From a precocious guitarist from Thame to stars June Tabor, Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders, Holywell Music Room hosts some of the best in music, writes PETER CANN

Being plunged into the limelight was sudden for Thame schoolboy William Sears. He began playing the guitar when he was 11 - his father had started him off with the basics. But now, here he was, a teenager on a BBC stage performing under the name of Wilber in the Radio 2 Young Folk Awards Final in London, in front of a panel of experts and an enthusiastic crowd.

"My entry was very much last minute. I was very young - I was 15 when I entered," said Wilber, clearly overwhelmed by the occasion.

He was up against the finest talent emerging in a musical genre that is enjoying a growing following among young people. Out of an original 70 promising and gifted artists in the 15-21 age group who entered the competition, 12 made it to the semi-finals, held in Stratford-upon-Avon, and just six made to the final, held in the Union Chapel, Islington.

"It was a huge surprise. I didn't think I would get through. The standard of musicianship was amazing - the other musicians were fantastic," said Wilber somewhat modestly.

He had eight minutes to perform three instrumentals - a Stefan Grossman number, a Scottish traditional and his own composition, Nobody's Grave, played on slide guitar.

His family and friends were there to cheer him on but it was nevertheless a daunting experience for him.

"It was terrifying. It was only the second gig I'd done. We really wanted to do well."

He did do well but he and the other finalists had to concede to a four-piece band of 17 to 18-year-olds from Cumbria and Northumberland, called Last Orders. They had been under the tutelage of the great Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell and had already performed at festivals, including Towersey, near Thame. They have earned themselves a spot at this year's Fairport's Cropredy Convention in August.

But Wilber's achievement in reaching the final has also earned him appearances at this year's Towersey Festival - a place he has been to every year since he was born - and the Oxford Folk Festival, which takes place at the end of this month, March 30-April 1.

As a prelude to the Oxford event, this Sunday Wilber will be joining a line-up headed by none other than Chris Leslie and Ric Sanders, of Fairport Convention, for a festival fundraising concert at the Holywell Music Room.

So for Wilber, now 16, is this the prelude to a promising career?

"I realise you have to be good to play professionally. I started when I was 11, so I've been playing for five years and been playing on my own for a year.

"I was playing just rock guitar to begin with. I listened to my dad's record collection and the odd track on the radio."

But having started in rock - his first gig was with a local band The Mood who played on the second stage at the Cornbury Music Festival last year - he is taking lessons from the highly respected Oxford-based jazz guitarist Luis D'Agostino. He teaches at Wilber's school, Lord Williams's.

Apart from the guitar, Wilber also plays mandolin, Appalachian dulcimer, banjo and harmonica. So with a grounding in rock and folk, particularly the influence of John Renbourn, and, no doubt, some jazz along the way, great things can be expected of this very young talent.

Ric Sanders and Chris Leslie, who will have had a well earned week's break after completing Fairport Convention's gruelling 39-gig winter tour with a successful finale at Chipping Norton Town Hall last Sunday, will be showing their combined talents as a duo. Anyone who has heard the band's latest album, Sense of Occasion, will be aware of what a formidable partnership they have forged, with some inspired and extremely fast playing. After all, they combine the technical wizardry of Sanders, a one-time member of the jazz-rock fusion band Soft Machine, with the sublime and hauntingly beautiful playing of Leslie, as heard on his wonderful solo albums The Flow and The Gift.

Also making an appearance is one of the leading flamenco guitarists of his generation, Rafael, who was described by the Spanish newspaper El País as "having the soul of a gypsy". Now based in Oxford, Rafael has a strong following.

Completing the line-up, which has a particularly local flavour, is Oxford Jewish harp virtuoso Michael Wright.

There is a true bonus for folk fans with an extra fundraising concert by June Tabor - a patron of the Oxford Folk Festival - who is not just one of the greats of the British scene, but one of the world's finest singers.

As one critic described her she is "not just a giant in the traditional music pantheon, but a great singer beyond genre" and has been winning over audiences for the last 30 years.

The former St Hugh's College student made her first venture into folk music in Oxford before collaborating with Maddy Prior on the Silly Sisters album.

A succession of supreme recordings of traditional songs brought her wide acclaim.

In 1992, Elvis Costello wrote a song for her, All this Useless Beauty, saying that he considered it his goal as a songwriter to pen a song which she would record.

Her new album Apples (Topic) is a typically striking collection of traditional and contemporary song sung with her usual exquisite command.

You can catch her, backed by the quality musicianship of Mark Emerson and Andy Cutting, at the Holywell next Thursday at 8pm. But hurry, for tickets are sure to sell quickly.

Sunday's tickets cost £10/£9 concessions, and for June Tabor £14/£12, available from Tickets Oxford at the Oxford Playhouse on 01865 305305, or try online at www.ticketsoxford