(Grand Cayman – 14 April 2016) This year’s finalists for the Butterfield Young Musician of the Year award celebrated with a luncheon hosted at Butterfield Place, 12 Albert Panton Street George Town on Tuesday, 12 April 2016.

A feature of the programme of the National Children’s Festival of the Arts for the past nine years, the Young Musician of the Year award promises to be an exciting evening for Cayman’s top young musicians and their families.

“To get to this level of competition, the students are already at a quality performance standard and they all should be very proud of themselves for having been chosen” explained Mr. Michael McWatt Deputy Managing Director of Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited. “We wanted to honour all of them with a special luncheon before the event to recognise the hard work and dedication that has brought them to this stage.”

“The Ministry and the Department of Education Services are pleased to partner with Butterfield in this very exciting event. The Young Musician of the Year Competition (YMOY) has been one of the highlights of the National Children’s Festival of the Arts (NCFA) over the past nine years. It has encouraged young people to aspire to reach for the stars as they hone their musical talents and as they excel in becoming the best that they can be. The high quality of musical talents that we are now reaping from our students is remarkable. Our visionary forefathers who started the NCFA some 34 years ago can be justly proud of how far we have come over these years. The NCFA over this time helped and continues to help in many ways to shape the future development and growth of the arts in the Cayman Islands. Thus, having partnerships with entities such as Butterfield which has so graciously stepped up to the plate and sponsors this aspect of the NCFA, demonstrates the public-private partnership that exists between the Cayman Islands Government and members of the private sector who so willingly give to this most worthy cause” commented Mr. James Watler, Senior Customer Service Manager at the Department of Education Services.

The finalists will perform two contrasting pieces in their chosen category of either Vocal, Piano, Strings, Woodwind or Brass, and an overall winner and runner up will be selected by the judges. The public is invited to attend this special event on Saturday, 30 April at the Prospect Playhouse. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets will be available at the door for $5 for adults and $2 for children.

Photo Caption: “(Back row L-R) Deputy Managing Director Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Limited Michael McWatt, Ruth Harris, Dequan Smith, Adrian Anglin, Marcos Bertran, Jaedyn Hanna, Senior Customer Services Manager, Department of Education Services James Watler. (Front row L-R) Liana DaCosta, Maya Antes, Katherine Erskine, Daniela Granados.”