The BBC Young Musician of the Year is a televised national music competition. It is broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Four biennially, despite the name, and hosted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The competition, a member of European Union of Music Competitions for Youth, is designed for British percussion, keyboard, string, brass and woodwind players, all of whom must be eighteen years of age or under on 1 January in the relevant year.
The competition was established in 1978 by Humphrey Burton and Walter Todds, both of whom are former members of the BBC Television Music Department. Michael Hext, a trombonist, was the inaugural winner. In 1994, the usage of percussion instruments was first permitted, alongside the existing keyboard, string, brass and woodwind categories. Since its introduction, the allowance of percussion instruments has increased interest in the competition among young people. The competition has five stages, which consist of regional auditions, category auditions, category finals, semi-finals and the final. As a result of the success of the competition, the Eurovision Young Musicians competition was initiated in 1982. To date, there have been 17 winners, the most recent being Lara Ömeroglu. Peter Moore holds the title for the youngest winner of the competition, at age 12.
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