A total of 24 rising stars from all over South Africa have been selected from 35 entries for the 2025 National Youth Music Competition that will take place from 1 to 6 December at the Endler Hall, Konservatorium Building, Victoria Street, Stellenbosch.

They were selected by a panel of renowned musicians from video auditions.

These candidates between the ages of 14 and 19 years will compete in the week-long competition for the prize money totalling R180 000, plus the sought-after winner title, gold, silver and bronze medals.

The competition is determined over four rounds in five categories for orchestral musical instruments – piano, string instruments, woodwind instruments, brass instruments and other orchestral instruments (harp, percussion, marimba, xylophone, etc.).

The pianists rule the roost with 11 contenders, followed by five cellists, three saxophonists, two violinists, a flautist, an oboist and a marimba player.

“The 13 fresh faces among this year’s contestants illustrate the depth of classical music training in South Africa,” says Prof Mario Nell, director of the NYMC.

“The three pillars of this competition are to identify, expose and develop the country’s rising classical stars.”

Over the five-day contest, they must perform a wide-ranging repertoire of their choice that covers different style periods and South African compositions. All the contestants will play in the first two rounds. Thereafter, 12 semi-finalists will compete in the third (semi-final) round to determine who the top six musicians are.

The top six contenders will then do a final battle at a gala concert on Saturday, 6 December, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO).

The three youngest stars (15 years) are all from the Western Cape. Seven contenders are first-year students from the University of Cape Town (UCT), University of Pretoria (UP) and Stellenbosch University (SU) while the rest of the competitors representing a variety of regions.

The names of the adjudicating panel and ticket prices for the gala concert on 7 December 2024 will be announced closer to the competition. Entrance to the first three rounds from 2 to 5 December 2024 is free.

The full alphabetical the successful candidates is:

Surname	Name	Age	Instrument	Origin
Adams	Kyrah	19	Marimba	Paarl
Cilliers	James	19	Saxophone	Durbanville, CPT
Cordewener	Meya	16	Cello	Hartenbos
Goliath	Quinn	16	Saxophone	Loevenstein, CPT
Goliath	Kian	18	Saxophone	Loevenstein, CPT
Gray	Rebecca	15	Cello	Pinelands, CPT
Henshall	Emma	19	Violin	CPT
Kennard	Karli	18	Piano	Brackenfell, CPT
Kriel	Helena	19	Piano	Stellenbosch
Le Roux	Madison	18	Piano	Pinelands, CPT
Long	Zainab	15	Piano	Rondebosch, CPT
Luo	Weien Amy	17	Violin	Umhlanga
Marques	Lucas	19	Piano	Mouille Point, CPT
Naudé	Christiaan	18	Cello	Roodepoort
Peng	Yu Qing	17	Piano	Woodmead, JHB
Pienaar	Talitha	19	Flute	Wingate Park, CPT
Pillay	Micah	17	Cello	CPT
Schmidt	Hermanus	17	Piano	Somerset West
Smit	Louis	18	Piano	Midrand
Van der Merwe	Misha	16	Cello	Mossel Bay
Van Zyl	Andree	18	Oboe	Gardens, CPT
Wang	Yafei	17	Piano	Plattekloof, CPT
Yang	David	15	Piano	Rondebosch, CPT
Zhu	Tanya	18	Piano	Kensington, JHB

The competition winner and final ranking of the NYMC are cumulatively determined over the four rounds. It is the only competition in South Africa where the six finalists compete for top honours, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO). The final round’s gala concert will be streamed live on the NYMC website..