Scotland’s festival of music competitions, Scottish Young Musicians, gives young musicians from every corner of the country the chance to perform live on a national stage in front of internationally renowned judges.The inaugural live final, held on Sunday 9th March, and compered by one of Scotland’s leading artists Jamie MacDougall, was the culmination of the National Ensemble Competition that had attracted entries from across the country. From 12 final ensembles, Perth & Kinross Percussion Ensemble was announced as the 2025 winners of Scottish Young Musicians Ensemble of the Year, which was open to groups playing any genre or grouping of instruments, with South Ayrshire Chamber Singers announced as runners up.Both ensembles will now receive a cash prize to further their musical experiences, and the overall winners receive the Maid of Morven Trophy designed by Alexander Stoddart, The King’s Sculptor in Ordinary.The winners of the overall ensemble prize were presented with the first John Wallace Award by the man himself, a major figure in music education and music making in Scotland who said “We Scots are always astonished when we find we are good at something. And I think this afternoon proved that we are really good at music. It starts in the home and it continues in the community and in the schools as well. It’s thanks to enlightened policy over many years and the advent of free music tuition in schools that we are now witnessing this absurd flow of talent that we have heard this afternoon. I don’t know how the judges managed to choose between these 12 brilliant groups. But I urge all these musicians to keep it up. You are playing for yourselves of course, for your family but you are also playing for your fantastic country of Scotland which is the most musical place on earth.”Campbeltown Brass Senior Ensemble took the Philip Jones Brass Prize, a trophy that has been made available in honour of the late founder of Philip Jones Brass Ensemble.
The panel of adjudicators at the final was led by composer and founder of the Cumnock Tryst Sir James MacMillan, alongside violinist, vocalist and composer Seonaid Aitken known to Jazz Night audiences on BBC Radio Scotland, and Head of Guitar and Harp & Interim Deputy Director of Music at the RCS, Professor Allan Neave.The finalists of the Scottish Young Musicians Ensemble Prize who played at the Royal Conservatoire on Sunday 9th May 2025 were:Perth and Kinross Percussion Ensemble, Perth and KinrossSt Peter the Apostle Senior Brass Ensemble, West DunbartonshireSouth Ayrshire Chamber Singers, South AyrshireGlasgow School’s Clarinet Choir, City of GlasgowCampbeltown Brass Senior Ensemble, Argyll and ButeEast Ayrshire Percussion Ensemble, East AyrshireWest Calder High School Brass Ensemble, West LothianMidlothian Perc Project, MidlothianHermitage Academy Musical Theatre Class, Argyll and ButeHillfoots Music for Youth Brass Ensemble, ClackmannanshireHillfoots Music for Youth Saxophone Quartet, ClackmannanshireJames Gillespie’s Guitar Ensemble, City of EdinburghIrene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 