Receiving their grant from Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation Trustee Charlotte McCormick, left, are, from left, young musician Jaskiran Kaur Mehmi, SAA-uk Finance and Marketing Manager Darren Tiffney, Community Engagement Officer Maria Spadafora and Chief Executive Keranjeet Kaur Virdee.
An Indian Music Youth Orchestra is the latest organisation to benefit from a grant from the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation.
Leeds-based SAA-uk (South Asia Arts UK) was seeking funding to develop a Yorkshire Indian Music Youth Orchestra to help keep classical Indian music alive in the UK. The orchestra will involve young musicians, giving them the opportunity not only to learn and perform classical music but also to compose and perform new music.
SAA-uk’s Community Engagement Officer, Maria Spadafora, said: “We’re grateful to the Yorkshire Young Achievers Foundation for this grant. The Yorkshire Indian Music Youth Orchestra (YIMYO) will be a first for this region, enabling young musicians from a range of backgrounds to learn and perform music from a 1,000- year-old tradition whilst developing their own skills as composers.”The grant is the latest in a series from the Foundation which supports young people and projects benefiting them across the Yorkshire region.
Much of the funding distributed comes from the annual Yorkshire Young Achievers Awards, which have now raised almost £950,000 in their 20 year history.
Foundation Trustee Charlotte McCormick said: “We are pleased that so many young people are benefiting from our direct support to a wide range of projects in the region. They are tomorrow’s achievers and it is hugely important that they are helped to develop their full potential.”