Portal:BBC/Selected article/6

The BBC Young Musician of the Year is a televised music competition, broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Four biennially, and hosted by the BBC. The competition is designed for British percussion, keyboard, string, brass and woodwind players, all of whom must be eighteen years of age or under. The competition was established in 1978 by Humphrey Burton and Walter Todds, both of whom are former members of the BBC Television Music Department. In 1994, the usage of percussion instruments were permitted, alongside the existing keyboard, string, brass and woodwind categories, and is still permitted for use nowadays. Since its introduction, the allowance of percussion instruments has increased interest in the competition among young people. Currently, the competition has five stages, which consist of regional auditions, regional finals, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. As a result of the success of the competition, the Eurovision Young Musicians competition was initiated in 1982.