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Dukes Education celebrated its 10th birthday with a spectacular celebration at London’s Royal Festival Hall in February. One thousand children from 25 Dukes Education schools in the UK, Athens, Dublin and Lisbon took part in a spectacular ‘Festival of the Arts’ in aid of the Dukes Foundation that featured a massed choir of 750 children, individual performances, chamber choirs, ensembles, poetry, prose, musical theatre and a parent choir. The event was hosted by friend of Dukes Education, Gyles Brandreth, and accompanied by a 10-piece band made up of Dukes’ music teachers.
The event included the final of the Dukes Young Musician of the Year 2025 competition. The five exceptionally talented finalists played violin, piano, cello and the marimba for the sell-out audience. Avram Harris, a 15-year-old cellist and student from Hampstead Fine Arts College gave a superb performance of Gaspar Cassado’s Suite for Solo Cello: Prelude-Fantasia to be named the competition winner.
Founder and Chairman of Dukes Education, Aatif Hassan, summed up the event perfectly, “Happy birthday Dukes, and thank you to the people who inspire us the most – our pupils.”