A DRUMMER with hopes of moving to America to follow his dream has been crowned East Lothian Young Musician of the Year.

Ben Gentil has been offered a place at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.

The teenager would follow in the footsteps of famous alumni including Quincy Jones, Steve Vai, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Puth and Ramin Djawadi.

The countywide competition took place at the end of last month, with 25 soloists from seven different schools performing in recitals at St Mary’s Parish Church in Haddington.

Thirteen were asked to return for the final, where Ben was announced as the winner by adjudicators George Smith and Jonathan Gawn.

Mr Gawn, East Lothian Council’s instrumental music service team manager, said: “It was incredible to see our senior ensembles performing with such commitment and confidence.

“Performing in a large space like St Mary’s, to several hundred audience members, is a brilliant opportunity for our young musicians and it was particularly inspiring to see so many musical styles being presented.

“The atmosphere in the church was superb and it was great to have such a supportive audience to share in this celebration of our young musicians’ talents.”

On the day, there was a range of musical talent on display, with performances from musicians on violins, cellos, a double bass, guitars, bagpipes, tuba, pianos, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, xylophone and drums.

Ben captured the attention of the adjudicators by performing Paul Simon’s 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover and Stanley Clarke’s Silly Putty.

The Haddington teenager will now travel to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to represent East Lothian at the Scottish Young Musician of the Year Final on May 21.

Two runner-up prizes were awarded to xylophone player Daniel Schmidtt (S5), from North Berwick High School, and Tom Ferguson (S5), from Musselburgh Grammar School, who plays the bagpipes.

Haddington Concert Society also offered a new annual prize for the Most Promising Young Musician, which was awarded to East Linton Primary School’s P6 pupil Alex Layberry.

The evening saw debut performances from the East Lothian Council instrumental music service senior woodwind, string, brass and bagpipe ensembles.

The senior string ensemble was highly commended by adjudicator George Smith and a video of their performance will now be submitted to the Scottish Young Musician 2023 Ensembles Competition to represent East Lothian in the national ensembles event.

He added: “There was an incredible range of talent on display throughout and it’s great to see such high-quality music making and ensemble playing happening here in East Lothian.”

This was the competition’s second year. Ross High School pupil Corey Dodds was named Young Musician of the Year 2022 at last year’s inaugural event.

String ensemble winners: Violin 1 – Michael Hoole, Musselburgh Grammar School, and Lilia Villarreal-Forrest, North Berwick High School; Violin 2 – Isabella Gold, Knox Academy, and Brodie Wallace, Knox Academy; Violin 3 – Thomas Bull, Ross High School, and Lois Thomson, North Berwick High School; Cello – Hannah Swinney, Dunbar Grammar School, and Freya Harley, North Berwick High School; Double bass – Peter Stuart, North Berwick High School; Piano – Hayden Way, North Berwick High School; and Drums – Ben Gentil, Knox Academy.