A GROUP of musical youths have sung their way through to the final of a prestigious national music festival.

Alexandra Perry, 5, John Quinn, 6, and Tom Pilkington, 6, all from Burnley, sang and clapped their way through to the final of the 1996 Yamaha Music School Festival.

The talented trio beat off hundreds of other hopefuls to win the chance of performing live in front of a capacity audience of 2,000 people at the Birmingham Symphony Hall on June 23.

The children are all pupils of the Yamaha Music school at Dawsons on Standish Street, Burnley.

"It's taken a lot of hard work and commitment to get this far," said Meena Duari, Dawsons' Yamaha teacher. "I'm sure playing to such a large crowd will be a wonderful experience and something the kids will remember for a long time."

The evening will be a showcase to demonstrate the wealth of talent to be found in Yamaha Music schools throughout the country.

There are nearly 100 schools nationwide catering for four to 80-year-olds. Having the chance to perform on such a well known stage is regarded as first prize and the children will be accompanied by 20 other pupils playing a wide range of instruments.

"We've practised a lot to get our performance ready for the big day," added Meena. "All the effort has been really worthwhile - we've improved a lot musically and really enjoyed the challenge."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.