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Worthian crowned Sussex Young Musician of the Year Jane Burnell StA’15
from The Blue Paper 2021
by Worth School
This year turned out to be a particularly special one for Jane Burnell StA’15 who was crowned the overall winner of the Coro Nuovo Sussex Young Musician of the Year Competition in July.
The competition gives young musicians the chance to receive cash grants to help support their music studies and also offers them performance opportunities. The competition rounds would normally take place in person however, due to Covid restrictions, had been run online for the second year. Nonetheless the competition attracted over 30 entries which was narrowed down to just 4 finalists.
The finalists were judged by Sakari Oramo, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor of the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms since 2014.
It was Jane’s performances in four songs sung in German of all different styles that won Oramo over and she was awarded the first prize of £1,000 to help her with her music masters studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).
On hearing she had won, Jane said: “I am over the moon and still coming to terms with the result! I hope to use the bursary to go towards more language lessons to help my singing repertoire. I am absolutely delighted to have won such a prestigious prize.”
Jane is currently studying for an MMus in Vocal and Opera Studies at the RNCM, Manchester, where she also gained a scholarship generously supported by the Richard Newitt Fund. Before this, she completed her undergraduate studies at Leeds Conservatoire. Jane is a regular concert soloist and has sung with many choirs and orchestras all over the UK. She also recently performed for The Great Yorkshire Proms with the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra alongside Sir Willard White, Aled Jones, Sophie Evans and Tenors Unlimited.
Jane says “I am really looking forward to returning to perform in Sussex a number of times over the coming year for solo recitals and as a soloist with Coro Nuovo.”
Jane’s winning performance can be seen on YouTube: youtu.be/nLeSCLdtIoQ
You can also keep track of Jane’s upcoming schedule via her website: www.janeburnellsoprano.squarespace.com
We offer her our greatest congratulations!
