Worthing singer-songwriter Brooke Dawn gets to play Elton John's famous red piano

Brooke is one of the finalists of Future Makers, an annual talent competition/musical development programme which will be in the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday, November 6.

In Future Makers, eight finalists get to play the celebrated stage, following in the footsteps of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Beyonce to name just a few. And they will do so in front of an audience of 5,000 schoolchildren. The winner will receive a year of support – a showcase concert, studio time and PR support – as they look to forge a career in the industry.

17-year-old Brooke, who is currently in her second and final year at Brighton’s BN1 Arts, has recently performed at Komedia Brighton, Ironworks Studios and The Hope & Ruin. In December, she won a competition by Guy Chambers, co-writer of Robbie Williams’ Angels, for a songwriting workshop after re-arranging his song Lazy Days. During a Zoom workshop, Guy praised her gift for a catchy chorus and taught her how to cut her songs down – lessons she’s now putting to good use.

“I entered the (Future Makers) competition in the summer. There was an online application where you had to send in a video of one of your songs and then I went to the Royal Albert Hall for an audition, in one of the smaller rooms and I did the song that I will be doing in the show. It is an original piece called a Like Myself which I sing and accompany myself on the piano.

“I wrote the song a year ago when I first went to college. It was about the hardships of growing up and being in a new environment, in a new place and trying to find my self-confidence and trying to be my best self. I just had a feeling that I wanted to write something about it. I tend to write about my emotions and about the things that happen to me and it was just how I was feeling in that moment. It is very much like a ballad. It could be described as quite moody and it's got something quite sombre about it, but it's heartfelt and I do also think it's quite poetic. I think I was trying to find something to help me cope with the expectations that I have of myself. I do believe that it did help me find my confidence performing. I've done this song at a few open mics, and it helped me understand how I was feeling.”

For the audition, without knowing it at the time, she got to play on Elton John's red piano: “The audition went very, very well, and it was an amazing experience. I didn't know it was Elton John's piano until afterwards. Maybe I would have taken in the moment more if I had known!”

The next step for the final will be onto the main stage at the Royal Albert Hall: “It is such a big, big stage. They took me in there a couple of times and it was just astounding to see the space especially when you think of all the great people that have played there in the past and now I'm going to get the chance. I think it will be nerve-racking but in a good way, and I know that the ground floor area will be filled with schoolchildren which I think is going to be really nice.

“I know it is going to be an amazing experience, and even if I don’t win, I know I’m going to be so grateful to have had the chance to have played there.”