Bucks Young Musician of the Year 2026 Logo

Buckinghamshire Music Trust is looking for young performers from across the county to compete for the title of

Buckinghamshire Young Musician of the Year 2026

and

Buckinghamshire Junior Young Musician of the Year 2026 (for under 14s)

These competitions will be held over two rounds, the first round being judged on a recording submitted by entrants and the final will be judged in person at Aylesbury Music Centre

First round submission deadline for both competitions is – Sunday 22nd February 2026

Both finals will be held on Monday 23rd March 2026

The final of the Buckinghamshire Young Musician of the Year 2026 will be at 7.30pm and the final of the Buckinghamshire Junior Young Musician of the Year 2026 will be at 5.30pm

Click here to enter

Prizes

Buckinghamshire Young Musician of the Year 2026

1st Prize – £400, the title of Buckinghamshire Young Musician of the Year 2026 and a solo performance opportunity with Buckinghamshire Music Trust

Runner up – £150

Buckinghamshire Junior Young Musician of the Year 2026

Winner – £50 and the title of Buckinghamshire Junior Young Musician of the Year 2026

Eligibility

Open to all students aged 18 or under on 31st August 2026

If you are aged 13 or under on 31st August 2026 you will automatically be entered into the Junior competition

If you are aged 13 or under and the panel believe you are of a standard to be entered into the main competition based on the first-round submission, we will contact you to discuss your options

Open to any student who can fulfil one or more of the following criteria:

  • A resident of Buckinghamshire
  • Attends a school in Buckinghamshire
  • Attends a Music Centre in Buckinghamshire

All instruments and genres welcome

How to Enter

  • Please fill in your details below and upload a recording of your performance by Sunday 22nd February 2026
  • You should perform one piece of no more than 5 minutes in length; an excerpt of a longer piece is acceptable
  • You can submit either an audio or video performance
  • Please upload a copy of the sheet music with your application below
  • Clearly label all your files with your name and the title of the music as described in the upload section
  • You may perform the piece with or without accompaniment, including backing tracks; this will not affect the decision of the panel

A panel comprising BMT staff will select a group of finalists from the first round for both competitions and we will inform you if you have progressed to the final by Friday 27th February 2026

The Finals

Monday 23rd March 2026

Aylesbury Music Centre, Walton Road, HP21 7ST

Buckinghamshire Young Musician of the Year 2026 – 7.30pm

Buckinghamshire Junior Young Musician of the Year 2026 – 5.30pm

  • If you are successful in getting through the final, you will be asked to perform two contrasting pieces of your choice. The music should be accompanied if the piece requires it. The use of backing tracks is permitted
  • The performance should last no longer than 15 minutes in duration (10 minutes for the Junior competition)
  • You will be required to provide your own accompanist/accompaniment
  • Please bring a copy of the music to the final for the adjudicators
  • You will be allowed to use different instruments from the same family of instruments (e.g. alto and tenor sax, electric guitar and acoustic guitar, B flat trumpet and piccolo trumpet) but not two completely different instruments
  • You can perform the same piece of music submitted in the first round as one of your two pieces
  • If you progress to the final, you will be asked to provide proof of age and eligibility
  • The final will be adjudicated by a guest judge from outside of Buckinghamshire Music Trust alongside a member of BMT staff. The final of the Junior competition will be adjudicated by BMT staff

How To….

Please watch at



for guidelines on how to video yourself

Additional Information

  • The recording of the piece of music performed must be unedited
  • The 1st round submission must have been recorded in 2026
  • The decision of the judges is final
  • The quality of the technology used to create your audio or video recordings will not be taken into consideration
  • We would like to thank the Friends of our music centres in Amersham, Aylesbury and High Wycombe for donating the prize money
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Enter Here




    IMPORTANT: Please make sure you have labelled your file/s correctly (label all your files with YMOTY, followed by your name and the title of the music, e.g. YMOTY_Joe Bloggs_Dancing Queen.mp4). We cannot include files that are not labelled correctly.

    Media Upload

    Use the box below to upload audio or video of your performance, as well as jpg files of your music, with a total of six files maximum. Permissible file types are .doc .docx .jpg .jpeg .mp4 .mp3 .wav .m4v .avi .mov, and no bigger than 2gb in total.

    By their very nature Buckinghamshire Music Trusts’ activities are in the public domain as they always lead to public performance. This may include the use of music technologies (sound and video recording) and photography as an integral part of the performance; to promote our work to new audiences; and encourage continued support for our activities. We will typically use photography as well as video and audio recordings for the following:

    • Resources and publications produced by BMT.

    • External publications (such as newspapers and magazines).

    • BMT’s social media channels including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

    • BMT’s website and intranet.

    • External websites/broadcast media (such as news organisations or partner websites).

    If you wish for your child not to be included in this please email directly to director@bucksmusic.org

    If you have any questions or difficulties entering or uploading media, please email Ed Hodgson on ehodgson@bucksmusic.org.

    PLEASE NOTE: There will be some processing time required once your video has uploaded. The duration is dependant on the size of your file, and can take a number of minutes to complete. The SEND button will be active once this processing has been completed.

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