Scottish Young Musicians Returns With Competitions That Aim to Increase Participation to More Young People Across Scotland

Scottish Young Musicians, Scotland's leading festival of music competitions, is returning for 2024 to give young people across the country the chance to compete for the titles of Solo Performer of the Year, Ensemble of the Year and Brass Ensemble of the Year. Participation in this career-enhancing competition has been offered to every Local Authority in the country as well as independent schools, in the hope that more young people than ever before will take up the opportunity to perform and take part.

In only 2 years, Scottish Young Musicians has become the largest and most important national music competition in Scottish schools, with 30 local authorities participating in the 2023 competition in May, representing around 99% of the school population. The competitions give young people a life-changing and unforgettable experience, as well as the confidence to continue to compete at the highest level and to do so across all socio-economic backgrounds, providing an opportunity which would otherwise not have existed.

New for 2024, Scottish Young Musicians are proud to offer support for a Junior Competition taking place in Primary Schools, with the local authorities taking part focussing on finding the best junior talent in their area, and giving the country's youngest musicians experience in performing in front of an audience and competing with their peers. Parents and pupils can find out more through their school music teacher.

Back to find its third ever champion, Solo Performer of the Year is open to all young musicians who go to school in Scotland, whatever age or standard. Each local authority will select a regional finalist, with all of them hosting local and regional heats across different schools to decide who will represent their area at the National Final. Musicians can enter through their school music teachers and a finalist will also be selected from Scotland's independent schools. The National Final will take place at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Sunday 26 May 2024.

Ensemble of the Year, which is open to instruments of all disciplines, and Brass Ensemble of the Year are online competitions which will see school and local ensembles compete to win a chance to perform in a prime slot at the National Final. Ensemble of the Year is open to ensembles of 3 to 16 players of any genre or grouping of instruments who play together regularly in a formal group from a school or recognised music organisation. Brass Ensemble of the Year is open to ensembles of 3 to 12 players who play together regularly in a formal group from a school or recognised music organisation. For both competitions, all members must be school students in Scotland, but there is no minimum age or standard.

One ensemble in each category will be selected to represent each local authority, recognised music organisation, and Scotland's independent schools, and each local authority and group are encouraged to have their own competitions to select their final entry. The chosen video entries will then be submitted for judging by a panel of esteemed adjudicators, who will watch the videos together and provide feedback in the form of a voiceover.

The deadline for entries is 31st March 2024.

The winners of the Solo Performer of the Year, the Open Ensemble competition and Brass Ensemble of the Year will all receive a stunning trophy designed by Alexander Stoddart, the King's Sculptor in Ordinary in Scotland. The aluminium figure depicts the Maid of Morven, a figure from Ossianic poetry that has inspired composers throughout history. Solo finalists will also have a chance to win amazing career-changing prizes including cash to spend on developing music skills, a hand-crafted trophy, coaching, recording sessions, meet-and-greets with Scotland's top music institutions and more.

The winning Ensembles of the Year will receive a cash prize to further their musical experiences, and an all-expenses paid trip to play a prime slot at the Solo Performer of the Year National Final. The Brass Ensemble prize has been generously donated by Dr Ursula Jones OBE in honour of her late husband Philip Jones CBE, who founded one of the world's most celebrated brass ensembles.

Last year's Solo Performer of the Year final, which was adjudicated by judges including Sarah Ayoub of the Ayoub Sisters and Ross Leighton from the band Fatherson, was won by 16-year-old clarinettist Emily Barron from St. Columba's School in Kilmacolm, who received £1,000 to spend on furthering her musical career, and a package of opportunities provided by the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland including a coaching session, participation in a masterclass and a studio recording session.

The career-enhancing competition also offers prizes from Scottish Opera, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Cumnock Tryst and more, and is supported by high-profile figures and organisations from across Scotland's music industry.

Participants in the 2023 competition reported benefits including new connections with other young people, increased mental wellbeing, increased musical skill and increased confidence. Finalists also said they benefitted from the fact that Scottish Young Musicians is raising the profile of music-making opportunities outside of a school setting and on a more national level.

As part of a focus on bringing the competitions' benefits to areas of deprivation, Scottish Young Musicians proudly partners with Awards for Young Musicians to provide support ranging from £200 to £2000 to musicians from families of limited financial resources.

Alan Kerr, Chair of Scottish Young Musicians, said: “I am proud to say that Scottish Young Musicians has become an integral part of Scotland's youth music calendar, providing more opportunities to young people in Scotland than ever before. Last year the SYM oversaw competitions in 269 secondary schools, 31 regional finals and a National Final held in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. We're excited to build on the success of the last two competitions and keep the momentum going for 2024, with the hope that more musicians than ever before will take part in schools and at a regional level, enabling us to have the broadest possible representation of musical skill on stage at the National Final in May 2024. SYM is not just about producing great music, it's about offering the life-skills and benefits that performing music in public can bring to students. We're also delighted to introduce junior competitions at a local level, and look forward to helping our youngest musicians reach their full potential.”

For more information, please visit www.scottishyoungmusicians.com or follow the Scottish Young Musicians on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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