A 15-YEAR-OLD vocalist has been crowned PwC Young Musician of the Year.
Year 11 JCG student Rubie Le Masurier took home the top prize at the Jersey Opera House on Saturday night during a celebration of the Island’s young musical talent.
Rubie described the competition as “an amazing experience,” adding that meeting other young musicians had been “incredible.”
The aspiring opera singer has been studying classical singing since she was six and is currently tackling Grade 8 standard repertoire.
She plans to sit her exam before starting A-Levels next year, but her ambitions stretch far beyond Jersey.
Rubie said: “I want to perform at the Royal Albert Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
“Opera is my passion. Not enough people watch it nowadays, and it’s a dying genre – we need to save it!”
The talented teen already has her eyes on iconic roles such as Carmen in Carmen, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, and Auntie in Peter Grimes.
Beyond performing, Rubie hopes to contribute to the music world as a conductor, adjudicator, and director.
The evening was adjudicated by Nicholas Oliver, assistant principal at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, where he is also a principal study piano tutor and head of piano accompaniment. In addition, there was a featured performance from last year’s winner vocalist Savanna Vogt.
Rubie was awarded the coveted trophy, along with a prize of £1,000 presented by PwC in support of her ongoing music studies.
The finalists had battled through a series of challenging heats, facing off against other skilled instrumentalists and vocalists to reach the evening’s grand finale.
The other finalists included pianist Amelia Weber, violinist Prutha Tejpal, percussionist Oliver Hutton, tenor saxophonist Dante Chain Lopez and tubist Filip Swoboda, who also took home the Jersey Symphony Orchestra Award.
Paul Silcock, director at PwC, said: “As long-term sponsor of the PwC Jersey Young Musician of the Year competition, it’s fantastic to see year-on-year the wealth of musical talent in our local community. This competition really showcases the very best of Jersey’s young, gifted and disciplined musicians. Those that have made it to the final should be extremely proud of their achievements and we wish them the best of luck for with their future musical careers.”
The competition was hosted by Education Minister Rob Ward and was attended by the Lieutenant-Governor, Vice-Admiral Jerry Kyd and Lady Kyd.
