Talented youngsters aged from seven to 17 competed to be named Wensleydale Youth Musician.

St Matthew's Church, Leyburn hosted the second running of the competition, which featured 18 entries. The church was filled with music ranging from Beethoven to Guns N' Roses.

The event, organised by BlueBoxt together with Wensleydale Rotary and adjudicated by Diana Hartley, was split into three classes, with junior and senior sections in each.

Class one was for an instrumentalist or vocalist playing acoustically, accompanied by a pianist or unaccompanied. The junior winner was Alex Douthwaite, who played Ecossaise in G by Beethoven on the piano, while the senior winner was Tom Staley, who played Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in Eb Major on his trumpet.

Class two was for an instrumentalist or vocalist playing with amplification accompanied by a backing track or unaccompanied. The junior winner was Sienna Alderson, who played "I want to Break Free" on the drums written by John Deacon, former bass player of the rock band Queen. The senior winner was Jonty Ledbetter, who played Brazileira by Darius Milhaud on his Saxaphone. Brazileira is part of Milhaud's Scaramouche suite.

Class three was for an ensemble or group, consisting of two or more performers playing acoustically or amplified. There were joint winners of this class, Ellen and Edie Carr on piano and violin playing Serenade by Anton Arensky, and J-Force (Jonty and Jeremy Ledbetter) playing their own composition "On Through the Night".

The overall winner of the Wensleydale Young Musician competition was shared between 15-year-old Jonty Ledbetter for his saxophone playing and 12-year-old Tom Staley, for his trumpet playing. As the eldest, Jonty will go forward to the Rotary District final, which will be held at St John's Church, Sharow, on Sunday, February 9. The winner of that competition will go forward to the Rotary National Finals later in the year.

Presentations of the winners’ certificates and medals was made by Wensleydale Rotary Club president Richard Pennell, who praised the support of BlueBoxt in organising the event, and said: “This is the second year we have run the event and we were pleased to see an increase in the numbers taking part. The event provides invaluable performance experience for the young musicians.”