Bishop’s Stortford High School clarinettist Evan Badcock wins £3,000 Barker Bursary from Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra
A Bishop’s Stortford High School student has won a £3,000 bursary from Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra.
Evan Badcock, a 17-year-old clarinettist from Stortford, won the Barker Bursary senior prize against stiff competition.
He performs with bands and ensembles at the St James’ Park secondary and also plays the saxophone.
The talented teenager is also principal clarinet with the Hertfordshire Schools Symphony Orchestra and has led the London Youth Wind Band.
For his audition, he performed the first movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Malcolm Arnold’s Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano.
The judges were impressed by his “characterful playing and lovely melodic shaping”.
Evan has been awarded £3,000 and wants to buy an A clarinet. He will also take up a professional solo performance opportunity as part of his prize.
Fifteen-year-old pianist Tom Mannion, from Saffron Walden, won the junior prize. During his audition, he improvised on themes from The Lord of the Rings.
The judges particularly noted his capacity to draw in his audience and to communicate his musical ideas.
The Saffron Walden County High School student, who often performs at the town’s Piano Café on Saturday afternoons, has lots of plans for his £2,000 prize.
Short-listed applicants were invited to audition before a panel of distinguished local musicians – Siu Chui Li, Simon Cartledge and Richard Hull – who commented on the high quality of the candidates.
The bursary scheme has been established through the generosity of the orchestra’s president, Jumbo Barker.
He is continuing the work of his late father, George. He founded the Uttlesford Orchestra – now Saffron Walden Symphony Orchestra – in the 1980s and established a bursary for young people.
The Barker Bursary was established in 2023 and has been designed to offer the same opportunities as George’s original grants.
It will run again in 2025. Local young musicians of at least Grade 5 standard can apply via the orchestra’s website at www.saffronsymphony.org/swso-barker-bursary/ from January 1, 2025.
