Six music students from the University of Surrey have competed in a lunchtime recital concert to win the Penningtons Scholarship Award. The winner was Simon Randall, a bass guitarist, who took the award home for his amazing and lively performance of his own composition ‘Memoirs’.
This year's competitors were final year undergraduates Emma Thompson (flute), Emma Pask (cello), Leanne Jones (flute), Jake Willson (electric guitar), Simon Randall (bass guitar) and Remy Martin (electric guitar). The programme for the concert was extremely varied, with three distinctly classical pieces being followed by three more pop/jazz style band performances.
All the performances given were of an extremely high standard, with each performer demonstrating enormous amounts of technical virtuosity on their chosen instrument. After much deliberation, however, the judges were unanimous in their decision that the winner should be Simon Randall.
Penningtons has been associated with the sponsorship of local arts organisations for a considerable number of years. In 2006 the firm decided to diversify this programme by providing funding for an undergraduate scholarship within the Music Department at the University of Surrey. This is the second year in which the Penningtons scholarship has been available to final year students and by public competition.