We are delighted to welcome Pianist Joanna Lam back to Budworth Hall for her Winner's recital which Ongar Music Club sponsor. Joanna won the Essex Young Musician of the Year competition in 2024, and enthralled the audience with her fabulous performance.
There will be a scrumptious Afternoon Tea served after the event which is included in the ticket price.

Joanna Lam commenced piano lessons at the age of 8, proceeding to win prizes at several national music festivals. After leaving Chetham's School of Music, she continued to study with Masayuki Tayama whilst reading Music at King's College London where she received First Class Honours and was further awarded the Purcell Prize for gaining the highest mark in the degree. Most recently, she has been awarded a Scholarship to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she gained her Artist Master’s in Performance with Distinction.

Joanna has appeared in Masterclasses with Søren

Rastogi, Noriko Ogawa, Vanessa Latarche, Norma Fisher and Frédéric Aguessy.

She has performed at London’s Royal Festival Hall, the Steinway Hall,

Bridgewater Hall, EPTA’s annual conference, the Barbican, and Milton Court

Concert Hall in London. Joanna is the winner of Essex Young Musician of the Year 2024 and has become a regular soloist at Hitchin Festival and the Iris Axon recital series in London.

She was awarded the prestigious Jellinek Prize as a winner of the Una Clark

Young Artists' Competition, leading to a performance of Rachmaninov's 1st

Piano Concerto with Guildford Symphony Orchestra. She has performed with Chineke! Foundation and appeared as the soloist in performances of concertos by Fauré and Saint-Saëns, working with conductors Daniel King-Smith and Levon Parikian. An experienced chamber musician, Joanna has collaborated with the renowned clarinettist and Principal of the Royal Northern, Linda Merrick, and is a Song Easel Young Artist along with baritone Geoff Clapham.

She plays regularly with the Orelia piano trio who were the winners of the Ivan Sutton Chamber Prize 2024 and who have made their debut in France and Canada in the same year.

Joanna is passionate about elevating the platform for lesser known and female composers, and sharing these works with audiences. In 2022 she performed as part of Sarah Cahill’s marathon project The Future is Female at the Barbican, promoting music by unsung female composers. Most recently she has been a semifinalist of Birmingham International Piano Competition, the Royal Over Seas League, and prizewinner at the Coulsdon & Purley Festival, North London Festival, and Guildhall’s Beethoven and Romantic Prizes. She has been selected for Le Foyer des Artistes Concerto Award Piano Spectacle in Collaboration with YAMAHA Europe, and performed in their prestigious Final at St. Columb’s Hall in Ireland. Joanna has recorded for Prima Facie Records and has directed the Music Academy at the Felsted International Summer School several times. She holds an award from the Wayne Sleep Foundation and is thrilled to continue her studies through the Artist Diploma programme at Guildhall. She is proud to be a Talent Unlimited Artist.

Programme

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No.17 'The Tempest', Op.31 No.2

I. Largo-Allegro

II. Adagio

III. Allegretto

Ravel - Jeux d'eau

Amy Beach - Ballade

Liszt - Rhapsodie Espagnol

Event Details

Doors Open at 2:30PM
Starts at 3:00PM

Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/ongar-music-club/t-dkkgmxm

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ADVANCE DATES FOR YOUR 2026 DIARY ...

Sunday 17th May
Joanna Lam, piano – Essex Young Musician of the Year 2024 3pm

Sunday 28th June
Essex Young Musicican of the Year Preliminary Round 2pm

Sunday 5th July
Essex Young Musicican of the Year Semifinal (2pm) and Final (6:30pm) Rounds

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A brief history ...

Ongar Music Club was founded in 1975 in the small market town of Ongar in Essex by a group of local music-enthusiasts. They presented numerous concerts, and in 1984 founded the prestigious Essex Young Musician of the Year competition, under the generous patronage of John Lill CBE. A great many past prize winners have gone on to enjoy successful professional careers.

In addition to presenting this renowned competition, the club continued to present concerts, and in 2019 launched a series of lunchtime concerts called Soundbites! With the restrictions of the Covid Pandemic the club adapted their programme schedule, and moved their concerts online. LIVELOUNGE was created, a season of concerts exclusively on YouTube, not only for members and friends of Ongar Music Club, but also as a Community outreach programme for Care Homes in the UK, bringing music into the homes of all those who are isolated due to Covid restrictions.

Many famous artists have performed in concert and given musical talks for the Club over the years. These include Yehudi Menuhin, John Lill, Dame Eva Turner, Sir Peter Pears, Stephen Kovacevich, Denis Matthews, Steven Isserlis, Richard Baker, Fritz Spiegl, Benjamin Grosvenor and The Fairer Sax. The Club was also instrumental in the formation of Ongar Jazz Club. It is this diversity of activity which has ensured the Club’s ongoing success.