A teenage student who performed on a popular BBC television programme is celebrating after gaining a full singing diploma – a feat not usually achieved until much older.
Bradford Grammar School student, John Scholey, 16, sang on Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys last year, performing Frederick Delius’s La Lune Blanche. He sings with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and also sang with the Rodolfus Choir and soprano Katherine Jenkins at The Royal Albert Hall late last year.
Now the teenager, who wants to secure a choral scholarship for King’s College Cambridge, has gained his full singing diploma, the first student in years to achieve the accolade at the school.
John, of Adel, Leeds, said: “It took over a year to work towards this diploma, so it was fantastic to hear that I’d passed. Music has become my life. There are so many opportunities open to you as a musician – the school has been great in supporting me to take part in musical events and achieve my goals.”
John started learning guitar at the age of four and soon progressed to singing – starting lessons with conductor and teacher Dr Andrew Padmore, aged eight. After joining BGS, he began learning electric bass guitar and piano and undertook his first post-Grade 8 diploma, the ARSM (Associate of the Royal Schools of Music), when he was only 13.
For his latest achievement, the DipABRSM (Diploma of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), the teenager had to perform 35 minutes of singing, as well as completing a 2,000-word programme and a complex piece of sight reading. The exam is considered to be of university standard.
Added John: “I’ve been studying music and taking part in concerts for years. I find that nerves before concerts help me these days and give me a bit of an adrenaline boost so I can deliver my best performance.”
Elizabeth White, director of music at BGS, said: “We’re all very proud of John and his achievements, and for a pupil to even pass this exam, let alone one so young, is fantastic. The diploma really is a stunning achievement. It requires technical accuracy but also a musical maturity and John possesses both of these.”
“We’re all very proud of John and his achievements, and for a pupil to even pass this exam, let alone one so young, is fantastic. The diploma really is a stunning achievement. It requires technical accuracy but also a musical maturity and John possesses both of these.”
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