Interview with DYMF Recital Award winner, Alfred Fardell
The inaugural DYMF Recital Award concert, which has been generously supported by the Davison Young Musician Foundation, will be taking place in The New Space, New College on 7 June.
New College has collaborated with the DYMF to provide a Recital Awards to students studying at the University of Oxford. Auditions take place twice a year, and students are awarded a monetary award and the opportunity to perform a recital at the New Space.
Ahead of the recital, we asked the award winner, Alfred Fardell, about the prize, the recital and what's next for him.
How did it feel to win the DYMF Recital Award?
It's such a privilege to win the inaugural DYMF Recital Award. I'm extremely excited to be performing on Friday in New College's amazing new recital venue, The New Space.
You’ll be performing at the DYMF fundraising recital on 7 June – what pieces will you be playing?
I'll be performing Schubert's sonata in A major D 959. It's an incredible piece, packed with huge contrast, from beautiful melodies in the last movement to the absolute despair of the second. It was finished just a few months before Schubert died and is one of his last and most moving compositions.
When did you start playing piano? Tell us more about your journey to Oxford.
I started playing the piano aged 8, when I was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral. Since then, I've carried on singing and playing the violin, but gradually I've realised that I love the piano the most.
What’s next for you?
I'm very excited to be going to study for two years on the Ensemble Piano course at the Royal Academy of Music. Since coming to Oxford, I've really loved performing alongside singers and instrumentalists and I'm looking forward to focussing on this element of my playing next year.
Alfred Fardell
Alfred is in his final year reading music at St. Peter's College Oxford. He performs regularly as a solo pianist and chamber musician in Oxford and London, and has appeared at venues including St John's Smith Square, Winchester Cathedral and the Holywell Music Room.
He started his musical training as a chorister at Westminster Cathedral, before winning a music scholarship to study at Winchester College. He currently studies the piano with Anna Tilbrook and will take up a scholarship on the Ensemble Piano course at the Royal Academy of Music in September 2024.
Davison Young Musician Award
The Davison Young Musician Award was established in March 2021 by Tom and Peter Davison, to provide opportunity for aspiring young musicians to showcase their talent and win an award to assist them with their studies in music.
The DYMA was made up of a group of philanthropists including Duncan Lustig-Prean who took on the mantle of patron of the DYMA and was keen to support young musicians from State Secondary and 6th form institutes where lack of funding or financial disadvantage was prevalent, especially during COVID-19.