Discover
Young Sounds UK bring Discover training to Aberdeen
We’ve been running our Discover training in England since 2008 and we’re now looking to start the programme in Scotland! Starting with free sessions in Aberdeen.
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An Evening at Burtonfields Hall
On Thursday 9 October 2025 we were delighted to return to Yorkshire for a special fundraising concert. The evening featured performances from some of the talented young musicians we’re currently supporting, taking place in the gorgeous setting of Burtonfields Hall. Constructed in the historic Italianate villa style in 1837, Burtonfields’ is a family-run estate set amongst parkland with views of the Yorkshire Wolds.
The first performance came from 18-year-old horn player Tom. Despite being made aware of the challenges of playing the French horn, Tom chose the only horn in his school brass class from all the trumpets and trombones available. Ripon born Tom started learning properly with a horn teacher at high school and was a member of Tees Valley Youth Orchestra – despite it being a two-hour round trip! His first experience playing in a huge horn section was in Strauss Ein Heldenleben as bumper horn aged 15, with St. Cecilia Orchestra in Ripon Cathedral. He still plays with them today, alongside his mother and previous horn Teacher.
Winning a place for sixth form at Chetham’s School of Music, meant that Tom could immerse himself with like-minded young people and he’s taken advantage of all the resources and opportunities made available to him, including an upcoming masterclass with Young Sounds Alumnus, Ben Goldscheider!
Tom has been supported by Young Sounds for two years, this year by The Dr Linda Patterson Award. In his performance, he played Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.3 in E flat and Strauss’ Nocturno, Op.7.
Next up was 17-year-old Riccardo. A multi-talented musician, Riccardo is a pianist, composer and conductor and studies all three at the Junior Department of the Royal Northen College of Music. Winning many competitions as a pianist, his successes have seen him perform at venues all over the world, and recently he performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No.2 in Chester Cathedral on two weeks’ notice!
As a child, Riccardo was drawn to the piano and began lessons aged five, taking it up more seriously when he was nine and achieving Diplomas in piano performance aged 15. Music takes up much of his life, but Riccardo excels academically too – he recently achieved 12 GCSEs and is currently studying for his A-Levels He’s an avid reader of Philosophy and History, a competitive Fencer and Lego collector.
Riccardo has been supported by Young Sounds for five years, this year thanks to The Graucob Awards. Riccardo hopes to pursue his further High Education studies in Music, and become a professional performer, composer and orchestral conductor. At Burtonfields Hall, Riccardo wowed guests with his performances of Liszt’s Sonetto 123 del Petrarca in A flat major, Debussy’s Preludes, Book 1 No.2 – Voiles, and Rachmaninov’s Preludes, Op.32, No.12 in G sharp minor.
Our final performer was 18-year-old coloratura soprano Veronika. When considering what toddler groups to put Veronika in, her mother discovered a choir in their home country of Ukraine and thought it would be a fun idea. It’s unusual to think of becoming an opera singer at such a young age, but aged four Veronika began singing every day. Often the soloist in the choir and on hearing Bizet’s Carmen, it became clear that this was the career path for her!
Fleeing the war, Veronika was offered a full scholarship to continue her musical studies at Chetham’s School of Music. Veronika achieved her A Levels in Music and Maths and is now embarking on her next chapter on the vocal course, with second study piano, at the Royal Academy of Music. She hopes one day to sing with the English National Opera and at theatres worldwide. Her goal is to help people enjoy life more with her singing.
Veronika is supported by Young Sounds thanks to The Thomas Raymond Reesby Award. To close the evening, Veronika performed Strauss’ Ich wollt’ ein Sträusslein binden, Op.68 No.2, Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, K486 ‘Bester Jüngling’, Mykola Lysenko’s ‘Ой не світи мсяченьку’ (Oh, do not shine bright moon), and Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment ‘Chacun le sait’.
The evening’s performances were accompanied by Hilary Suckling. Hilary was an accompanist at Chetham’s School of Music for eight years, and her performances have been broadcast on BBC 4, Radio 3 and Classic FM. She is currently Accompanist-in-Residence at St Peter’s School in York.
Young Sounds in Yorkshire
As of October 2025, we’re proud to be supporting over 230 young people in Yorkshire through our Connect and Thrive programmes, made strides through our EQUALIZE research project in Bradford, and have delivered Discover training to 160 teachers to help them identify signs of musical potential. Laura Robinson, one of our Connectors in West Yorkshire, shared valuable insights into the impact of our Connect programme in Yorkshire between performers.
We’d like to say a huge thank you to our supporters, performers, accompanist Hilary, and to Angela Bush for making our evening at Burtonfields Hall so special!
If you’d like to find out more about joining our community of supporters, you can contact our Development Administrator, Katherine Rigg, at [email protected] or 0300 302 0476.