HUNDREDS of talented youngsters gave stirling performances at Great Sankey High School on Saturday.

The National Festival for the Music for Youth provided a morning of marvellous music making at the Barrow Hall Lane School.

Ten groups comprising more than 300 instrumentalists and singers aged between six and 19 from Cheshire and Merseyside performed at the school.

They included four from Great Sankey High School, the concert band, junior concert band, swing band and saxaphone quartet.

They were joined by Broomfields Junior School Choir from Appleton and Bowdon Prep School, Greater Manchester, who brought three young choirs, Sandbach High School choir and Paltog, a traditional Irish music group from Maghull, Merseyside.

More than 40,000 youngsters are taking part in the 2001 series of 48 regional events throughout England and Wales up until April 10 in Europe's largest youth music festival, held in collaboration with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

A spokesman for the festival said: "Many of these young performers will go on to the Music for Youth National Festival in London when 250 groups are invited to the South Bank Centre from July 2 until July 7."

Thirty groups will then be invited to perform at the world-acclaimed Music for Youth Prom Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in November.