Nurturing the next generation is central to the work of the orchestra. Our annual Young Musician Concerto Competition has launched the careers of many outstanding young performers, with past winners going on to become BBC Young Musician prize-winners and finalists, including Martin James Bartlett, Ryan Wang who went on to win the BBC Young Musician in 2024, Ewan Millar, and Jamaal Kashim.

All competition winners receive a cash prize and the opportunity to perform a concerto with the orchestra, providing invaluable experience on the concert platform with a full symphony orchestra.

The competition takes place in October each year and attracts players of exceptional musical ability. The competition is open to young players of piano, string, woodwind and brass instruments who are resident or studying in the UK or in one of the twin towns of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The winner of the 2025 competition was the violinist Sasha Parker, age 19. Sasha received a cash prize of £1,000 and a trophy, and will have the opportunity to perform a concerto with the Orchestra during the 2026/2027 season.

Reuben Moisey, a pianist age 17, was placed second, receiving a cash prize of £250, and the Aubrey Thonger Silver Cup for the most promising talent was presented to Sergey Druzhinin, a pianist age 12.

Explore the impressive list of our previous competition winners here.

Applications for the 2026 competition has now closed. Applications for 2027 will open in the spring of 2027.