UK’s top young talent recognised with PDGYA awards

Making Music announces 2021 Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists

Prestigious award recognises some of the UK’s top young musical talent while providing leisure-time music groups with an affordable way to book artists 

Making Music, the UK’s membership organisation for leisure-time music groups, is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2021 Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists awards. 

Every year, Making Music presents the Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists (PDGYA) award to some of the UK’s best up-and-coming musical talent aged 21 to 27. The chosen artists are promoted for bookings across Making Music’s 3,600 member groups (leisure-time music groups and promoters) with subsidies available to help member groups engage the artists.

Created in 1961, the PDGYA awards have helped to launch the careers of dozens of musicians including Steven Isserlis, Ian Bostridge, Elizabeth Watts, Thomas Gould and Craig Ogden. The scheme is made possible through the generosity of the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, which supports the development of young artists and composers. 

This year’s shortlisted applicants were auditioned by a panel including conductor and musicologist Dr Christopher Fifield, pianist John York, conductor and composer Peter Ash, and voice specialist Jane Irwin.

The 2021 Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists are:

• Emanuele Addis – guitar
• Michael Gibson – tenor
• James Gilbert – clarinet
• Victor Lim – piano
• Madeleine Pickering – violin

Full biographies and 15-minute presentation recitals by each of the artists are available on the Making Music website.

Barbara Eifler, Making Music Chief Executive, said:

“It is always a delight to welcome the successful young artists to the Making Music family, where performing with and for our members – leisure-time music groups and promoters – will help them start building a network of venues and places to visit throughout their performing careers. Where our members gain by hosting the stars of tomorrow in their locality, the artists gain exposure and performance experience. We are sure this year’s impressive cohort will wow their audiences all over the UK, as their predecessors have done over many years.”

Last year, alongside the traditional Live Concert Subsidy, Making Music introduced a new Livestreaming Subsidy to help member groups engage PDGYA artists for concerts in alternative formats during these unprecedented times. Additionally for 2021, a new Hybrid Subsidy is being offered to Making Music member groups staging a live, in-person concert that is also being livestreamed or filmed for broadcast later. 

Every year, Making Music present a range of awards and prizes to individual musicians, music groups and organisations in both the leisure-time and professional sectors. For more information, contact Sally Palmer, Making Music Projects Manager, at sally@makingmusic.org.uk

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Notes to editors

About Making Music

Making Music has championed leisure-time music groups since 1935 across the UK with practical services, artistic development opportunities and by providing a collective voice for its members. We represent over 3,600 groups made up of around 200,000 musicians of all types, genres and abilities. We help them run their groups so they can get on with making music! www.makingmusic.org.uk

About the Philip and Dorothy Green Award Young Artists (PDGYA) awards

The Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert Artists was created in 1961 and has helped to launch the careers of dozens of young musicians including Steven Isserlis, Ian Bostridge, Elizabeth Watts, Thomas Gould and Craig Ogden. It is made possible by the generosity of the Philip and Dorothy Green Music Trust, which promotes young artists and composers. 

PDGYA 2021 biographies

Emanuele Addis – guitar

Emanuele Addis began his classical guitar training at the age of 14 at Liceo Musicale, under the guidance of Calogero Sportato. A member of Frederic Zigante's class, Emanuele graduated with first-class honours from the Conservatorio Antonio Vivaldi in Alessandria, and is currently completing his master's degree at the Royal Academy of Music, studying under Michael Lewin. He has won numerous regional, national and international awards, including the Moncalieri European Music Competition and the 2017 Ansaldi National Competition, and performed solo recitals in Italy, Germany, Serbia and Bulgaria. Facebook / Instagram

Michael Gibson – tenor

Scottish tenor Michael Gibson is a recent graduate of the RCM Opera Studio, having studied with Janis Kelly. He previously graduated from the RCS, completing a B.Ed in Music, and the RNCM, where he studied with Peter Alexander Wilson. Recent opera roles include Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Azael (L'enfant prodigue), Ecclitico (Il mondo della luna) and Romeo scenes (Roméo et Juliette) at the RCM Opera Studio. An in-demand concert soloist, Michael has performed works including Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, Bach's St John Passion, Finzi's Dies Natalis, and song cycles including Britten’s Winter Words and Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin. Website / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

James Gilbert – clarinet

James is currently an ABRSM scholar at the Royal Academy of Music. He has received both the Queen's Award for Excellence and a Musician's Company Award. James has appeared as a soloist performing Finzi's Clarinet Concerto with John Wilson and the Academy Symphony Orchestra, for both solo and chamber recitals for the Leeds International Concert Season, and has played alongside Ryan Wigglesworth at the BBC Proms. James' orchestral work has included appearing as Guest Principal with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He has also enjoyed both touring internationally and recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Chamber Orchestra and Sinfonia of London. 

Victor Lim – piano

South Korean/British pianist Victor Lim is establishing himself as one of the most versatile and creative musicians of his generation. Following his first public appearance in BBC Young Musician of the Year 2012, Victor has performed internationally as a soloist and collaborative pianist in the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Romania, China, Singapore and South Korea. Victor was the winner of the prestigious RNCM Gold Medal in 2021, and previously studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated with both DipRAM and the Christian Carpenter Prize for best final recital. Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter

Madeleine Pickering – violin

Madeleine Pickering is a British violinist and violist. She has just graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, where she won all the major prizes for her instruments: the Theodore Holland Viola Prize (2016), the Winifred Small Prize for Solo Violin (2020) and the Martin/Hooton Violin Concerto Prize (2021). She recently directed and performed as a soloist with the Academy String Orchestra in a recording of Mendelssohn’s Concerto in D minor for Violin and Strings. Madeleine is also in regular demand as a chamber musician, orchestral leader and director. She plays a violin by Giovanni Pistucci c.1800, loaned to her by the Harrison-Frank Foundation in association with J&A Beare. Website