Bassoon Poetry Competition 2021: winner announcement!

October 28th, 2021

We are extremely excited to announce the winners of our Bassoon Poetry Competition 2021!

We would like to thank everyone who submitted poems for the Bassoon Poetry Competition 2021, and we are excited to announce the overall winners, children's category winners and runners-up after a period of difficult decision making.

We were amazed and gratified at the quantity and quality of the submissions, and the time so many took to write them. We had submissions from all ages, ranging from eight to over eighty. And we were very moved by the heartfelt commitment that all these bassoonists have for their instruments and the music they play on them. 

This collection of poems gives a unique insight into the feelings and experiences bassoonists have throughout their playing life. Their joy is wholehearted; their passion, abundant. While reading their poems we shared these emotions, and felt a deep sense of appreciation for how meaningful an endeavour it is to learn and play the bassoon.

Here are our chosen winners: 

Overall winners:  

- 1st place winner: Lauren Speed (read the poem here)

- 2nd place winner: Graham Grafton (read the poem here)

- 3rd place winner: Josue D. Piñango L. (read the poem here)

Children's Category: 

- 1st place children's category winner: Catherine C-E, aged 13 (read the poem here)

- 2nd place children's category winner: Lila Janet Burman-Roy, aged 8 (read the poem here)

- 3rd place children's category winner: Alice Joubert, aged 11 (read the poem here)

Top runners up:  

- Michael Rogers (read the poem here) 

- Georgina Phillips (read the poem here)

- Neville Barker (read the poem here)

- Hannah Phillips (read the poem here) 

- Janet Carol Tippin (read the poem here)

- Janet Lloyd (read the poem here)

- Margaret Kallow (read the poem here) 

- Andrea Magnani (read the poem here)

- Ebin Baykan Hirschman (read the poem here)

And here is our poetry contribution (not part of the competition!):

- The bassoon shall have new breath by Double Reed Ltd. (read the poem here)