Young Musicians Fund
Support: From School to Stage
The Five Churches Festival
and Young Musicians
The Five Churches Festival has always been committed to supporting Young Musicians. From its first year, the Festival has included a Young Musicians Showcase concert - Making Musicians - which for many has been a true highlight. In 2025 the Festival featured Isaac Schaad, not only as a performer on three instruments but as a young composer. One of his compositions was performed in the orchestral Festival Finale - an incredible opportunity for a 14-year-old composer.
Festival 2026 IntroducesTwo Further Strands
- A Public Masterclass, giving two vocal students at the start of their careers, the opportunity to receive tuition from the eminent counter-tenor Michael Chance, who is also the Festival Patron. Such experiences can be life-changing for young musicians at this stage of their development.
- A Family Concert, "Once Upon a Tune", featuring a live classical music performance, happening simultaneously with live painted illustrations of the musical stories. This event is the beginning of a collaboration with the Pilgrim Federation - the primary schools of Blakeney, Kelling, Langham and Walsingham.
Aims of the Fund
The Young Musicians Fund has three aims:
- to work alongside the schools and parents of the North Norfolk Pilgrim Schools giving pupils exposure and access to musical performances and creating opportunities to explore individual musical interests.
- to support the musical development of individual gifted young musicians in North Norfolk by offering financial support for attending summer schools, masterclasses, specialist lessons, new instruments.
- to offer performance opportunities for young musicians and composers.
Our Young Musicians Fund will be funded entirely by donations. There will be retiring collections at certain concerts and other fund-raising events. But we will primarily be reliant on the generosity of individuals:
- Who care about young people having access to music in their formative years, which can no longer be taken for granted with central funding for music education slashed.
- Who want to support gifted young musicians who are proving themselves to be the potential professional musicians of the future, but who need specialist opportunities to be able to pursue their musical studies.
How you can Help.
Please contact us if you would like to make an enquiry, or a supporting donation, and we will provide bank account details for this purpose. 100% of donations will be used to provide these opportunities to young people.
We will provide regular updates on this website about who, what and how the Fund is giving the gift of music to young people in North Norfolk
