ASHLEY FRIPP (piano)
Photo © Malcolm Crowthers
Ashley Fripp, aged 16, was born in Hampshire and started playing the piano at the age of 9, although piano lessons did not begin in earnest until the age of 12. He joined the Royal College of Music Junior Department in September 2001, where he currently studies piano with Emily Jeffrey and composition with David Sutton Anderson.
In March 2003 he won the Highcliffe-on-Sea Young Pianist of the Year Competition, and in May of that year gave a concerto performance at the official opening of Hampshire’s Thornden Hall, a concert in which Evelyn Glennie also performed. In addition, in that same month he won first prize in the RCM Junior Department’s Marjorie Humby Memorial Competition – a competition open to all instrumentalists in the 13-14 year age range.
In September 2003, Ashley joined The Purcell School, where he studies piano, also with Emily Jeffrey, as well as composition with Jonathan Cole. That month he gave his début recital in aid of Naomi House, the Children’s Hospice, raising more than £1600.
Ashley reached the Keyboard Section Final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2004, which was broadcast nationally in April 2004. Since this particular success he has been invited to perform at numerous venues, including The Britten Theatre, RCM, and Steinway Hall in London. In July 2004, Ashley won the Three Rivers Young Musician of the Year, and was also awarded a First Prize for his age category in the BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composers’ Competition, resulting in a broadcast of his composition Utopia? on BBC Radio 3. This composition was published by Piano Professional. More recently, Ashley gave a recital at Blüthner’s Piano Centre in London.
Other future engagements include a number of solo recitals, a performance at The Cadogan Hall in the presence of HRH Princess Alexandra, a chamber music performance at The Wigmore Hall and a further concerto performance, on this occasion with the RCM Junior Department Symphony Orchestra on April 16th at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the final Richard Stilgoe Concert.
January 2005