There was a wonderful early Christmas present to enjoy for tenor horn Andrea Crumlish this year after the 17-year tenor horn player was informed that she had been accepted to study for a Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

She is only the second horn player to be enrolled on the course, following in the footsteps of Andrew McMillan, formerly of Campbeltown Brass and now solo horn with Whitburn Band.

Andrea plays solo horn with the Riverside Youth Band as well as with Brass Sounds Inverclyde, the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, Inverclyde Schools Senior Wind Orchestra and Inverclyde Academy Concert Band. In addition, Andrea is also a talented singer and pianist.

So exciting

Speaking about the news she said: "It's so exciting knowing that only one person on tenor horn has gone through the course before me. The conservatoire is offering the course tailored specifically for it, which is fantastic."

Andrea started to learn the instrument in 2018 after playing the cornet for a short while and took lessons from Mark Good, MD of Riverside Youth Band.

"I was getting a bit fed up with the cornet and was getting terrible headaches with it, so my mum suggested trying tenor horn and I really took to the instrument,"she explained.

Thanks

Andrea has thanked Mark and the music department at Inverclyde Academy for all their help and support.

She added: "They have been wonderful in helping me develop. I love the thrill of being on stage and seeing how music can influence the emotions of people in the audience.

I want to improve my musicality and become a better player and there is no better platform to do both than the conservatoire."