Finding genuinely exciting new artists before everybody else catches on is always fun, and Casio Music UK is about to put 16 of them in the spotlight.
Casio Sessions is back for its fourth year, with the finalists now confirmed ahead of a live final at Ninety One Living Room on Brick Lane on 23 September.
The competition gives emerging singer-songwriters a chance to showcase what they can do, with entrants across the UK challenged to submit a piano performance of an original song. From those entries, 16 musicians have earned the chance to take their music from a video submission to the stage.
And there’s quite a prize waiting for one of them.
This year’s winner will receive a Casio PX-S7000 piano and matching bench worth £2,549, alongside an exclusive mastering studio session for their winning track. During the final, all 16 artists will perform their original music on the same PX-S7000 model in its rather hard-to-miss Harmonious Mustard finish.
But they’ll need to bring more than a good song.
A panel of music industry judges will be looking at everything from songwriting and technical ability to stage presence, making the final as much about showing who these artists are as performers as it is about the compositions themselves.
The 2026 finalists are Vera Lis, Benjamin Smith, Karolina Micor, James Saldivar, Akin Amusan, Sophie Penman, Kevin Lim, Max White, Sami Semaani-Rodriguez, Lauren Mikki, Quarry, Daisy Gill, Kayte, Enkay, Betsan Lees and Gabriel Chanin.
For an emerging artist competition, there’s also already some pretty convincing evidence of what can happen afterwards.
Previous Casio Sessions winners Stefan Mahendra and May Payne have both gone on to release multiple EPs, while Stefan recently celebrated his first sold-out UK show. Last year’s winner Sofia Kirwan-Baez will also mark this year’s final by releasing her winning song Perfect Imperfections on the same day.
Drawing on her experience in both opera and jazz, Sofia combines jazz-influenced melodies with playful songwriting, and the release offers another nice reminder that Casio Sessions isn’t simply about declaring a winner on the night. The more interesting part is seeing where those artists go next.
“Now in its fourth iteration, we’re excited to see the competition continue to grow and provide a platform for the next generation of musicians to showcase their talent,” says Neil Evans, Head of Casio EMI.
And with 16 completely different emerging musicians getting a room full of people to listen to their original music, that’s ultimately the most exciting part of the whole thing.
Someone walking onto that Brick Lane stage on 23 September could be an artist we’re hearing considerably more from over the next few years.
The Casio Sessions live final takes place at Ninety One Living Room, Brick Lane, on Wednesday 23 September. Tickets are free. You can get them here!
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