A North Yorkshire school pupil is trumpeting his own success after receiving an invite to play with the National Children’s Orchestra.
Henry Porter, aged 10, from Cundall Manor School near Thirsk and Ripon, has secured his place at the Under 10s National Children’s Orchestra playing the trumpet following a successful audition. As part of the NCO Henry will join his fellow young musicians for a residential course in Dorset during the summer.
Henry hopes the experience of playing with the NCO will help him gain his Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) Grade 5 in the next few months.
The invite to participate in the NCO will also see Henry rehearse with the Northerlies NCO at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester every month up to November when he will be playing in the Northerlies NCO concert under the direction of composer Verónica Urrego.
Jenny Porter, Henry’s mum, described how Henry first heard of the orchestra. She said: “Henry heard an advert for the National Children’s Orchestra on Classic FM on the drive in to school one morning and really wanted to audition for it.”
Adding: “Henry has only been playing the Trumpet for just under 3 years and for the audition he had to play a couple of contrasting pieces and compete sight reading which he got an excellent report back for and thankfully secured himself a place.”
Jenny said: “It is all big steps for him and lots of hard work ahead but he is really excited about it.”
The NCO was formed in 1978 and is celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year. As part of the celebrations across the NCO, children will be celebrating the music of Debussy and Bernstein as both composers have centenaries in 2018.
The NCO is recognised as a leading training ground for professional classical musicians of the future with children as young as seven benefiting from the world class foundation in orchestral performance and musicianship. To find out more about the opportunities to see the NCO in action, visit their website at http://www.nco.org.uk/