Stage is set for young musicians

The two-day event takes place at Holy Trinity Church and features competitors of all ages and abilities from 24 schools across the area.

This year’s competition has been moved from early May to October to allow two winners to go on to the national Young Musician Competition organised by Rotary International of Great Britain and Ireland.

David Winpenny, founder and organiser of Ripon Young Musicians of the Year, said: “Moving the time of the competition and opening it up to a slightly wider geographical area, has shown how many good young musicians there are in the area - we have competitors from 24 different schools taking part.

“We are especially pleased that the highest classes, which in previous years have been harder to fill as potential competitors were involved with public exams, are packed with talent this year.

The event starts on Friday evening and all day on Saturday, culminating with a concert at 7.30pm.