The prize of £1000 is offered to students of the RBC for a solo or duo performance of a composition by Phil Miller to demonstrate their understanding of his oeuvre.
On Thursday 19th May the Phil Miller Guitar Prize took place in the Eastside Jazz Club at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This event has been postponed for the last two years because of the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic. It was in danger of being postponed for a third year when at the last minute we were offered this date. We were unprepared for it as we had been hoping to stage the event later in June but decided to accept this date and put on a pared-down version rather than missing out until 2023.
In spite of the short notice we had a good response resulting in six performances: three duos and three solos.
Fred Baker provided additional entertainment with his trio: our special guest of the evening Mark Fletcher on drums, Mickey O’Brien on Bass and himself on guitar playing some of Phil’s pieces.
The First Prize was won by Leo Morland on guitar with a fabulous performance of Phrygian Blues and the Second Prize was won by a duo performance from Oliver Canham on guitar and Adam Roberts on electric bass with a great rendition of Eastern Region.
We are posting all the performances of the evening starting with the first and second prize winners.
HERM
28.05.22
