TALENTED young musicians from the Malvern Hills area will be testing their abilities against the best in the county.

The area will again be represented at the Worcestershire Young Musicians finals, being held at the Huntingdon Hall in Worcester next Friday (November 23).

Six soloists and six ensembles have been shortlisted for the finals.

Among the soloists will be harpist Julia Charnock, a pupil at St James' School in West Malvern, pianist Mark Spybey, who attends Hanley Castle High School and Malvern resident Adrian Uren, a pupil at the King's School in Worcester.

They will be up against musicians from schools in Bromsgrove, Redditch and Bewdley.

Mark was also a finalist in 1999, the year that saw former Chase pupil Sarah Westley, from Hanley Castle, win the event.

Among the six ensembles will be one from St James', facing groups from Bromsgrove, Droitwich Spa, Wolverley, Kidderminster and Kings School, Worcester.

The latter will be a real family affair with Adrian Uren being joined by his brother Alan and sister Heather for the Kings' entry, making up a five strong ensemble with Jane Cairns and David Newsholme.

The shortlists were drawn up following preliminary auditions.

Music starts at 7pm and admission is by programme priced £2.

The event is organised by Worcester-shire Arts Education and will be recorded by BBC Hereford and Worcester for broadcast on December 27 at 12.05pm.