Violinist Charlie Lovell-Jones wins the 2022 John Fussell Award for Young Musicians

Charlie Lovell-Jones

Founded in 1992, the John Fussell Award for Young Musicians is a yearly Award to support young musicians with links to Wales. This year's final took place on Tuesday 14 June 2022 at the Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea University when Charlie Lovell-Jones (violin),  Nye Hughes-Watts (piano), Dafydd Jones (tenor) and Hannah Lowri Roberts (viola) each performed a short recital for the judges, organist Huw Tregelles Williams, soprano Rebecca Evans and conductor Julian Smith,

The finalists competed for a first prize of £2,500 to enable them to continue their studies in music.  To be eligible for the competition all competitors must have either been born or raised in Wales, have Welsh heritage or studied in Wales. 

This year's winner was violinist Charlie Lovell-Jones, who attended Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, in Cardiff, before going to Oxford.  He is currently in the final year of his MA (Performance) degree at the Royal Academy of Music before going to Yale School of Music in Connecticut, USA, to study for his MMA. There is a further chance to hear Charlie in action when he and pianist Daniel King-Smith give a recital at the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival on 17 July 2022, performing music by Schubert, William Grant Still, Bach, Szymanowski, Florence Price and Saint-Saens. Further information from the festival website.

The John Fussell Award is funded by a Trust set up in memory of John Fussell who was a well-known figure in the South Wales music scene from 1970 until his death in 1990.  He had a strong belief that we should help our young musicians to further their studies to achieve their dreams, and so, following his death, a Trust Fund was set up in 1991 to fund this yearly Award. Among the many past winners who have gone on to build successful careers in their field are pianist Llŷr Williams, harpist Catrin Finch and tenor Rhys Meirion.