2022 Sussex Young Musician of the Year to be announced

The winner will be announced at a Platinum Jubilee concert at 7pm on Saturday, July 16 at St Andrew's Church, Burgess Hill.

Catherine Kent, managing chairman of Coro Nuovo choir, said: “Music lovers will be regaled by music fit for royalty as Coro Nuovo, one of Sussex’s most accomplished choirs, contributes to the celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

“The Jubilee concert will also be hosting the final of the 2022 Sussex Young Musician of the Year Competition. After the three finalists have performed for the audience, a winner will be selected by this year’s adjudicator, the celebrated Grammy nominated conductor David Lawrence.”

David Lawrence has conducted the London Philharmonic choir and holds the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK’s largest choir.

As a not-for-profit choir, Coro Nuovo founded the Sussex Young Musician of the Year Awards in 2016 to support Sussex’s most talented young musicians aged 18-26 as they embark upon a professional career in music.

The 2022 competition winner will receive a £1,000 bursary to help towards the costs of their musical development.

This year’s finalists are:

Zoe Barnett, 23, from Chichester. Zoe learnt to play classical guitar from her mother and has just made her Wigmore Hall debut. She is currently studying at the Royal College of Music.

Laura Coppinger, 26, from Cuckfield and Storrington. Laura is a soprano specialising in classical and operatic recitals. She is studying towards a postgraduate degree at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire.

Laurence Cuttriss, 24, from Burgess Hill. Laurence has been playing the clarinet from a very young age. He frequently performs at concerts and recitals across Sussex and has recently graduated from Trinity Laban.

The event is open to the public, with advance tickets costing £15, or £17.50 on the door.

The concert is listed on the UK Government’s Platinum Jubilee website and is the only official Jubilee concert in the Mid Sussex area.

Catherine added: “Coro Nuovo’s performance promises to be a celebration of British choral tradition, taking the audience through 500 years of Royal music, from Greensleeves to some of Britain’s best-loved choral masterpieces including Handel’s Zadok the Priest, Parry’s I Was Glad and Stanford’s Gloria in Excelsis.

“Members of Coro Nuovo include some of the best singers from the Sussex area, many of whom are professional musicians,”

Tickets for the Jubilee concert can be bought through Coro Nuovo’s website at coronuovo.org.uk/jubilee. For the ticket helpline, call 01444 717750.