BOWDON Youth Festival has cemented its reputation with a prestigious new appointment.

Over the past five years, Bowdon Youth Festival has built a large following and is now firmly established as a major arts festival for young people in the area.

And the festival now has a new president, Stefan Janski, the former head of opera at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Stefan has enjoyed a long and illustrious career as a director, performer and teacher and continues to be sought after in a freelance career, most recently by companies in China. He has shared his expertise with local youngsters as an adjudicator at the Bowdon Youth Festival since its inception.

Stefan said: “I am honoured and delighted to have been invited to become the president of Bowdon Youth Festival. Since its first year, I have been amazed by the wealth of talented young people who come to learn and perform at it.

"All the volunteers work incredibly hard to stage the festival and I am very pleased to be associated with it.”

Susan Sinagola, chairman of Bowdon Festival, said: “We are thrilled that someone of Stefan’s eminence has agreed to become our new president. His range of experience covers all the fields that we offer in music, speech and drama.

"We look forward to building on the success of past years with his help. The Youth Festival last year attracted a huge number of entries and we have a super range of classes in 2017.

"There is a terrific panel of experienced adjudicators and we will also offer a range of prizes supported by local individuals and businesses”.

This year’s Youth Festival takes place from February 2 to 5 2017. Children will have the opportunity to perform and receive feedback from professional adjudicators.

Categories range from solo brass, piano, organ, strings and woodwind through singing, solo or in choirs, to drama and poetry.

The deadline to apply is December 31. To enter or for more details, visit bowdonfestival.co.uk.