Bristol's brightest musicians take to the stage: Celebrating the 2025 Guild of Guardians Awards

On 28 April we were thrilled to host the 2025 Guild of Guardians City Waits Awards ceremony at Bristol Beacon.

We look forward to this event every year as it gives us the opportunity to celebrate some of the phenomenal talent from Bristol’s next generation of musicians.

Each award recipient performing in the 2025 showcase is an active participant in one or more Bristol Beacon Ensembles and was selected on behalf of the Guild of Guardians to receive one of these awards alongside prize money, in recognition of their outstanding contribution to music in the city.

In Medieval times the city of Bristol retained the services of four musicians to provide entertainment on municipal occasions, and by 1540 they were officially known as ‘City Waits’. They were responsible for providing the music for state and civic processions and other rejoicings and were held in high regard. After a 150-year break, the office was revived in 1988 by the Guild of Guardians to recognise outstanding achievements in music making, and to reflect the passion and commitment to music we have here in Bristol.

This year, the Vice President of the Guild of Guardians presented seven individual awards; two City Waits Awards, and five awards for Musical Potential.

The first awards were the Award for Musical Potential. This is given in recognition of the potential they have displayed in achieving a high standard of musicianship and also reflects their involvement in music-making throughout the city. A huge congratulations to Katie England, Isaac Lopez-Cottrell, Abbie Cheuk Wing Ng, Elise Lewis and Rajay Cochrane-Maxwell who were the recipients of this category.

Next, the first City Waits award was awarded to Sam Bristow, violinist and conductor who plays in and leads various ensembles across Bristol, including Bristol Youth Orchestra and West Bristol Orchestra. Sam treated the audience to a stunning performance of the First Movement of Brahms’ Violin Sonata in G Major, accompanied by Claire Alsop.

The second recipient of the City Waits award was Tommy Coleman. Tommy is a DJ who has been a part of Bristol Youth Studios since its conception, and has since honed his skills to a professional level. Tommy plays regularly in venues across the city, and one day aspires to be a resident DJ at a club or bar, as well as perform at music festivals and at events abroad. Tommy played a dynamic and original house music set that he selected and mixed specially for the evening.

Bristol Beacon would like to sincerely thank the Guild of Guardians and the Lord Mayor for supporting these young people, by nurturing their musical development with these awards. We also share our appreciation to the music tutors, mentors, and parents/carers of these young musicians for their continuous support.

A huge congratulations to each of the recipients for their hard work and wonderful performances.

Top image features Katie England, Isaac Lopez-Cottrell, Abbie Cheuk Wing Ng, Elise Lewis, Rajay Cochrane-Maxwell, Sam Bristow and Tommy Coleman and Edward Corrigan, the Vice President of the Guild of Guardians.

Image below features Katie England performing Bach’s Cello Prelude No.1 arranged for Marimba