Pro-player Adrian Spillett
Lisa Fitzgerald-Lombard enjoys a Q&A session with Adrian Spillett - a BBC Young Musician of the Year winner, Percussion Section Leader for City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham Conservatoire’s Head of Percussion
What first drew you to percussion and when did you realise you wanted to pursue it as a career?
I remember watching a family friend play the drums at a young age and this gave me the bug early in life. Whilst at sixth form, I had to choose between maths and music; I went with my heart - glad I did!
How did you find the experience of competing in the BBC Young Musician of the Year and what impact did it have on your future as a performer?
The experience was immense. The opportunity to perform a concerto on live TV with a professional orchestra just doesn’t happen to the typical music college student. The competition required huge amounts of
self-drive and discipline to be on top form for each round. However, I had gone into the competition with the ambition of improving and challenging myself. To win was unreal and hugely unexpected.
Winning certainly helped me to get my first step on the career ladder, particularly with my old Percussion Quartet, 4-MALITY. It was, however, a springboard rather than a guaranteed ticket to the career that I have now. You have to keep striving for excellence, rather than rely on something that happened 18 years ago…
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