Sunday February 4, 2024 10:00 am The Studio, TPS

Festival of Young Composers

Read our news item and full details about the Festival of Young Composers.

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Performance and adjudication day at the TPS Studio.
Entry free.

Come and see what the next generation of composers is up to! This year’s Festival of Young Composers is taking place at 10am on 4th February at the Petersfield School and is open to the public. This will be the eighth competition, giving an ideal opportunity for imaginative musicians to share their creations with new audiences and receive expert feedback from a panel of judges.

Category A is open to young people aged 14 and under, and will this year feature Jude Gillham and William Sharps. The next age category, for composers aged 17 and under, will include Ava Groves and Joe Jolliffe (recorded performance) and William Hammond and Laurence Horwood (live performance). Refreshments are available, and the competition will finish at around 12.30pm following the presentation of awards and certificates of merit.

The Festival of Young Composers, which is run in association with the Michael Hurd Fund for Young Musicians, has so far given a platform to 48 young creatives since its inception in 2008. Their music is either played live or presented in recorded form to the public, and over £2,500 has been distributed in prize money to support the musical studies of the winners. Compositions have ranged from solo songs and piano music to a capella choral works, as well as a wide variety of instrumental ensembles. All entries must be written for a maximum of twelve instruments or voices. Each year selected winning entries have been performed during the Petersfield Musical Festival Youth Concerts, a potential springboard into the wider world.