The 18th annual Butterfield Young Musician of the Year competition took place on 27 Feb. at the George Town Library, showcasing eight of the Islands’ most impressive young performers.
The winner was Alexa Valencia, who was awarded the 2026 Young Musician of the Year after delivering two exceptional piano performances, which included ‘Feodora’ by Carl Czerny and ‘Claire de lune’ by Claude Debussy. Valencia is a student of Spark! School of Performing Arts where her teacher is Aleksandra Henszel. She also attends St. Ignatius Catholic School. She impressed the adjudicators with her technical command and refined musicianship, a recent press release said.
Valencia said, “Piano practice has grounded me and remained a constant among my other interests. This competition encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and into the spotlight.”
Alexa, who appeared on Compass TV’s Daybreak on 10 March, also said that she really enjoys music and thinks it’s a good creative outlet.
“I was never really that big into like sports or art, drama, any of the other fine arts. So, I decided music would be the thing that I focus on.”
When asked while on Daybreak what she would pass along to other young musicians who may want to compete in the future, Valencia said she would recommend learning how to stay calm.
“I think one of the most important things is not to stress too much about it because with performances, live performances, there’s always a chance that something will go wrong,” she said. “So, I think that a really important thing is to not panic, but it’s important if you can recover from that. You should just keep a level head and enjoy the performance.”
Valencia credits her parents for supporting her as well as Spark! as they helped her to prepare for her Trinity Collage of London exams for piano. She is now playing at a level 8 – the highest level at Trinity.
The runner-up honours were awarded to flautist Charlotte Gothar who studied through CayMusicA’s Starlight programme and performed ‘Aria’ by Eugene Bozza, accompanied by Glen Inanga, and ‘Moderato in E flat major, No. 12’, from Kohler, Opus 33. Gothar started playing the flute when she was eight years old as well and is a rising star in the local music scene as both a musician and budding conductor.
The competition also featured Jude Solomon and Marvin Smith, both of Spark!; Justin Sy of Cayman Music School; Ryan Nock of Nicole Bodden’s Studio; and Isaiah Falconer of Serenade.
The adjudication panel included local music educators Stephanie Williams, Arek Nicholson and musician and professor Catherine Rand who is the Director of Bands at the University of Southern Mississippi.
At the event, Rand said, “Tonight we heard the eight best players from the Islands.” She also encouraged the students to fully immerse themselves in their performances.
Rolston Anglin, Minister for Finance and Economic Development and Education and Training attended the event. He said, “Every single one of you are outstanding musicians, and I congratulate you and encourage you to continue your journey and inspire other young people to pursue music.”
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