Creating Opportunities for Young Musicians

About Us 

Our charity, Perth Festival of the Arts, provides exciting performance and education opportunities for young musicians during our annual Festival in May. These range from masterclasses with the UK's leading musicians, to free concert tickets, performance opportunities and the chance to experience life behind-the-scenes at a large-scale Arts Festival.

Our Festival Team were themselves young musicians at the Festival, going to concerts, playing with Perth Youth Orchestra and performing at concerts. All testify that the Festival's opportunities had a life-changing impact on their lives.  

What we are fundraising for

As a charity, we need to raise funds to support these opportunities each year through grants and public donations. We are crowdfunding to give young brass players the learning opportunity of a lifetime at our 2025 Festival, working with the UK's leading brass professionals. 

Renowned trumpeter Mike Lovatt - who has played on film scores from James Bond to Harry Potter and as Principal Trumpet with the John Wilson Orchestra, the BBC Big Band and more - is bringing his new orchestra to the city for the Festival's closing concert, Brass HITS Hollywood. Mike's handpicked ensemble - Mike Lovatt's Brass Pack - is drawn from the UK's top virtuoso instrumentalists. This show-stopping concert promises to be a Festival highlight and we have the chance for 30 young brass players to work with the orchestra.

With your support, we want to: 

• Commission a new arrangement of music for the young brass ensemble
• Host a learning project where the young players can learn from the top brass players in the industry. This includes: 
• a masterclass with Mike and his team
• exclusive access to the orchestra's rehearsals (sitting beside the pros!) 
• and an evening 'pre-concert' concert to perform their new work. 
• Provide free tickets for the young players to the evening show
• Invite the young players on stage to join the professional orchestra for the grand finale piece in the programme! 

For a young brass player, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime.

What the Donations will Support: 

Funds raised will enable this project to take place. £3000 will support the artistic costs of the orchestra's players and conductor, plus commissioning of the new arrangement especially for the youth ensemble. £500 will support our venue costs. 

We've received the wonderful news that Creative Scotland Crowdmatch will match every donation to this campaign £1 for £1, up to our initial target. This means your donation will go even further, helping us to reach our goal. We’re very grateful to Creative Scotland for their support.

Why your Support is Important

The opportunities we provide aim to inspire and develop the talents of young musicians and nurture an appreciation of music that will remain throughout their lives. By learning alongside the top professionals, young musicians can develop their musicianship and technical skills, build their confidence and experience as ensemble performers, and enjoy the thrill and excitement of meeting and performing live alongside these virtuoso players and with each other. 

In May 2024, we ran a masterclass and performance opportunity for young percussionists at the Festival. Feedback included: 

• 100% reported that they enjoyed performing and 83% had never taken part in a masterclass before. 
• 50% reported boosts to confidence and self-esteem 
• 83% enjoyed making music as a group and working with others

“I learned a lot about the small details of percussion, such as creating a good sound, technique, energy and dynamics. Both the masterclass and performance were very enjoyable.”

"The masterclass was very interesting and was great to get advice from a different perspective. The performance was great and I love to perform in different spaces."

The lasting community impact 

Our charity works closely with other local partners in youth music including the Instrumental Music Service and Perth Youth Orchestra to strengthen opportunities for young people in music during the Festival. We, and others, collectively nurture young people in their journeys as young musicians. We support their knowledge, skills and opportunities to progress their arts education and to enjoy music throughout their lives, whether as a professional musicians or in their community. 

Thank you for any support that you can give.