My name is River and I am a musician and educator based in Sheffield. I'm very fortunate to be working with many fantastic ensembles around Sheffield and in particular - Sheffield Youth Orchestra. I have been the conductor of this orchestra for three and a half years.

Following on from last years fundraising challenge - I'm delighted to announce I will once again be raising money for Sheffield Youth Orchestra.

I will be running 101km over multiple long distance events in 1 month featuring:

(21km) Sheffield Half Marathon - Sunday 29th March

(20km) Jan Kjellstrom International Festival of Orienteering (Scotland) - Friday 3rd April - Monday 6th April

(18km) A few Scottish Munros - Date in April TBC

(42km) Manchester Marathon - Sunday 19th April

The money raised for the charity will go towards funding termly sectionals for the orchestra, fundraising for purchasing a Clarinet in A (very useful for clarinetists in orchestral situations) and stablising our annual player fees for the year, ensuring we are minimising any financial barriers for any current or future players of the orchestra.

Sheffield Youth Orchestra is South Yorkshire's longest-running indepedent youth orchestra. Since 1964 they have led the way in developing young musicians, up to the age of 18, through outstanding training and performance opportunities across the Steel City.

The orchestra has a healthy number of players, alongside a parent council who volunteer to help with the organisation of the orchestra. The orchestra performs three times a year, plus take part in a number of collaborative concerts. In addition, they also run a hugely popular 'community day' series that are open to all players in the Sheffield region and beyond - offering players of all ages and abilities the chance to play in a huge orchestra usually with 100+ players.