A highly promising Yarm School musician has been selected to work with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain to further improve her musical skills.
Lucy Walker, who is in the Lower Sixth, will take part in one of the Orchestra’s courses this summer, after impressing throughout the extensive application process and during auditions at the exclusive Peregrine’s Piano Studio in Holborn, London.
Lucy was one of only five people selected and will be the main pianist on the 10 day course, which takes place in August, in Birmingham. It will consist of performances at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall, in Aldeburgh, the Birmingham Symphony Hall, culminating in a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
She has played the piano since she was six, as well as the clarinet, and aspires to study Music at Cambridge after she leaves Yarm School.
The news of Lucy’s selection comes on the back of the school’s choir reaching the national finals of the Choir of the Year competition, of which she is a member, as well as her recent performances in a piano recital at Middlesbrough Town Hall, as part of its Sunday concert series, and in a clarinet concerto with the Tees Valley Orchestra.
Lucy said: “I am very proud to have been selected to be part of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for these concerts, which came as a real shock to me as I didn’t expect it. I have enjoyed playing the piano since a young age and hope to have a career in music, and this fantastic opportunity should stand me in good stead. I am so looking forward to the summer.”
Katie Staggs, Director of Music at Yarm School, said: “Lucy has a big future ahead of her and this latest recognition is excellent news and well deserved. To be selected to the Orchestra’s summer course is a magnificent achievement, given the fact that a lot of the other students selected are from specialist music Conservatiores. I’m sure Lucy will impress the other musicians and I would like to wish her all the very best.”
David Dunn, Headmaster of Yarm School, said: “We offer a comprehensive extra-curricular activity programme at the school and our performing arts reach the very highest of standards. The facilities, including the superb new Music School and wonderful auditorium, also help inspire them and attract other talented pupils to join us.
“Everyone at the school is extremely proud of Lucy’s achievements.”