Inspiring and supporting young composers...

Cambridge Youth Musc has been supporting young composers in the Cambridge area since 2006 through its very successful annual composing competition. While nominally a competition, the aim has always been to help all participants to gain skills and inspiration for composing music. The competition was extended in 2017 to cover the whole of East Anglia, enabling many more young composers to take part.

The competition is open to young people aged 18 and under in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Herts and Cambridgeshire. A composing workshop usually held in the spring provides practical help with composing for the instruments involved. All entries are performed by professional musicians at the finals in the autumn, with individual feedback and advice provided by the judge and musicians. A selection of entries are performed at a public concert, together with a piece commissioned from the winner of the previous year's competition.

CYM was unable to run a 2021 competition due to restrictions imposed by the Covid pandemic. We hope very much to run one in 2022.

Feedback about our composing competitions

Cambridge Young Musician of the Year

The Cambridge Young Musician of the Year competition was held in 2006, 2008 and 2010. CYM regrets that it has not had the manpower to run the competition since then. Details of the first three competitions can be found via the links top left.