Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL)

The Mithras Trio, made up of Ionel Manciu violin,Leo Popplewell celloand Dominic Degavino piano, last night won the first of two ensembles prizes on offer at this year's Annual Music Competition, beating out the highly-talented competition in the Strings and Piano Ensembles Section Final. 

Last night we had our final solo Section Final for this year's Annual Music Competition, and this week it was the turn of the pianists. For the second week we had five extraordinary young musicians vying for the chance to win £5,000 and a place in our Gold Medal Final. 

The last of the solo Section Finals of this year's Annual Music Competition took place yesterday evening. A capacity crowd filled the Princess Alexandra Hall to listen to four talented young pianists compete for the Keyboard Section prize of £5,000 and a chance to compete at the Gold Medal Final at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 30 May. 

Our last soloist has made it through to the Gold Medal Final of the 2020 Annual Music Competition. In a hard-fought Section Final last night, five young musicians battled it out take home the £5,000 Keyboard Prize and a coveted spot in the final. 

ROSL's activities in both music and the visual arts stretch back decades, with the Annual Music Competition celebrating its 66th year in 2018, and our programme of rolling exhibitions beginning in the 1980s. With such a rich history, it was decided in 1985 to marry these two, often disparate, forms of artistic expression. 

Not just the star of the Keyboard Section Final, our beautiful Steinway Model D provides accompaniment during virtually all other rounds of the Annual Music Competition. Given its workload, it needs careful care to ensure it plays and sounds as good as it possibly can. 

Thursday evening saw the penultimate event of the Annual Music Competition with our Overseas Final, which celebrates the musicians from our Section Finals who hail from overseas, and this year we had four incredible musicians from New Zealand and Australia. 

Last night saw the second of our solo Section Finals take place in the Princess Alexandra Hall, as five talented young soloists competed for the £5,000 Singers Prize and a place in the Gold Medal Final in June. With a wealth of repertoire to choose from, the audience and our jury were wowed by the exceptional musicianship on display. 

Due to Covid restrictions the Annual Music Competition Gold Medal Final took place behind closed doors this year. This is your change to watch it in full. 

Watch 2000 AMC Wind and Brass winner Sarah Field perform Hard Fairy by Graham Fitkin alongside Dawn Hardwick in ROSL's Princess Alexandra Hall. Through some very clever editing, Dawn appears as pianist on both pianos with Sarah playing soprano saxophone. 

Watch last night's recital from the Princess Alexandra Hall, featuring 2013 ROSL Annual Music Competition Gold Medal winner baritone Morgan Pearse, with ROSL 2016 collaborative piano winner Chad Vindin. 

Missing your musical fix today? Then why not relive all the excitement of the 2019 Annual Music Competition (AMC) Gold Medal Final, which took place at the Southbank Centre in May. Watch the future of classical music compete for the £15,000 first prize. And don't forget ROSL will be bringing together its AMC alumni for two weeks over concerts next month at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Take a look at the programme here. 

On 9 November, ROSL hosted a champagne recital featuring 2016 Annual Music Competition Gold Medal winner Emily Sun violin and 2011 Keyboard Prize winner Ashley Fripp piano, in the presence of ROSL Vice Patron HRH Princess Alexandra. 

Watch last week's recital again, which saw flautist Sirius Chau, winner of the 2020 AMC Wind and Brass Prize, take to the Princess Alexandra Hall stage alongside pianist Kumi Matsuo. 

The Annual Music Competition has been a part of the ROSL calendar for more than 65 years, growing in scope and stature to become world renowned for the quality of young musicians it attracts and the long-standing relationship it builds with its alumni, helping musicians to build their careers in classical music long after they have competed. 

Last night the audience in the Princess Alexandra Hall were treated to a special performance of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major by ROSL prizewinners the Marmen Quartet and cellist John Myerscough, in the latest of our ROSL Rush Hour concert series.