Diploma Student Shortlisted for Young Drummer of the Year 2022
Greg Jacobs, a 16-year-old student who studies with us at BIMM Institute Birmingham, has been named one of ten finalists in the national Young Drummer of the Year 2022 competition. The Northamptonshire musician studies the Drums stream of our Diploma in Music Performance course.
Greg submitted a two-minute drum solo earlier this year along with many hopeful drummers up and down the UK. After a thorough selection process, the entries were narrowed down to a shortlist of 40.
You can watch Greg’s amazing submission below:
The 40 entries then went through a second selection process that saw them whittled down to just 10 finalists. These finalists will perform at the 20th edition of the national Drummer of the Year competition on February 6, 2022.
We caught up with Greg to find out how he feels about his upcoming performances on Finals day: “I made massive progress during lockdown because I was able to play five or six hours every day, which dramatically improved my playing. I also achieved all eight of my grades with distinction. I’ve had a lot of practice with different time signatures, so I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp of it.”
The Competition Finals:
On the day of the finals, Greg will be required to play another two-minute drum solo and perform an original track sent to him to learn around five weeks before. Finalists will also listen to a track and improvise a drum solo to it. The finalists will have no idea what this track is until one hour before their performance.
“[Greg’s] a great student with outstanding potential and an exciting future ahead of him.”
– Steve McCarthy, FE Course Leader
Steve McCarthy, FE Course Leader, added: “We’re incredibly proud of Greg for reaching the final 10 of the national Young Drummer of the Year 2022. He’s a great student with outstanding potential and an exciting future ahead of him.”
The judges at this year’s Young Drummer of the Year include multi-platinum recording artist Russ Miller, who has played the drums for Tina Turner, Cher and Hilary Duff. He will be joined by Matty Brown, who won the Drummer of the Year 2013 competition. Matty has since played for many household names, including Stormzy, Ellie Goulding and Olly Murs.
Emily Dolan Davies is also on the panel, she has drummed for The Darkness, Becky Hill, Bryan Ferry, and trip-hop legend Tricky. BIMM Institute Drums graduate AJ Rousell will also join the judging panel.
Good luck Greg; we’re all behind you! You can check out more from the Drums stream of our Diploma in Music Performance course, here.
