The Manx Youth Orchestra, which consists of 250 young musicians who meet up each week to form various groups, will be giving its annual Christmas Festival Concert at the Villa Marina in Douglas on Saturday 7th December at 7.30pm.
The groups include Junior and Senior String Orchestras, Wind Bands, Guitar Ensemble, The Manx Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Senior Manx Youth Orchestra.
Supported by the Friends of the Manx Youth Orchestra, the concert will include lots of festive music for all the family, including songs from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Polar Express, Frozen, Hunt the Wren and traditional carols for the audience to sing along with.
The Manx Youth Wind Orchestra, conducted by Juan Wright, recently returned from their first visit to the National Concert Band Festival with a well-deserved silver award.
Mr Wright said:
‘We are delighted to have received this recognition of our young players’ hard work and we’re especially delighted as many of the other participants were university or adult groups. We were only a few marks off a gold award and the feedback we received is giving us plenty of motivation to take part again next year’.
Graham Cregeen MHK, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture said:
‘The concert is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and see so many of the of the island’s supremely talented young musicians.’
Maggie Richardson, DESC’s Head of Music Service said:
‘The concert is one of the highlights of our year and many people say it marks the start of the festive season for them.’
Tickets are £10 for adults and £5 for children (under 16) and are available from the Villa Marina reception, online at www.villagaiety.com or at the Welcome Centre, The Sea Terminal, Douglas.
Proceeds this year will be shared between the Friends of the MYO and the local charity, Wish Upon a Dream.
