News

Johann Uy, a 16-year-old pianist from St Ignatius Catholic School, was named the 2024 Butterfield Young Musician of the Year on Monday, 29 April. He was chosen from among nine talented instrumentalists who performed classical pieces on the piano, violin, cello, and saxophone.

Pianist Lorena Peterson, from Triple C School, secured the runner-up position in the competition held at the John Gray High School Performing Arts Hall.

Johann and Lorena, both members of Spark! School of Performing Arts, received trophies and cash prizes of $500.00 and $300.00, respectively.

Esteemed music educators, including previous NCFA coordinator Ms. Stephanie Williams and Dr. William H Peterson, Director of Bands and Associate Professor of Music at the University of South Alabama, worked alongside classically trained Caymanian singer and instrumentalist Mr. Arek Nicholson to judge performances based on maturity, technical accuracy, musicality, and performance skills.

Garson Gardiner and Thian Bodden from John Gray High School; James Macdonald (Cayman Prep & High School); Jude Solomon and McAllister Fernandes (St. Ignatius Catholic School); and Ayden Joukhadar and Alida Dzaghgouni (Cayman International School) rounded out the list of finalists.

Ministry of Education Acting Deputy Chief Officer Mr. Adrian Jones congratulated the young musicians and expressed admiration for their work. "They were fantastic," he exclaimed. "It is good that we have such talent in the Cayman Islands. I look forward to seeing their talent blossom into something more in the future."

In his written message, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited's Managing Director, Mr. Michael McWatt, expressed sincere gratitude to the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education Services (DES), adjudicators, parents, teachers and guardians for their invaluable support and dedication to nurturing the talents of the young musicians, making this event a success.

For more details about the Young Musician of the Year Competition and other DES programmes, contact DES Senior Customer Service Manager Mrs. Kimberly Kirkconnell by telephone at 945-1199 or by email at DESSchoolEvents@gov.ky.