Peebles Rotary Club and Nomad Beat celebrate the successes of local young musicians...

 

THE area final of the Rotary Young Musician of the Year competition took place on February 3 at the Eastgate Theatre.

It was organised jointly by Peebles Rotary and Nomad Beat Community Music School.

This was the second round, in which winners from five local area heats competed against each other, including children from Peebles, Selkirk and Biggar.

The adjudicators, Althea Stentiford and Colin MacFarlane, commented on the high standard of musicianship on show in both instrumental and vocal categories, and on the wide range of musical genres presented, from classical to jazz, pop and rock.

The age range of performers was from 7 to 17 years, with the youngest, Pollaidh Harvey, receiving special commendation for the heartfelt renditions of her songs.

The winner of the instrumental category for the second year running was pianist Michael Gemmell, of Peebles, and the runner-up was accordionist Fin Hope, of Biggar.

First place in the vocal category went to Biggar’s Morven Dougall, and the runner-up was Amber Gilmour, from Selkirk.

Those children will now go forward to the regional final of the competition, held at Heriot-Watt University on March 12.