Tuesday 16th February will see the City of Leeds Youth Orchestra performing 12 solid hours of fantastic music to raise money for their forthcoming tour this summer.

The orchestra, which includes some of Yorkshire's finest young musical talents, has a reputation as one of the leading ensembles of its kind, offering fantastic opportunities to young musicians aged between 12 and 19, such as their exciting excursion to Spain scheduled for July this year.

The play-a-thon will feature the outstanding talents of local musician Alex Mitchell, who also plays for the National Youth Orchestra, as the soloist in Walton's viola concerto. Dougie Scarfe will conduct the repertoire, consisting of a number of small ensembles as well as pieces from the forthcoming Leeds Town Hall concert on the 27th February.

Artistic Director Dougie Scarfe said, “Aside from it being a fun event for the orchestra to get involved in, this play-a-thon will really help to ensure that all of our musicians will be able to afford to go to Spain in the summer. I can tell you, it’s not cheap to travel with all these instruments!”

The City of Leeds Youth Orchestra has in the past visited the USA and other destinations across Europe. This event will help raise the money needed to take them across to Spain to perform in Madrid and Burgos.

The play-a-thon will take place at the West Park Centre in Leeds between 8am and 8pm on Tuesday the 16th of February. For more information on the event and details of how to sponsor the orchestra, please visit www.clyo.org.uk.