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17th January 2025

On January 25th, at Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, you can watch a star of the future performing with the Bardi alongside other classical favourites.

For his prize-winning performance, Bardi Young Musician 2025 Prakash Easwar, performs a charming, rarely heard suite for Saxophone by French composer Paule Maurice. Written between 1948 and 1955, Tableaux de Provence (Pictures of Provence) is a programmatic suite dedicated to French saxophone virtuoso, Marcel Mule. The movements describe the culture and scenery of Provence, south east France, where the Mules, Paule Maurice and her husband, composer Pierre Lantier, spent vacation time together. 

A 15-year-old academic and music scholar at Leicester Grammar School, Prakash is a passionate musician who plays the violin, saxophone and piano. Supported by the school’s music department and inspired by his saxophone teacher, John Barker, Prakash holds Grade 8 qualifications in both piano and violin and has recently completed his ARSM diploma in saxophone, achieving a high distinction. He is an active member of the Big Band and First Orchestra, enjoys performing Bollywood, folk and jazz music, and has played violin with the Market Harborough Choral Society. Prakash has won several piano competitions at Leicester MusicFest and regularly performs in local cultural celebrations.

In addition to his musical pursuits, Prakash balances his interests with a passion for sports, particularly cricket and tennis. He is a member of his School 1st Team Cricket and plays for Kibworth Cricket Club. He finds inspiration in his violinist brother and hopes to pursue music further alongside a medical career, aspiring to become a doctor while keeping music as an integral part of his life.

Prakash’s performance is programmed alongside, in the first half, Vaughan Williams’s sumptuous Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus one of his most popular works with audiences and the composer himself, who said he loved the tune all his life. Opening with Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, the concert concludes with the last of Haydn’s 104 symphonies, the ‘London Symphony‘.

Click here to book your tickets today for this concert showcasing a star of the future!

8th November 2024

Bardi Young Musician 2025 is saxophonist Prakash Easwar, a 15-year-old academic and music scholar at Leicester Grammar School.

Prakash beat stiff competition in what the audition panel said was probably the highest standard field of candidates since the competition began in 2012. 

Prakash plays the Violin, Saxophone, and Piano. Supported by the school’s music department and inspired by his saxophone teacher, John Barker, Prakash also holds Grade 8 qualifications in both Piano and Violin and is soon completing his ARSM diploma on Saxophone. He is an active member of the school’s Big Band and First Orchestra, and also enjoys performing Bollywood, folk and jazz music. Away from school he has played violin with the Market Harborough Choral Society, has won several piano competitions at Leicester MusicFest and regularly performs in cultural celebrations. He plans to pursue music further and finds inspiration in his violinist brother, balancing his musical interests with cricket and tennis!

You can book tickets to see Prakash’s performance with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Saturday 25th January here.

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6th November 2023

The Bardi are delighted to announce that the winner of Bardi Young Musician 2024 is 17 year old clarinettist, Ewan Metcalfe.

An audition panel consisting of Robert Calow, Bardi Orchestra Manager, Lois Clark Principal Second Violin and Paul Hilliam, Guest Conductor, met at the end of October to hear four selected candidates to decide who would become Bardi Young Musician 2024. The standard was once again very high with a range of orchestral instruments and the panel had some lengthy deliberations to make before deciding on the winner. 

In the event they made a unanimous choice, the clear winner was clarinetist Ewan Metcalfe from Rearsby who is in the Sixth Form at Ratcliffe College. Ewan has been playing the clarinet for ten years and he currently studies with Christine Taylor. He is the third clarinetist to have won the Young Musician accolade since the competition was first held in 2012. 

The audition panel always give feedback to all the competing candidates and Ewan was told ‘The technical demands [of his chosen audition piece] are considerable and you have obviously worked hard to get on top of that. You also have a really nice tone and a good range of dynamics. Best of all, you invested lots of personality in your performance’

Concert goers are in for a real treat when Ewan performs with the Orchestra on Saturday 27^th January, at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester.  He will be playing Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in a programme which also includes a performance of Beethoven Symphony No 2. You can book tickets for the concert here.

Ewan Metcalfe, clarinet; the audition panel

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