Young musicians, ages 12-19, in the central Maine area are invited to compete for an opportunity to work with two internationally renowned musicians, record in a professional recording studio and be featured on a charity single. This single is set to be released in the UK early next year, to benefit the charity Education 4 Everyone’s Riding Stars project.

The song’s creators, composer and accordionist Marianna Filippi and Celtic singer Kristyn Murphy, both of Maine, hope to provide this unique opportunity as a way to encourage some of Maine’s young singers and instrumentalists to pursue the arts and to think globally.

Murphy, a resident of central Maine, was encouraged to start singing at a very young age. She was enthusiastically welcomed by UK press and audiences last year when she first partnered with Riding Stars charity project during a successful singing tour of England, Scotland and Wales. The project was started in 2017 by Dean Brockway and Polly Lambden, both of the UK, and has a mission to teach lifelong transferable skills to people with special needs and disabilities through contact with horses. The program works to encourage and nurture skills including: decision making, problem solving, thinking, planning, communication, goal setting, coordination, balance, fine motor skills, muscular strength, endurance, posture and flexibility.

Murphy began collaborating with Filippi in 2016, after meeting the accordionist busking in Rockland.

Those interested in a chance to work on Murphy and Filippi’s project should upload a video to Youtube that features contestants playing or singing a musical selection of their choice. Contestants can submit their entries by emailing the video link to touringceltic@gmail.com by Sept. 30 and include with the link a brief bio and a short paragraph about why music is important to them. Winners will be notified no later than mid-November.