The Young Musician of the Year Final 2026 took place in early March, following early heats in January and semi-finals in February across seven categories. All of the boys performing on the night were already winners in their own right, having won their category at the semi-finals.
It was a wonderful evening of excellent musical performance, with the boys sharing a wide range of pieces from modern pop songs to classical pieces to musical theatre hits.
The difficult task of adjudicating the competition fell to Alistair MacKenzie, a former Director of Music at Bolton School Girls’ Division. He was extremely impressed with the high quality of musicianship on display at the Final, and was delighted to share his tips and advice with pupils before announcing the winners.
The Senior Young Musician of the Year was Charlie (Year 11), who was also the Senior winner of the Piano/Organ category, while the Junior Young Musician of the Year was Max (Year 8), performing in the Percussion category.
The evening also allowed the Junior and Senior Young Composers of the Year, Taran in Year 9 and Joseph in Year 13, to share their prize-winning pieces with an audience.
Mr Ford and Mr Forgrieve were delighted to present category trophies, the Most Promising Musician award and the overall Young Musician and Young Composer of the Year cups to the boys at the end of the Final, to the accompaniment of applause from the audience.
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Read the Programme:
The Programme includes details of all the category winners who performed in the Final.
