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BBC's Young Musician comes to ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿

Wednesday, 7 October, 2026

ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿'s Newton Park campus became the backdrop for one of the UK's most prestigious competitions for young classical musicians, welcoming the next generation of musical talent to the Michael Tippett Centre for . 

For more than 40 years, BBC Young Musician has celebrated exceptional emerging musicians from across the UK, providing a platform for young performers to showcase their talent and take their first steps towards professional careers. Among those to have previously taken part are some of the biggest names in classical music, including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. 

This year, the programme opened with an introduction filmed in front of Main House, accompanied by aerial footage of Newton Park campus, before a new generation of musicians were invited to the University's Michael Tippett Centre to showcase their talents across a range of instruments including violin, piano, guitar, accordion and saxophone.  

The dedicated performance space, purpose-built for chamber and small ensemble music, has previously hosted world-class talent from every musical tradition and part of the globe, from student performances and Indonesian Gamelan to The Bookshop Band.  

The opportunity was coordinated by Ceri Hubbard in the Events team, with support from colleagues across the University, including Felix Colbert, Beth French, Louis Wagen, Caleb Mutombwa, and the student led television platform, IRIS. 

Head of Performance, Junior Academy, Royal Academy of Music, Dr Daniel Tong discussed his experience visiting BSU:

"I recently visited ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ for the live auditions of the BBC Young Musicians Competition. I was there with five students from Junior Academy who were taking part – I played piano for two of them. I was delighted by the campus setting and the music centre; the performance space was airy and yet intimate. I was also pleased that the piano had been well maintained for performance, so often an oversight in educational environments, but of such importance to student pianists. Overall, the experience was a very positive one and I will definitely look forward to visiting ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ again whenever possible."

ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ students were also given the opportunity to work alongside the professional production team at the BBC as runners and event support staff, gaining experience behind the scenes. 

Campus Life Events and Business Development Manager, Nicola Pye said: 

"It was a proud moment to see ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ featured so positively on a flagship BBC programme and a great example of how the Knowledge Exchange and Events Team continues to create opportunities that raise the profile of the University while delivering tangible benefits across our community." 

ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ welcomed an impressive line-up of judges to its campus for the filming. World-renowned concert pianist and recording artist Joanna MacGregor and conductor and broadcaster Ben Gernon were joined by guest judge Peter Moore, who, in 2008, was crowned the youngest ever winner of the show at just 12 years old.

Image credit: BBC

Competing in a previous series of Young Musician herself, Teaching Fellow, Helen Reid reflected on her own experience: 

"As a former keyboard finalist in the BBC Young Musician, it's been so exciting (and a little nostalgic!) to welcome these young musicians to our music department. Performing in the BBC Young Musician was such a supportive and exciting experience for me. It's lovely to see our beautiful campus and wonderful performance space play a part in that experience for these young musicians." 

Interested in pursuing music? Discover who you are as a musician and develop the skills you need to thrive in your future career through our Music degrees.