Daniel Hibbert wins Junior Guildhall Lutine Prize 2022
Horn player Daniel Hibbert has been awarded First Prize at the final of Junior Guildhall’s most prestigious award: The Lutine Prize. The second prize was awarded to cellist Oliver Simpson.
The six finalists, all students at Junior Guildhall, took to the stage at Milton Court Concert Hall on Friday 24 June. The instrumentalists demonstrated a wide range of musical specialisms and presented audiences with a rich and varied programme.
Daniel delighted the audience with their performance of Jean Francaix’s Divertimento and I Introduzione, Alan Abbott’s Alla Caccia, Robert Schumann’s Romance No. 2 in A Major and Paul Dukas’ Villanelle. Daniel was accompanied by Jane Beament.
Rosie Whitfield, Head of Junior Guildhall, says:
“As we emerge from a hugely challenging period, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our Junior Guildhall students and parents for their support during this time and since our return to live teaching and performance. I would also like to commend the Junior Guildhall staff for their skill, support and dedication, and everyone who has contributed to the success of this event.
Today, we have seen a wonderful celebration of Junior Guildhall’s outstanding young talent. Huge congratulations, of course, to Daniel and all the finalists of this year’s Lutine Prize – each performer demonstrated their dedication and passion for music-making. I wish all of them every success for the future.”
The adjudicators this year were bass-baritone Matthew Hargeaves, French Horn player Beth Randell and cellist Louise Hopkins.
The Lutine Prize is the most prestigious competition at Junior Guildhall, equivalent to that of the Senior School’s Gold Medal. This year, six students were selected from the preliminary round to perform in the final, where they presented a 20-minute solo recital. The winner will be given the opportunity to perform a concerto with one of the Junior Guildhall ensembles, in addition to a cash prize.
The other finalists were: Kayla Nicol, Mariella Bromfield, Siena Barr and Shayna Kirsten D’Silva.
The Lutine Prize was inaugurated in 1982 and Daniel joins a long line of winners, many of whom have enjoyed professional music careers, including Thomas Adès, Tom Poster and Annabel Thwaite.
Daniel Hibbert (born 2005) began to learn the French horn at the age of ten. He studied with Chris Morley, Assistant Principal Horn of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, until 2019 and now studies with David Bentley at Junior Guildhall. Daniel was a member of the National Children’s Orchestra from 2016 until 2019 and for the last four years, he has been the principal horn for the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. This year he became a member of The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
In the summer of 2019 he was sponsored by the Rotary Club of South Liverpool to attend the week long International Junior Masterclass Course of The Franz Liszt Conservatoire and University, Weimar, Germany. The only student to be selected from the UK, he was shortlisted for the soloist’s recital final and subsequently awarded second prize overall.
Daniel has a particular interest in historic horns. To his joy, he played the Wagner Tuba in the recent NYO performance of The Rite of Spring. He is also a passionate proponent of the natural horn.
Congratulations to Daniel and all of our 2022 finalists!