A YOUNG Bahraini pianist hit all the right notes to win this year’s annual British Schools of the Middle East Young Musicians of the Gulf (YMOG) competition last night.
Mohammed Alnajjar, 11, impressed the audience and judges alike with an awe-inspiring recital of Scarlatti Sonata in B Minor.
St Christopher’s School principal Ed Goodwin presented Mohammed, affectionately known as Momo, with the Lifetime Trophy in honour of his outstanding musical performance.
He was also presented with the Owerkowicz Bequest award for being the most promising Bahrain-based musician by Gulf Daily News Editor-in-Chief George Williams.
“It feels great, after all the hard work I put into it,” the St Christopher’s School student told the GDN.
“I’ve been practising every day for two to three hours since last year, but I did not expect to win the award.”
Mohammed had also won the Owerkowicz Bequest award last year.
Mohammed also walked away with the Stella Taylor Shield donated by Captain Rod Taylor.
Proud mother May Al Jishi said the experience was “amazing”.
“He really worked so hard and it’s so nice to see him happy and to see that his hard work has paid off.
“I just hope he keeps doing what he’s doing because he’s obviously doing something right. He’s still young and has a long way to go so he has a lot of hard work ahead and hopefully he’ll be something very special one day.”
The YMOG grand finale featured an exceptional showcase of musical pieces by six soloists and three ensembles.
The 19th edition of the annual competition attracted 129 contestants from a number of regional schools. Three musical experts were flown in to adjudicate the event – pianist Ashley Wass, violinist Matthew Tussler and clarinettist David Campbell.
St Christopher’s School hosted the four-day event with the grand finale held at Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa.
“The event’s been great, it has been really well organised and the children have been fantastic,” said Mr Goodwin.
“For me in my last event to have a student from St Christopher’s School, Momo, who’s so wonderful, to win was just the icing on the cake.”
Meanwhile, adjudicator and established violinist Mr Tussler described Mohammed as “incredible”.
“It’s been a really tough week and we’ve worked so hard, we’ve listened to endless playing of instruments and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by that but hearing Momo was really extraordinary,” Mr Tussler told the GDN.
Two-time winner of the YMOG competition Xiaolin Zhang from Dubai College was runner-up, winning the piano award for his performance of Paganini Etude Number Five in A minor by Robert Schumann and Grandes Etudes de Paginini Number Six in A minor, Theme and Variation by Niccolo Paganini transcribed by Franz Liszt.
The overall ensemble award went to La Camerata from The British School of Kuwait for their performance of Ballad and Dance by Marek Dyakov.
St Christopher’s School retained another award with student Benedict Brandreth winning the Young Composer of the Gulf award.
The school reeled in further success as student Zoe Lascelles won the Brass Award.
The woodwind award went to Dubai College student Isobell Thompson.
The British School Al Khubairat did not go unnoticed with student Cormac Walsh receiving the Knights Bequest award, granted to the most promising musician aged 15 or under.
Other awards presented included Duet and Trio Ensemble Award: Villas-Lobos Duet (The British School of Al Khubairat); Vocal Ensemble Award: Chamber Choir (Dubai College); Plucked String Award: William Hargreaves (The British School of Al Khubairat); Bowed String Award: Joonwoo Jeong (Dubai College); Male Vocal Award: Patrick O’Connell (Sharjah English School); Female Vocal Award: Anneketrien Van-Wassenhove (Sharjah English School).
The competition was sponsored and supported by Euromotors (Diamond) and Ambassador Stores (Silver).
Prizes were also awarded by David Axtell, from St Christopher’s School Board of Governors, Mehdi Hanyen from Sofitel Bahrain Zallaq Thalassa Sea & Spa, David McGoldrick from Euromotors, British School of the Middle East chief operating officer Olivia Roth and Ambassador Stores sales manager Ajay Kumar.
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