ON December 4 six talented youngsters participated in a competition in the form of a concert held at the St Edwards Church Hall in Knighton.

Although the audience was sparse, the appreciation of the musicianship more than made up for it.

There were four entrants from Bedstone College - Albert Li (piano), Annika Kindermann (voice), Jason Gao (piano) and Caroline Renkes (voice) - and two from Lucton School - Lucy Feng (cello) and Gloria Yang (violin).

The judges Graham Trew and Margaret Davies assessed the musicians as they each performed two pieces and, after lengthy discussions, gave each competitor a fair and detailed assessment of their performance.

The winner of the vocal section was Annika Kindermann and of the instrumental section was Lucy Feng. These two young musicians will progress to the next round to be held in January 2017.

Rotary president Patrick Smith said "Many thanks to judges Graham and Margaret without whom the competition could not be held. Also many thanks to the schools, music teachers, Emma Bryden and James Wall, and to the students who gave their all. And thanks to organiser Rotary member Clive Payne and to the Rotary members who helped out on the day. We are looking forward to next year's competition."