Wensleydale Young Musician 2025

St Matthew’s Church, Leyburn, recently hosted the successful third running of the Wensleydale Young Musician Competition. Nine young musicians, aged from eight to sixteen, took part and filled the church with an impressive variety of music—from the “Wallace and Gromit” theme to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”. The event was organised by BlueBoxt in partnership with Wensleydale Rotary, with Mrs Diana Hartley acting as adjudicator.

The competition entries were divided into two classes.

Class One was for instrumentalists or vocalists performing acoustically, either unaccompanied or accompanied by a pianist. The winner was Ava Kawai-Calderhead, who performed “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi on the piano.

Class Two was for instrumentalists or vocalists performing with amplification, accompanied by a backing track or unaccompanied. The winning instrumentalist was Alex Douthwaite on drums, playing “Keep Yourself Alive” by Brian May. The winning vocalist was Lili Bako, who sang “Hopelessly Devoted to You” by John Farrar.

The overall winner of the Wensleydale Young Musician Competition was Alex Douthwaite for his outstanding drum performance. Alex will go forward to the Rotary District 1040 final, to be held at St John’s Church, Sharrow, on Sunday 8th February 2026. The district winner will then progress to the Rotary National Finals later in the year.

Presentations of certificates and medals were made by Wensleydale Rotary Club President, Mr Paul Hardcastle, who said: “This is the third year we have run the event and, while the numbers taking part were slightly down on last year, the enthusiasm of the participants was hugely encouraging. The event provides invaluable performance experience for young musicians, and the feedback they receive from adjudicator Diana Hartley is always supportive and constructive. The support of BlueBoxt in organising the competition is invaluable.”