A dozen young musicians from around the country will return to Milton from their academic and professional lives to perform a hometown concert in celebration of the Milton Young Musicians Festival, which turns 25 in 2011. The featured performers are alumni of the festival who have gone on to work professionally in music.

Titled The Beat Goes On, the concert will take place at the Milton Women’s Club at 8:00pm on Noermber 27th. Admission in $10.00

 The performers will be familiar to many twenty-something Miltonians: Dave Ostrem, MHS ’02, a jazz guitarist and bass player who lives, plays, and teaches in New York City;  Liz Hanley, MHS ’04, an Irish and jazz singer and fiddler also based in New York; and several former members of the Milton High School Jazz Ensemble—Rory MacNeil, MHS ’08, a saxophonist currently studying at the University of Texas, Austin, Gabe Stillman, MHS ’09, a clarinetist and saxophonist currently studying at Wesleyan University, Steve Wilkinson, MHS ’07, a drummer currently studying at McGill University, and horn player Willie Archibald, MHS ’11,  the only performer still currently at the high school.

The Milton Young Musicians Festival was founded in 1986 by Emma Jean Moulton, who has served as its director since its inception. Held each spring, it brings together music students who either live or study in the town of Milt0n to audition in an adjudicated competition designed to encourage and instruct. The daylong competition embraces all instruments plus voice. At the end of the day, participants receive a detailed evaluation from the judges and a medal—either bronze, silver, or gold, based on a numerical grade. A week after the competition a concert follows, featuring all the gold medalists in performance. The festival is sponsored and organized by Milton Performing Arts, a community nonprofit.

“The Beat Goes On,” the Milton Young Musicians Festival’s 25th birthday concert, will take place on Saturday, November 27 at 8:00 p.m. at the Milton Woman’s Club, 90 Reedsdale Road. Admission (door only) is $10.