Woking Music Festival hosted its annual young musician competition on Saturday, 7 February.

The evening, attended by the Mayor of Woking, Amanda Boote, included performances from seven outstanding performers aged 14-20 contending for Woking Young Musician 2026, as well as a series of other awards.

The coveted Gordon Brown Woking Young Musician Trophy was awarded to 17-year-old pianist Anxo Garcia.

The adjudicator, Richard Watkins, said of the evening: “What a celebration of musical talent,” praising many impressive performances.

Watkins, a renowned horn player, described Anxo performing a sonata by Prokofiev as “jaw dropping” as the youngster played with passion and heart.

Second place (Yorkshire Building Society Trophy) went to Beatrice Tsang, a percussionist who played the vibraphone and marimba with astounding virtuosity.

Morwenna Rees, a 17-year-old saxophonist, was awarded third (HR Taylor Charitable Trust Trophy), impressing the adjudicator with the piece Soar by Alastair Penman.

All other competitors - Elizabeth Chwu, Jason Fan, Jerry Liu and Yash Saran - received a cash prize of £125.

Anxo said: “Woking YM is one of my favourite musical events with its inviting atmosphere. The standard of playing is exceptionally high and I feel honoured to have won first prize.”

In the surroundings of St John’s Church, the audience was captivated by the performances.

Other category award winners included: Junior Musicians of the Year (Youer Chen and Anaiyah Kashim); Most Promising Young Singer of the Year (Chloe Ayres); Most Promising Young Actor (Annabel Drummond); Chamber Music Award (St Catherine Martinu Quartet ); Most Memorable Performance of the Year (Yvie Gregory and Niamh McLaren ); Dame Ethyl Smyth Award, best performance of a work by a female composer (Anabelle Wang).

Cllr Boote was thanked for presenting the awards, as well as sponsors and friends of the festival for their support, enabling the evening to be such a success.

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