Darcy to play her first concerto on marimba
PERCUSSIONIST Darcy Beck will launch the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year contest with a bang when she performs a concerto at her 2020 winner’s concert in Cheltenham Town Hall next month.
Following a year’s delay due to Covid and the loss of the 2021 competition altogether, finally Darcy, from Prestbury, Cheltenham, will get to play her first concerto on marimba – an instrument rapidly gaining in popularity, especially in the wake of this year’s BBC Young Musician of the Year, Fang Zhang, who also played it.
Since leaving Cheltenham Ladies’ College Darcy has gained an instrumentalist scholarship to Cardiff where she has been playing in a number of ensembles, including jazz.
She took part in the National Youth Percussion Orchestra and recently became a member of Lydbrook Silver Band and of the Amadeus Academy.
The Cardiff University scholar can’t wait to perform French composer Emmanuel Sejourne’s Concerto for Marimba with contest organisers Gloucestershire Symphony Orchestra.
“I love this piece – it showcases the five-octave instrument’s unique sound,” she said.
Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year 2022 is open to piano, string, woodwind, orchestral percussion, and brass musicians, under the age of 22 years on or before March 1, 2022, of at least Grade 8 standard, who live in or go to school in the county or receive musical tuition in a recognised musical organisation in Gloucestershire.
The winner will receive the HewittJones Trophy, a cheque for £500 and the opportunity to play a recital at Cheltenham Music Festival and perform with Gloucestershire Symphony and Gloucestershire Youth Orchestras.
For tickets to Darcy’s concert on Sunday, November 21 at 7.30pm in Cheltenham Town Hall visit https:// www.cheltenhamtownhall.org.uk/ event/gloucestershire-youngmusician-of-the-year-concertoconcert-368157/