A SINGER has been crowned Kirklees Young Musician of the Year.

Tenor Andrew McAllister defeated 12 other rivals at St Paul’s Hall in Huddersfield yesterday to scoop the title as the district’s most talented performer.

The competition, a precursor to the famous Mrs Sunderland Music Festival, pits the cream of Kirklees’ music crop against each other during a day of solo performances.

This year’s competition included two sopranos, a tenor and bass and an array of musicians who between them play euphonium, flute, clarinet, percussion, and saxophone.

Andrew, 21, took home the J W Pearce Trophy and £1,000 in prize money following his performances of pieces by Handel, Schumann and Rossini, which adjudicator Christina Thomson said almost moved her to tears.

The final year undergraduate at the University of Huddersfield, said: “I’m quite surprised but very pleased, but I think I performed well.

“I’m very proud but I wouldn’t say I was the best musician in Kirklees at all.”

Commenting on the big winner, Mrs Thomson said Andrew had been “absolutely on top” of the difficult pieces.

She said: “The German was spoken from the heart and the Latin was marvellous – I was almost moved to tears.

“I was very affected by it and I’ve heard many professional singers not give as good a performance as that.”

The runner-up was 19-year-old percussionist Joe Whelan, who won £500.

Joe, who also studies at the Huddersfield University, played with Brighouse and Rastrick Band when they won the National Championship last year.

Mrs Thomson said the contest, now in its third year as a separate event from the Mrs Sunderland Festival, had been absolutely fantastic.

She said: “All the performances have been very enjoyable.

“Even as adjudicator one hears new things and learns new things from the people who are playing.

“A lot of work has gone into all these performances and the standard has been higher than I expected.

“I hear all these things about young people and the situation going down but today we’ve had 13 wonderful performances.”

The 2012 Mrs Sunderland Festival itself begins on Friday and runs until Saturday, February 25, at Huddersfield Town Hall and at the university.

The famous contest sees musicians and performers from as young as seven, competing across a large range of classes including individual instruments, bands, choirs, speech, drama, poetry and story writing.

The first Mrs Sunderland was held in April 1889 with 37 competitors.

The festival has taken place every year since except in 1940, the first year of World War II.

The festival’s grand finale will be a celebratory concert for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, featuring Young Musician winner Andrew McAllister.

Huddersfield Town Hall was packed for a concert by the Orchestra of Opera North. See tomorrow’s Examiner for a full review.