MUSICAL students at The Chase will have to wait until June to find out whether they will progress to the next round of a national competition.

Three groups from the school attended the Music for Youth National Festival at King Edward VI College, in Stourbridge, last Sunday (April 1).

They were among 800 young musicians from all over the West Midlands competing for a place in the next round at the South Bank Centre, in London, in July. Following that, 30 groups from around the country will be invited to play at the Music for Youth Prom Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in November.

Mike Kent-Davies, head of music at The Chase, said the groups had done very well.

"A Cappella II were there for experience," he said. "A Cappella could get through, despite being depleted by illness. The Piano Quartet did very well and could get to the national finals."

Adjudicators at the festival praised the piano quartet, which was made up of Jon Spanyol (piano), Victoria West (violin), Ruth Westley (viola) and Alice Piercy (cello). The group played the first movement of Mozart's Quartet in G.

The judges commented on their excellent attention to musical details, such as phrasing and dynamics, and described them as a well-balanced and matched ensemble.