A “supremely gifted” 20-year-old pianist has been crowned as the best young musician in Wales.
Rufus Edwards, from Bersham, near Wrexham, was declared the winner of the prestigious Pendine Young Musician of Wales competition at the North Wales International Music Festival.
He came out on top after a spellbinding final at St Asaph Cathedral which was recorded by BBC Radio Cymru.
The rising star was presented with the Pendine Trophy and a cash prize of £2,000 by Mario Kreft MBE, the proprietor of the Wrexham and Caernarfon based Pendine Park care organisation who sponsored the competition via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust.
Second place went to cellist Iván Cherednichenko Carrillo, 19, from Cardiff, who received a £1,000 prize.
Third place was shared by Stephanie Jonas, 20, from Northop, Flintshire, and Izzy Hill, 19, from Pontypool, who both received £500.
Fittingly, Rufus closed his programme with a virtuoso performance of Toccata Alla Danza by William Mathias, the late founder of the North Wales International Music Festival.
A delighted Rufus, who was also among the finalists last year, said: “It felt right to include a piece by Mathias at the festival he founded. His grave is just outside the cathedral and it was quite special to play it.
“It’s great to be back, it’s so friendly here and everyone is so supportive and I’m overjoyed,” he said.
He has been playing the piano since the age of five and is currently studying with Chester-based pianist John Gough.
He won the Instrumental Blue Ribband at the National Eisteddfod in 2019 and again in 2023 and in August of this year he won the Eleri Evans Memorial Prize for accompanying at the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham.
Rufus is about to begin his third year reading Music at Christ Church, Oxford, where he frequently performs in lunchtime recitals, and was last year President of the Christ Church Music Society.
After all four finalists had performed their programmes the panel of adjudicators – opera singer Rebecca Evans; former Director of Music at Bangor University Gwyn L Williams and choral scholar Alun Jones gathered in a quiet corner of the cathedral to decide on the winner.
Speaking on their behalf Rebecca Evans said: “This has been a special evening and they are all winners who will go on to have glittering careers and what we can say is that we were here on the night where it all began.
“We are all agreed that the standard has been simply incredible this evening and I’m delighted to say that our decision was unanimous.”
Mario Kreft added: “All four of the finalists treated us to brilliant performances and Rufus was a worthy winner. He is supremely gifted.
“They all have fantastic careers ahead for all of them and at Pendine we’re just pleased to be able to support the nurturing of Welsh musical talent.
“The competition totally fits in with our ethos across the generations working with young people and how important the arts are to our lives in all its forms.
“Music matters just as much to people who live and work in social care and enriching people’s lives, residents and staff alike, is the golden thread that runs through everything we do at Pendine.”
Prof Paul Mealor, the festival’s artistic director, described the performances by all the musicians in the competition as “fantastic”.
“You can go anywhere in the world and you won’t find anything better, it was top notch. And the competition has grown in just a year. Last year was fabulous but now the standard is absolutely outstanding.”
Flintshire corner player Stephanie Jonas is currently studying music at the University of Oxford. She is the principal cornet of the National Youth Brass Band of Wales and is a former principal cornet of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBBGB).
She is also a former member of the Northop Silver Band where she had the opportunity to perform in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall.
She has won the NYBBGB Katie Ogden solo competition for two consecutive years and won best instrumentalist at the 2024 First Section Welsh Brass Band Regionals.
While judges deliberated their decision the audience were treated to a short presentation by harpist Heledd Wyn Newton, last year’s winner.
She said taking the title had created many opportunities for her with many invitations to perform at various venues.
“It certainly opened doors and included one to visit 10 Downing Street for a St David’s Day reception. I met the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the cast of Gavin and Stacey who were also there. A real highlight!” she said.
