Young Musician District Final 2025

The final of the Young Musician Competition within the district took place today Sunday 9th February at St John’s Church, Sharow, Ripon

The five finalists were 

Alice Watson sponsored by the Rotary Club of Whitby who played on the Descant Recorder “Now is the Month of Maying” by Morley, “Spanish Ladies” by Shaw and “Riquadon” by Purcell

Theo Kendrick sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ripon sang “Flow My Tears” by  Dowland, “Vagabond” by Vaughn Williams and “I got Plenty O’Nuttin” by Gershwin

Bethany Clarkson sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Skipton and Keighley played on the Alto Saxophone “Spanish Colours” and “Not Strictly” by Karen Street and “Aria” by Eugene Bozza

Xiao-Xi Hill sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ripon played on the Harp “Natiliana”  by Deborah Henson-Conant and “Passacaille” by Handel

Matilda Hitchcock sponsored by the Rotary Club of Skipton and Keighley sang “Over the Rainbow” by Harold Arlen, “Burn” from the musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda and “With You” from the musical Ghost by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard

The adjudicator was Paul Dutton from Leeds. He praised the very high standard of all the finalists.

The winning instrumentalist was Xiao-XI Hill on the Harp and the winning vocalist was Matilda Hitchcock. The winners go forward to the Northern England area final which takes place at Heysham on 15th March. The winners from that competition then go forward to the National Finals on the 29th March