Young promoters group shortlisted for national Young Scot award

A group of young Shetland arts promoters has been shortlisted for the 2012 Young Scot Awards which will take place next month.

The Shetland Young Promoters Group (SYPG) has achieved recognition in the “arts” category.

The awards, a ceremony for which will be attended by 500 guests on 26th April, recognise the achievements of young people in Scotland throughout 2011.

Chloe Robertson, 16, vice-secretary of SYPG, said: “We’re absolutely delighted about being short-listed! Organising music events always feels like such a rewarding thing to me. You get to see other people enjoying events you’re running and that in itself is an amazing feeling. 

“When you’re enjoying yourself that much it’s easy to forget all the hard work that goes into actually getting to that stage! It’s so exciting to be nominated for a national award and I know everyone in SYPG feels the same.”

Formed in 2009, SYPG is a group of under-25s who organise events in conjunction with experienced promoters, technical crews and music industry professionals.  

The young people learn all aspects of event management, including promotion, business skills, health and safety, sound engineering and lighting, and gain practical experience of event management and promotion.

 SYPG aims to:

• Offer young people the opportunity to develop their music event production skills through practical experience.
• Provide young musicians, bands and DJs with performance opportunities.
• Provide young audiences with a diverse range of high quality programming.
• Develop relationships with local agencies, funding bodies and industry professionals.
• Provide a safe and supportive environment in which young people can develop skills.

 SYPG encourages the creation of new bands as well as supporting the development of existing young bands in Shetland.  

The group also gives younger audiences a chance to experience live performances in a safe, alcohol free environment and provides young up-and-coming musicians, bands and DJs with performance opportunities.

SYPG was a winner at the Shetland Youth Volunteering Awards in 2011 and was nominated for this national recognition by the organising committee.