MUSICIANS at St Christopher’s CE High School, Queens Road West, Accrington, battled it out for the title of Young Musician of the Year.

The annual competition provided a platform for 160 singers, soloists and ensembles from the youngest first graders to aspiring concert instrumentalists.

Blackburn Cathedral’s director of music Samuel Hudson adjudicated the grand final on Wednesday. Helen Davies, head of music and performing arts at St Christopher’s, said: “We had some really moving musical performances. A lot of the children had worked very, very hard for a long time in the run-up, even the little ones impressed.

“Stand-out performances of the night were Fergus Parker-Knapper, a year eight student who plays in Accrington Pipe Band, he treated us to a solo on his pipe band drum called The Rebel Drummer. And Sarah Hoyle, a 16-year-old, played a bassoon concerto in B flat by Mozart, but they were all just fantastic.”