Musicians aged 18 or under are invited to participate in this year’s ‘Gibraltar Festival for Young Musicians’ organised by Allegro Music Productions.

This event which goes from strength to strength with each successive year includes piano, instrumental and vocal categories in solo, duet and ensemble formats.

Over a thousand children from Gibraltar and the hinterland took part in last year’s festival.

The festival starts on April 4th and will culminate with the Gala Performance by the winners of the various sections on April 9th 2014.

Closing date for entries is Friday February 14th 2014. 

The adjudicator this year will be Bryan Husband, (GRSM, AWCMD), from the British and International Federation of Festival Adjudicators, a music examiner and teacher at Trinity College of Music in London who has adjudicated at classical and other musical festivals in Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, South Africa and throughout Britain since 2005. 

Having studied singing and piano accompaniment at the Royal College of Music in London, Mr Husband is an experienced and authoritative musical evaluator and connoisseur.

This will be the ninth annual Gibraltar Festival for Young Musicians which will be seeking to consolidate and expand its presence in Gibraltar’s cultural and social calendar in the years to come. 

Allegro Music Productions is a registered charity founded in January 2005 to promote and encourage music performance among children. Further information can be obtained from the festival website www.gibfym.com together with a downloadable syllabus and entry form.

Patron of the Festival is the famous local composer and pop star Albert Hammond while the President is classical music stalwart and former Mayor, Momy Levy. 

Last year’s solo winners were Kate McCullough who obtained the Gibraltar Young Musician of the Year Award; Jesus Pinillos Rivera, the most promising overall musician under 18; Karen Neish, most promising instrumentalist under 18 (piano); Darius Oliva,  most promising junior under 12 (piano); Paloma Vallecillo Rico, most promising string instrumentalist under 18; Ana Sharma most promising intermediate performer; Jasmine Mahtani most promising pianist under 12; Robin Panter, most promising brass instrumentalist under 18; Nuria Ruiz Pastrana, most promising pianist under 18; Ryan Delgado most promising woodwind instrumentalist under 18.