Young Musician of the Year 2026

This year’s Young Musicians’ competition was a magnificent showcase of the vibrant musical talent thriving across our School community, with each finalist delivering a performance of immense skill, maturity, and focus.

With the standard of performance being exceptionally high, our esteemed adjudicators, Ben Goble and Ben Watson, faced a truly unenviable task in selecting the winners. We are very grateful for their expertise and encouraging feedback, and we also extend our warmest thanks to Maciej Kassak for his brilliant collaborative piano accompaniment throughout the night.

A huge congratulations goes out to every single musician who took to the stage; your passion and poise made it an unforgettable evening. We are delighted to share the official results:

Grades 1–4 Category:

The winners’ medal went to Year 9’s Miles for a captivating Guitar and vocal performance of Blackbird by Lennon/McCartney. We had two joint runners-up in this class: Year 7’s Millar, performing Australia by the Manic Street Preachers, and Year 10’s Rufus, performing Fall by Justin Bieber.

Grades 5–6 Category:

Year 9’s George took first place with an outstanding guitar and vocal performance of Run by Snow Patrol. Year 9’s Hexi was named runner-up following a beautiful piano performance of One Summer’s Day by Joe Hisaishi.

Grades 7–8 Category:

In a remarkably competitive field, Year 9’s Esme secured the category win with a stunning flute performance of The Great Train Race by Ian Clarke. The runner-up spot was awarded to Year 10’s Erin for a deeply expressive piano rendition of Reverie by Claude Debussy.

The evening concluded with the presentation of our major overall trophies.

Junior Young Musician (Years 7–9):

Awarded to Year 9’s Henry for a deeply moving and masterful piano performance of Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy.

Senior Young Musician (Years 10–13):

Awarded to Year 10’s Alex for a breathtaking, virtuosic alto saxophone performance of Csardas by Vittorio Monti.

Thank you to all the parents, staff, and peers who came out to support this wonderful celebration of music.