FIFTEEN of the best young musicians in the district will battle it out on Sunday for the title, The Kirklees Young Musician of the Year.

It is the title all our top young players want to take home and over the years some remarkable musical talent has emerged at the contest which is seen as one of the highlights of the Mrs Sunderland Music Festival.

The Kirklees Young Musician of the Year runs separately from the main festival as a stand-alone contest.

So many young musicians have entered this year that there will be two sessions. The first is at 11am with a second starting at 2.15 pm.

The winner receives £1,000 plus the J W Pearce Trophy with £500 going to the runner-up.

This year’s competitors include three sopranos, a tenor and bass plus an array of musicians who between them play euphonium, flute, clarinet, percussion, and saxophone.

Their performances will be adjudicated by Christina Thomson who studied horn, piano and singing at the Royal Academy of Music before embarking on a distinguished career as a musician and as a teacher.

Many of the young performers are studying at Huddersfield University with others at Chetham’s or Leeds College of Music. The youngest is 17 and the oldest is 25.

The tough job of opening the day’s proceedings falls to Sarah Anne Billard who is 20 and studying euphonium in Huddersfield. Sarah will play first at 11am.

She is followed by fellow Huddersfield University students Sarah Marie Carney, 19, who is playing flute; Simon Cowton, 20, clarinet and Carole Ann Lindsey, 25, soprano.

After a mid-morning break,

the music begins again with Sam Morton, 21, who sings bass; Harriet Richardson, 20, flute; Philip John Bracegirdle, 20, euphonium and Anjuli Mehta, 20, soprano.

The performances begin again at 2.15pm after a break for lunch.

First on is Frances Gill, 21 on saxophone; Andrew McAllister, 21, tenor; Joseph Whelan, 19, percussion and Ruhama Leah Joseph, 21, alto saxophone.

Emily Neale, 19, is first away in the second afternoon session playing flute followed by Esme Barber, 22, soprano and Greg Barker, 17, who plays saxophone.

The musicians’ choice of music is as diverse as the instruments and voices they use as performers.

There is music by Carl Hohne, by Mozart, Poulenc, Vivaldi, Hummel, Vaughan Williams, Handel, Haydn Debussy, Rossini, Schumann, by Mark Anthony Turnage, Telemann, Jacques Ibert, Berlioz, Strauss and Phil Woods.

There is something for every musical taste and a day of sheer exhilaration in store from some of our best young musicians. Admission is £5.