Festival of Young Musicians

The Wycombe Orpheus annual Festival of Young Musicians takes place over two weekends in early March each year. The object of the Festival is to encourage both schools and students in their musical ambitions, by providing a platform that displays the high levels of musical talent which exists throughout Buckinghamshire. It also provides a source of encouragement for pupils to further develop their musical expression, whether as a career ambition or purely for enjoyment. A number of past participants have gone on to become members and leaders of both County & National Orchestras.

The Festival itself comprises four classes; Encouragement, Junior, Senior and Ensemble. The Encouragement class is aimed at students who have not yet achieved Grade Five Level, and gives them the chance to perform in front of an audience. The Junior and Senior classes contain sections for instrumentalists and vocalists where students perform music of their own choice. The Ensemble class is a fairly new addition to the Festival and was brought about to enable small groups of musicians to play together in a performance setting.

All performers receive constructive feedback from the Festival adjudicator and receive a Certificate of Performance for themselves and their School. The Orpheus Chairman or the sponsor of each class, if present, will award monetary prizes to the winners and runners-up. Additionally, all the winners will be presented with an engraved trophy featuring the name of the class sponsor at the Choir’s Annual Concert at Wycombe Swan Theatre in May, and thereafter, they may be invited to perform at other Orpheus Choir concerts throughout the year.

If you like to spend times listening to quality music performed by talented school students then do not miss the next Festival in March 2011. For more information and further details, contact our Festival Coordinator Andrew Sykes.

Individual entrants to this year's (and previous) Festivals are now eligible to apply for Choir Bursaries of up to £1000. Find out more in our Bursary section.