THE hunt for a top artist to honour with a music award is reaching its final stages.

The Rotary Club of Chester-le-Street, working with the James Etherington Music Trust for young musicians, will be choosing a singer or instrumentalist to receive the £300 prize to further their musical education and a £150 prize for the runner up.

This year there are eight finalists: pianists Harriet Brooks and Jenna Cave; singers Catherine Dryden, Katherine Ions and Hannah-Jo Wolfe; drummer Michael Foster; violinist and singer Ruth Shaw and cornet player Philip Tait.

Each will give a fifteen-minute programme in the Methodist Church, Market Place, Chester-le-Street, at 7pm on Saturday April 25.

Members of the public are invited to come along to listen to the performances, and to see the presentation to the winner and runner up.

Recent winners include: John Provine (violin), Anne Armstrong (percussion), Mark Dowd (piano), Joanne Keithley (cello), Miriam Davis (violin), Helen Douthwaite (trombone), Laura Jones (piano), Leila Panesar (piano) and Bobby He (violin).

The Trust was set up in 1978 to commemorate the distinguished musical career of local singer James Etherington, who gained national recognition and became a well known tenor in London West End shows.