The Eurovision Young Musicians 1996 was the eighth edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians, held at Belém Cultural Center in Lisbon, Portugal, on 12 June 1996. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RTP), musicians from eight countries participated in the televised final. Out of the 22 countries (of which 18 are known), 14 (of which 10 are known) did not qualify to the final, including the host country Portugal. All participants performed a classical piece of their choice accompanied by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Luis Izquierdo. The participation of the following countries that took part in the previous edition is unknown; they are , , , , , and .
The non-qualified countries included , , , , , , , , , and . For the fourth time, the host country did not qualify for the final. Julia Fischer of Germany won the contest, with Austria and Estonia placing second and third respectively.
Belém Cultural Center (Portuguese: Centro Cultural de Belém), a cultural centre in Lisbon, Portugal, was the host venue for the 1996 edition of the Eurovision Young Musicians.
Located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém (in the municipality of Lisbon), it is the largest building with cultural facilities in Portugal. The CCB's 140,000 m<sup>2</sup> spaces was initially built to accommodate the European Presidency, but adapted to provide spaces for conferences, exhibitions and artistic venues (such as opera, ballet and symphony concerts), in addition to political and research congresses, high security meeting halls, and a 7,000 m<sup>2</sup> exhibition area.
Broadcasters from twenty-two countries took part in the preliminary round of the 1996 contest, of which eight qualified to the televised grand final. The official list of performers in the preliminary round is unknown; the following participants failed to qualify.
Awards were given to the top three participants. The table below highlights these using gold, silver, and bronze. The placing results of the remaining participants is unknown and never made public by the European Broadcasting Union.
EBU members from the following countries broadcast the final round. Known details on the broadcasts in each country, including the specific broadcasting stations and commentators are shown in the tables below.