Cellist’s comeback triumph as he’s crowned Wales’ best young musician

A young Welsh cellist has been crowned Wales’ top young musician after returning to the competition a year after narrowly missing out on the title.

Iván Cherednichenko Carrillo, 20 delivered a show-stopping performance to win the prestigious Pendine Young Musician of Wales title at the North Wales International Music Festival.

He  was presented with the £2,000 prize and the competition’s silver salver trophy, which will be engraved with his name.

The £1,000 second prize went to 14-year-old French horn player Ethan Pawley, from Welshpool, the youngest instrumentalist in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales.

Soprano Leisa Mair Lloyd-Edwards, from Dyffryn Nantlle, Gwynedd, and Bangor-born organist Llewelyn Biezard-Greenwell, 19, each received £500 as runners-up.

The prizes were provided by Pendine Park care organisation through its Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT) .

Pendine Park owner Mario Kreft MBE, who presented Iván with the trophy, praised the standard of all four finalists who performed at St Asaph Cathedral in front of an enraptured audience.

He said: “I think everyone in the audience tonight was entranced by the high standard of playing from all the finalists.

“They are a credit to the way in which music education is valued here in Wales. It is important that competitions like this one continue to provide opportunities for the young musical talents or our future.

“My wife Gill and I could not be prouder to have witnessed such thrilling performances here in St Asaph Cathedral which is so widely acclaimed for its wonderful acoustic.

“Iván’s performance was extraordinary. He is a worthy winner. We wish him and all the other finalists here tonight the very best for their future careers.”

Iván, from Cardiff, who once took a masterclass with globally renowned cello player Julian Lloyd Webber, said: “I was excited to have made it into the competition final again, especially after I was placed second last year. To have now gone one better and won the title is an incredible honour.”

Festival artistic director, the Royal composer Professor Paul Mealor, said the competition was a fantastic showpiece for the wealth of young musical talent that exists in Wales and a great opportunity for up and coming musicians to perform on a major stage.

The competition was judged by three of north Wales’s most eminent musicians, oboist and music author Professor Helena Gaunt, concert pianist and Bangor university lecturer Iwan Llewelyn-Jones, and choral scholar and singer Alun Jones.

Announcing the winner Professor Gaunt said the entire judging panel had ‘truly marvelled’ at the standard of Iván’s playing, especially his mastering of the cello duo technique which they said was outstanding.

It involves a player synchronizing their timing, bow stroke and intonation with the accompanist to achieve a perfect balance of the melody and harmony.

Iván was accompanied by pianist Louisa Lam who is a full time accompanist at the Royal College of Music in London where Ivánis half way through a four year degree course.

He played three pieces of varying styles, Mervyn Burtch’s Prelude, Bohuslave Martinu’s Variations on a Theme of Rossini, and Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita.

Raised in Cardiff by his mathematician parents Kirill and Claudia, Iván started his cello studies when he was aged five at the Junior Conservatoire of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

By the time he reached his teens he had become so proficient that he went on to the sixth form at The Purcell School, the oldest specialist music school in the UK.

He also attended the Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he held principal cellist positions, was in the Lutine Prize final in 2023 and 2024, and won the coveted Strings Prize.

In Wales he has performed at the Senedd, Llandaff Cathedral, Gregynog Hall and as a soloist with the Cardiff Baroque Orchestra.

An avid interest in chamber music has seen him undertake performances across the UK and to European destinations including France, Italy, Ireland and Malta.

He has established a string quartet and piano trio at the Royal College of Music, and he also regularly appears with pianist friend Benji Lock, of Port Talbot, with whom he hopes to arrange a concert tour of Wales in the near future.

Iván said: “My hope is to learn as much as I can while I am starting my career. I want to absorb myself in the music, try different styles and continue to learn from my tutors and my peers.

“That’s one reason I chose a varied choice of pieces for the Pendine Young Musician of the Year concert. I’m just so keen to push myself, to extend my skills as much as I can and see where it takes me.”

He added: “I am so grateful to have won the £2,000 prize. It makes a big difference and I can’t thank the competition sponsors enough for the way they support young musicians like myself and my fellow finalists. Living and studying in London means that just affording things like accommodation and daily meals can be a big expense. Add to that items like replacement cello strings and being a student musician can get very costly.”

A special performance was also given on the night by last year’s Pendine Young Musician of Wales winner, pianist Rufus Edwards, of Bersham near Wrexham, who said winning the prize had been an important stepping stone in helping push forward his career.

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