Roll Over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news that a Howells School student is through to the second round of the Rotary Club Young Musician of the Year.
Talented Lydia Lee is more Richard Clayderman than Little Richard and the 17-year-old swept through the first round heat organized by Denbigh Rotary Club.
Lydia, from Hong Kong, a Grade Eight piano student who has been playing for ten years, wowed the judges with Beethoven’s Rondo and George Gershwin’s Novelette in Fourths.
Howells School Trustee Nicola Locke said: “The school waxs represented by Polly Lai, May Kwan and Lydia Lee who all did brilliantly.
“We were all thrilled when Lydia Lee won the competition which featured a very high standard of musical ability throughout but Lydia really is a wonderful pianist with bags of personality in her playing.
“Music is something that is very important to us at Howells and we encourage all our students to enjoy it in all its forms and we pride ourselves on the facilities we have here and the standard of teaching.”
Lydia, who is sitting her GCSE exams this summer, intends to take music at A level and would like to explore a career in music therapy.
She said: “I really love playing and I love music of all sorts but especially classical and Beethoven is my favourite composer and Rondo is my favourite piece.
“But I also enjoy Mozart, Bach and Gershwin and jazz as well – I love Black Coffee by Sonny Burke.”
Photograph: Lydia Lee at the piano
