Former GAM student and viola player Eden Saunders, who is studying at the Royal Northern College of Music, is one of the six finalists of the Gloucestershire Young Musician of the Year 2024. The six young musicians will compete for the title on Sunday March 3 at 3pm at the Big Classical, Cheltenham College.

The finalists, who range in age from 16 to 22, also include a harpist for the first time, Reuben West, from The Cotswold School, oboist Grace Tushingham, from Cheltenham, who is studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, clarinettist Ben Gibson, from Pate’s Grammar School, James Li, from Cheltenham, who is studying at the Mozartium University in Salzburg and the youngest finalist, pianist 16-year-old Stepan Rusencevs, from Cheltenham College.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £500, the Hewitt-Jones Trophy and will be given the opportunity to perform a recital at the Cheltenham Music Festival, as well as two concerto performances with the Gloucestershire Symphony and Youth Orchestras.

The runners-up will receive cash prizes of £50 each and there will also be an Audience Prize of £200 sponsored by the Carducci Trust – the charitable trust initiated by the world-renowned Carducci String Quartet based in Gloucestershire. The audience prize winner will perform at the Carducci Festival in May.

The prestigious panel of judges, chaired by GAM’s former president Professor Derek Aviss OBE, will also include top British clarinettist and former BBC Young Musician of the Year Emma Johnson MBE and GAM Patron Meurig Bowen, who is Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Britten Sinfonia and a former director of Cheltenham Music Festival. Tickets for the finals at Cheltenham College on Sunday March 3 at 3pm are £15 for adults and free for students and under-18s. They can be obtained  here