After a spectacular Gold Medal final at Wigmore Hall last night, guitarist Jack Hancher was chosen as the winner of the 70th ROSL Annual Music Competition after delighting the audience with an intimate programme of Bach, Dowland and Walton.
British guitarist Jack Hancher became the Gold Medal winner in the competition’s 70th anniversary year, becoming only the third guitarist to take home the prestigious gold medal.
The Gold Medal final was held at London’s Wigmore Hall in the presence of HRH Princess Alexandra, Vice-Patron of the Royal Over-Seas League and long-time supporter of the competition. Four soloists competed in the impressive final, Daniel Scott recorder, Jack Hancher guitar, James Atkinson baritone and George Todică piano. The adjudicators John Gilhooly CBE (chair), Geoff Parkin, Melvyn Tan, Gavin Henderson CBE, Elizabeth Kenny, Barbara Law, Soraya Mafi, Andrew Burke and Rachel van Walsum had the task of choosing the winner and the £15,000 award.
While the judges deliberated, the ROSL 2022 Ensemble Category winners, the Paddington Trio and Connaught Brass performed works by Shostakovich and Steven Verhelst, following which HRH Princess Alexandra and the panel of adjudicators took to the stage to announce Jack Hancher as the winner.
Jack Hancher completed his Master's in Performance at the Royal College of Music in 2018 where he studied with Gary Ryan and Chris Stell and won the RCM Guitar Award 2014 while still in his second year as an undergraduate. Jack has won prizes at the Zagreb Guitar Festival Competition, the Plovdiv GuitArt Festival Competition, earning him the place as a EuroStrings Artists for 2021, and has performed at guitar festivals across Europe. Jack has performed across Europe in venues including Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, the Großer Ehrbar Saal, Vienna and the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi, Turin.
Jack Hancher
Daniel Scott accompanied by Daniel Rubio Ferrandis
James Atkinson
George Todică
Paddington Trio
Connaught Brass
