CYM

Welcome to CYMOnline!

Castleford Young Musicians is a concert band and choir of approximately 50 musicians and singers primarily between the ages of 8 and 25, based in West Yorkshire, England. We meet every Friday evening in term time at St Joseph's Primary School, Pontefract Road, Castleford to prepare for regular concerts throughout Yorkshire.
If you are interested in joining our band or choir, or would like to find out how we could help raise money for you by performing a concert, please telephone (01977) 511971, or e-mail us here!

OCT 2023

Latest News

Free Christmas Concert Tickets Now Available

Our Annual Christmas Concert on Friday 15th December 2023, will take place at Trinity Methodist Church, Castleford, and for the third consecutive year, this will be a FREE event! As capacity at the church is strictly limited however, tickets must be pre-booked, either on the link below, or by speaking to one of our Committee. As with last year, a waiting list system will start once all main tickets have gone, so to guarantee your place, please book them now!

Book now

St John The Baptist RC Church, Normanton

Our band and choir were in action together on Friday 13th October in a concert held at St John the Baptist Church in Normanton, at 7:30pm. This was a new venue for us and we thoroughly enjoyed playing there! A big thank you to those who came to support us - we hope to be back soon!

In the meantime, a full list of our remaining 2023 performances can be found on our events page.

Our Year 2024

Representatives from CYM were in attendance at the launch event for Wakefield Council's 'Our Year 2024' campaign recently. We're looking forward to being involved in promoting the vast range of creative arts available in the Wakefield District throughout 2024. Look out for more information soon. Further details can be found on the following link: https://experiencewakefield.co.uk/our-year-2024/

Encore's 80th Anniversary Masquerade Ball

Our concert band were in action recently, at Encore Theatre Company's 80th Anniversary Masquerade Ball, providing the entertainment as guests arrived at the event at King's Croft in Pontefract.

CYM and ETC have had a very close relationship over the years, with many members being involved in both groups, so it was great for us to be part of their very special event.

Filey Bandstand

Our final performance of this academic year will take place on Saturday 15th July in the Crescent Gardens Bandstand in Filey from 2pm.

If the weather isn't kind, we'll move over to the Methodist Church on Union Street and perform there instead!

Fingers crossed the weather's as nice as it was for last year's trip to Scarborough!

Annual Concert

Tickets for our Annual Concert on 7th July at Carlton Lanes Shopping Centre are now on sale. Priced at just £6 for adults, with children going free, we expect these to sell quickly. Once again, we have exclusive use of the shopping centre so don't miss out on seeing us perform at this very different venue! Please contact a member of our committee, or click below to purchase your tickets. (Please note, there is a small booking fee for online sales)

Book now

Drummer Vacancy

We are currently looking for a drummer to join our concert band. This is an open age position, for anyone who is able to read drum notation to a reasonable standard.

We don't audition, but would invite you to a couple of rehearsals to see how you go!

For a sample of drum music, or if you have any questions, please contact us (details here)

Carlton Lanes Defibrillators

Just over 4 years ago, with the fantastic support of our audiences and other donations, including the CO-OP local causes scheme, Castleford Young Musicians were able to purchase two defibrillators, along with an indoor cabinet and a heated outdoor cabinet at a cost of over £2200.

Fortunately it took much less time to purchase the defibrillators than it did to get the plaques up on the wall! Here's the one opposite at the entrance to the shopping centre, opposite the library. A big thank you again, to everyone who supported our appeal.

Remembering Vera Lorriman

Following the sad passing of our first Choir Director, Vera Lorriman at the end of last year,CYM would like to remember Vera and all she did for the young people of Castleford. Please click the link below to read a letter sent to the Pontefract and Castleford Express by our President, Ralph Jaggar.

Remembering Vera Lorriman

 

 

'Bring Me Sunshine'

Our performance with Castleford Male Voice Choir and Castleford Singers on 31st March 2023 at Castleford Civic Centre was a great success, raising over £1500 for The Prince of Wales Hospice and Teenage Cancer Trust. Thank you to each of the almost 250 people who attended and contributed to a fantastic evening which showed much of the musical talent our town has to offer.

Vera Lorriman

Castleford Young Musicians are very sad to hear of the passing of our first Choir Director, Vera Lorriman last week. A service will be held on Tuesday 31st January at 2:45pm at the Christadelphian Hall, Hartley St, Castleford, WF10 5DQ.

 

 

 

Promotional Video!

Our promotional video is now live! A big thank you to Sarah Clarkson for putting it all together. Please follow the link below to watch it, and more importantly, please share it with anyone you think may be interested in joining us.

We're back in full swing now after our enforced break due to the pandemic, and there's never been a better time to join. Contact us for more details. Click here to see the video

Colours of the Wind - Virtual Performance

Not to be outdone by the band, some of our choir members have been busy creating a virtual performance of their own, recording their parts for 'Colours of the Wind'. A big thank you and well done to you all, and to Sarah Clarkson once again for putting them all together. You can watch both videos here.

A Thousand Years - Virtual Performance

As well as attempting the CYM Ultimate Quiz (see below) some of our band members have been busy creating a virtual performance of 'A Thousand Years'. A big thank you to everyone who took part and to Sarah Clarkson for putting all the videos together. You can watch the video here. Not to be outdone, the choir are currently attempting a similar performance of 'Colours of the Wind'. Check back here soon to see the result!

CYM Ultimate Quiz

The CYM Ultimate Quiz has been created for a little bit of light entertainment while we're in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic. Although it's primarily aimed at our current membership, there are some questions that may be easier for past members, and we'd love to hear how our friends and supporters do too! Click here to have a go!

Children's University

CYM are a registered Learning Destination with the Children's University, so our younger members can earn hours for their Passports to Learning by taking part in rehearsals and concerts. We are also more than happy to invite new members who may be part of the Children's University and want to fill their passports! For more information about the Children's University, visit their website www.childrensuniversity.co.uk

Help us Spread the Word!

Social media is one of the cheapest, easiest and most effective methods of promotion available to us, but we need your support! Please like and share our pages and posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to help spread the word! Why not keep up to date with all the CYM news and events by joining our mailing list too?! Click here to sign up.

Become a Friend of CYM

Our annual patron's scheme 'Friends of CYM' is a great way to support Castleford Young Musicians if you're not musical or you fall outside our membership age range! Memberships are just £12 (single) and £15 (joint) for 12 months.

This is an excellent way to help CYM with their fundraising efforts - if you're interested please complete the form on our Friends page. Contact us if you would like more information.