19 year old Ross Knight became the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Young Brass Winner at the RNCM in Manchester on Sunday evening.

For the first time, the BBC nominated three winners from three different categories with the trio competing against each other at the RNCM in Manchester as the finale to the Festival of Brass weekend.

Royal Academy

Ross who is studying at The Royal Academy of Music in London and who plays with Aveley and Newham Band was the under-21 soloist winner, whilst James Fountain was selected from the under-18 soloist category. The Youth Band for 2012 was Carnoustie & District Youth conducted by Michael Robertson.

Knight's performance of Rodney Newton's ‘Capriccio’ was more than enough to convince judges Richard Evans, Black Dyke's principal baritone, Katrina Marzella and British Bandsman Editor, Kenneth Crookston that he should follow some illustrious colleagues and take the title.

Winning comments

Addressing the large audience and Radio 2 host Frank Renton about the winner, the adjudicators agreed...'they had a clear winner'.

High quality

James and Carnoustie contributed to a final where the overall standard was incredibly high.

The Grimethorpe Principal Cornet selected William Himes' 'Jubilance' whilst the Scottish Youth contender opted for Paul Lovatt-Cooper's 'Enter the Galaxies' and 'Dundonnel' from Sparke's 'Hymn of the Highlands' for their overall challenge.

'Ross was completely speechless when interviewed by Frank Renton after being announced as the overall winner'4BR

Winners list

Whilst becoming the first recipient in the competition's new format, Knight now joins a list of winners that includes, Lewis Musson, Katrina Marzella, Stephen Sykes, Ben Thomson, Brenden Wheeler and Matthew White — all regarded as some of the finest young brass talent of their generation.

All of the finalists were accompanied by the RNCM Band conducted by Dr Nicholas Childs.

Final broadcast on Radio 2

The final will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in the near future.