Fourteen-year-old Harry, a pupil at Mount St Mary’s College, in Spinkhill, will join with 165 other young members of the orchestra in a residential course just after Christmas.
As one of just 46 violinists in the NYO, Harry will have an exciting variety of performing opportunities in the near future, such as playing at The Barbican and The Proms, as well as the London Olympics opening ceremony.
Harry, who lives in Eckington, said: “I am really happy to be offered a place in the orchestra and I just can’t wait for the courses to start. I’m excited about meeting all of the new people and playing some great new repertoire.”
The National Youth Orchestra members are all aged between 13 and 19 years old and are selected by auditions which take place in the autumn each year at various locations in the country.
Harry has two Grade 8 distinctions in piano and violin, a Grade 6 distinction in singing and has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra for the last three years. He is the first Mount St Mary’s College pupil to be selected for the National Youth Orchestra and this summer achieved an A* grade in GCSE music after taking the exam two years early.
Earlier this year, Harry composed a programmatic piece for the college Jazz Band who performed it at the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham for which he received a special award.
He has also had numerous performing opportunities at school, including having participated in a masterclass with internationally acclaimed musician Professor Ekaterina Murina, Chair of Piano at the St Petersburg Conservatoire, at Mount St Mary’s.
Later this year he is to play solo piano in a performance of Rhapsody in Blue with the Mount St Mary’s College orchestra.
Lucy Kitchener, Director of Music at Mount St Mary’s College, said: “The NYO is, by far, the superior orchestra for young people in this country and is incredibly difficult to get in, so this is a wonderful achievement for Harry.
“He is a very talented young musician, and he has worked really hard for many years to achieve this standard. We are very proud of Harry and we hope that we may be able to go and watch him perform at one of the NYO concerts.”
Mount St Mary’s College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school on the outskirts of Sheffield. Music has an integral role in the life of the college, and a number of students have recently gone on to specialise in music at conservatoire and university.
The college offers a range of music scholarships – for more details please contact the college office on 01246 433388 or visit www.msmcollege.com.