STELLENBOSCH – Two 17-year-old pianists, Hermanus Schmidt and Yu Qing Peng, swept the floor at the National Youth Music Competition (NYMC) that concluded in Stellenbosch on Saturday 6 December.
The musical duo earned R82 000 between them at the competition.
Schmidt, a resident of Somerset West, walked away with the 2025 National Youth Music Competition (NYMC) title, the gold medal and a whopping R51 500 in prize money. He is a Grade 11 learner at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, who recently won the Atterbury Piano Competition in Pretoria.
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Prof Mario Nell, non-voting chairperson of the NYMC adjudicating panel and Schmidt’s music teacher said: “[I am] proud beyond words of my remarkable piano student, whose talent and hard work have shone brightly in winning this prestigious national music competition. It fills me with gratitude and pride – not for the trophy, but for the heartfelt growth, dedication, and artistry he brings to the piano every single day.”
Schmidt’s total winnings consist of money paid to all contestants who played in the third and fourth rounds of the prestigious week-long competition that was held at the Endler Hall from 1 to 6 December, plus the Pauline Nossel Prize for the best performance of a classical work by a pianist, the best performance of a concerto in the final round and the piano category prize.
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The silver medal went to Peng, from Woodmead in Johannesburg, a learner at the SAHETI School in Bedfordview.
Apart from the silver medal, Peng won the prize for the best performance of a South African work for his performance of Peter Klatzow’s “From the Poets (Impudulu)“. He also shared the piano category prize with Schmidt.
Second-year Stellenbosch University student and marimba player Kyrah Adams walked away with the bronze medal and R10 000, as well as the category prize for other instruments worth R6 000.
The other category winners were 15-year-old cellist, Rebecca Gray and 19-year-old saxophonist James Cilliers, in the strings and wind categories. The category runners-up were 19-year-old violinist Emma Henshall (strings) and the 16-year-old saxophonist, Quinn Goliath (wind).
The competition winner and final rankings of the NYMC are cumulatively determined over four rounds.
The only competition in South Africa for 14 to 19-year-old musicians, it is where six finalists compete for top honours during a finalé gala concert, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
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