ORGANISERS of the Upton Jazz Festival are looking for some of the county’s most promising young musicians to showcase their skills at this year’s event.

The “Best of Young Jazz” project is offering young musicians the chance to perform at the internationally-renowned festival, which takes place during the last weekend in June.

A series of auditions will take place over the next six weeks to identify up to 100 musicians who will go on to perform on a dedicated Best of Young Jazz stage.

Musicians must be at least 11 years old and will be asked at audition to perform 5-10 minutes of their favourite jazz music, preferably containing some element of improvisation, to a small panel.

The scheme is being accompanied by a series of master classes with professional musicians in local schools and at the festival itself.

Project manager Steve Boffy said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the county’s youngsters to show off their talents.

“We hope that the project will allow a new generation of musicians to develop their performance skills and be inspired by the incredible musicians at the festival.”

Auditions will take place at Malvern Theatres from noon-3pm on Sunday, May 17 and at Huntingdon Hall, in Worcester, from 1-4pm on Saturday, June 6.

The deadline for applications is Friday, May 8, application forms and further details are available at www.bestofyoungjazz.co.uk