About

The competition is open to musicians of school age who are in full-time education within Abu Dhabi. 

It is split into 4 classes: 

• Emerging for dedicated beginner performers of Grade 1-3 standard. All entrants for this element of the competition will be dealt with through the respective school's Heads of Music.  

• Intermediate for performers of Grade 5-6 standard

• Advanced for performers at Grade 7 level and beyond 

• Ensembles (small 3-10 performers, large 11+ performers, contemporary 3-10 performers, small choir 3-10 performers and large choir 11+ performers). Choir participants must be over the age of 11 and each school can submit 2 large ensembles and 2 small ensembles (contemproary classed as small). All entrants for this element of the competition will be dealt with through the respective school's Heads of Music.

There are eight different categories: 

• Piano 

• Classical Guitar

• Brass 

• Percussion

• Strings 

• Woodwind 

• Voice

• Rock n Pop (singers, guitarists, keyboards and drummers)

In Round One of the competition, entrants should choose a piece of at least grade 5 for intermediate or grade 7 or above for advanced from the ABRSM/Trinity grade syllabus list. The time limit for each performance is 5 minutes. The adjudicators will select a number of performers from each category/class to advance to the Second Round.  

In round two, entrants must perform the given set piece for their category, which can be found on the website.

In the Semi-Final entrants can again perform a free choice of piece (at the requisite standard) lasting up to 8 minutes. It is recommended to choose a piece that contrasts to the piece performed in Round One.

Finalists can perform a free programme of pieces lasting up to 10 minutes which may or may not include pieces already performed in the competition.

Progression through the rounds: 

• Approximately 70% of entries in each class/category will progress through to Round Two

• The top 2 in each class/category will be selected to perform in the Semi-final

• The top performer in each class/category will be selected to perform in the Final to be crowned Abu Dhabi Young Musician 2024