We are looking forward to welcoming over 160 young musicians and their families from across the UK for our annual Awards Day on Sunday 2 November.

We have been working with our colleagues at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) to programme the day. BBC NOW musicians will run master classes and sessions and the primary aim of the day is to give young people the opportunity to explore their creativity and inherent musicianship.

We’ve been running our Awards Days annually for the last six years: previous venues have been at Trinity College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music, Birmingham Conservatoire, The Sage Gateshead and the Royal College of Music. An average of 60 young musicians attend from all over the UK, to take part in an inspiring day of music making. Master classes are held in the morning in partnership with a major orchestra – we’ve worked with the LPO, CBSO, Northern Sinfonia and the ECO so far. In the afternoon the young people take part in an improvisation or other group music making challenge, creating a performance to share with their families at the Awards Ceremony at the end of the day.

Here’s just one example of feedback from the 2013 event from Matthew, a violinist aged 16:

Thank you very much for such a wonderful day yesterday. The masterclass was really useful and getting everyone together to play the Haydn was a great idea. It was also interesting to hear the jazz folk fusion group and I loved the piece that had been arranged for them. The whole day was just so well organised and everyone was so friendly.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do things that would be impossible without AYM’s help. Music means so much to me that I don’t know how I could manage without it. AYM helps me further my musical education and be able to have lessons with the most inspirational teacher.

Venue
Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Castle Grounds, Cathays Park, Cardiff CF10 3ER

What to expect?
In the morning everyone will perform a short piece in a master class situation and also take part in a session devised as an introduction to improvisation. The twist with the master classes is that the musicians will not necessarily be performing to a tutor of their instrument, so that they learn how the technical difficulties of different instruments can lead in musical directions perhaps not have previously thought possible. In the afternoon they will work to create a performance based on the ideas and lessons from the morning sessions.

Our annual Awards Day is about looking, listening and interacting with other musicians – a day of challenge and learning. We’ve focused our efforts with BBC Now so that time is spent on creativity, growth and potential – developing the skills needed to become professional musicians.

The times and locations for the master classes and sessions can be downloaded here: AYM Annual Awards 2014 timetable and full information about the event, how to get there, address information etc. is available in our Awards Day Information Sheet

Thanks
We would like to acknowledge the support we have received from BBC Now, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, our funders The Colwinston Trust, Emerton Christie Charity, Andor Charitable Trust and Thistle Trust and wish to thank them for their generous support.