Past winners

Since the Competition began there have been seventy Section Winners, and of those twenty-three have been Overall Winners. Some are now internationally acclaimed musicians, others have taken principal roles in leading orchestras and some have devoted themselves to academia. Here is a selection from the past.

Lorraine McAslan

Strings section TWIYCA winner in 1982, she has shared the concert platform with many of Britain's greatest orchestras, including the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and English Chamber Orchestra. A committed chamber musician, Lorraine is a popular performer at festivals throughout the U.K. including Aldeburgh, Bath and Cheltenham.

Michael Cox

1983 winner Michael Cox, is a world-renowned soloist, principal orchestral player and teacher and is recognised as one of the most important British flautists. He has an international career as both a soloist and chamber musician and is principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Joan Enric Lluna

1987 prizewinner Spanish clarinettist Joan Enric Lluna is one of Spain’s leading musicians and combines his work as a clarinettist with orchestral conducting and teaching. His commitment to Chamber Music has taken him to perform regularly with string quartets and trios worldwide and to collaborate with first class international artists.

Yuri Didenko

1992 prizewinner Yuri Didenko is an internationally acclaimed Russian pianist who has won numerous competitions in Italy, USA and Belgium. He studied piano at the Central Music School affiliated with the Moscow Conservatory with Alexander Mndoyants and then at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Merzhanov. He has performed recitals with major orchestra all over the world.

Simon Haram

1994 joint prizewinner Simon Haram has been the principal saxophone at the London Sinfonietta since 1997. He is a member of the Graham Fitkin Band and plays regularly with the Philharmonia and London Symphony Orchestras. He is currently Professor of Saxophone at the Royal Academy of Music.

Paul Lewis

1994 joint prizewinner Paul Lewis is internationally regarded as one of the leading pianists of his generation. He is one of the world’s foremost interpreters of the central European classical repertoire. He appears regularly as soloist with the world’s great orchestras. He was a previous President of the Competition and was recently appointed Artistic Director of the prestigious Leeds Piano Competition.

Laura Samuel

1996 prizewinner Laura Samuel was born in London in 1976, Laura entered the Royal College of Music at the age of 8 as a Junior Exhibitioner. Laura has taught Chamber Music at both the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Royal Northern College of Music and is the current Leader of The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Martyna Jatkauskaite

2006 prizewinner Martyna Jatkauskaite had become recognized as one of the leading Lithuanian pianists from the younger generation. She has consistently impressed critics with both her technical skills and masterly sense of interpretation in a broad range of repertory. She performs regularly throughout the UK, Lithuania, Italy, and other parts of Europe.

Sasha Grynyuk

Winner of the 2008 TWIYCA Competition, and ten other international competitions. Sasha was born in Kiev, studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine and later, with with Ronan O’Hora, at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he was the only pianist in more than a decade to win their prestigious Gold Medal - previously won by artists such as Jacqueline Du Pre and Bryn Terfel.

Savitri Grier

2012 prizewinner violinist Savitri Grier won the competition before finishing her A-levels. She also won 1st prize at Oxford University’s first ever Oxford Philomusica concerto competition. She got a first in music at Oxford, before winning sponsorship (along with Alexander Ullman) from the prestigious Young Concert Artists’ Trust. She has made her debut at Carnegie’s Weill Hall and Wigmore Hall, and appeared as soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony, English Chamber and Welsh National Opera orchestras to critical acclaim.