Sussex Young Musician of the Year delighted at her success

Winning the 2026 Sussex Young Musician title means the world to 23-year-old flautist Juliet Beadle from Hastings.

“I moved down to Hastings about 12 or 13 years ago, and the area has been where all my musical inspiration has come from. I have been involved in lots of really creative opportunities in Hastings and worked with really incredible musicians.”

For the competition, Juliet played Agrestide by Eugène Bozza and Chanson from Trois Petites Pièces by Augusta Holmès.

“I had played the Bozza quite a few times and I really love performing his work. It is some of the great repertoire for the flute. It is pretty much canon repertoire for the instrument, and it's a great piece. The beginning starts with a wonderful meandering line on the piano and after that there is just so much scope with the colours. Every time I play it, I find more in it.”

The piece by Augusta Holmès is short but sat well with the Bozza: “I just love the improvisatory feeling of both of them.”

Part of Juliet’s prize will be the opportunity to perform with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra in March 2027. She said she was grateful to Coro Nuovo and Kate Kent for running the competition.

Juliet is currently at the Royal College of Music in the first year of her two-year masters degree. After that: “We will see! I've got my fingers in many pies. I like to do lots of different things as a musician. I do lots of chamber music and I also love doing folk music. I have got a trio. We explore English music and I compose my own tunes and we create really intricate arrangements telling stories.”

Originally Juliet played the recorder but took up the flute at the age of eight – thanks to a pack of playing cards with animals playing instruments on them. Her mother laid out the cards and asked her which one she would want to play.

“At first I picked the saxophone but I was told that I was too small. I then picked the flute and it has been my instrument since then.

“There is so much music that you can play on it. I've done some jazz and I've done quite a lot of folk stuff. And there is the orchestral side as well and just everything. I also really like the fact that it is closely related to singing, not that I'm an incredible singer or sing lots but the way that you play it just feels really connected with that.”

Juliet won the title following a closely contested final held at St Wilfrid’s Church, Haywards Heath. Juliet impressed adjudicator Stephen Maddock, principal of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, with an “expressive and poised” performance, securing first prize ahead of fellow finalists Dorothy Whyte-Venables, soprano from Chidham, and Edelyn Spina, clarinettist from Chichester.

The annual competition supports outstanding young musicians with a Sussex connection by providing bursaries to help further their musical education and professional development.

Juliet received the Coro Nuovo Award (£2,500) together with the Sussex Symphony Orchestra Performance Award. Dorothy received the Colin & Joyce Sewell-Rutter Award (£1,500), while Edelyn received the Simply Business Finance Award (£750).