A LANGHOLM musician was awarded the title of joint runner-up at the Scottish Young Musicians Solo Performer of the Year awards.
Will Archibald is only 15, but his talent with the cello was enough to impress the judges as he represented Dumfries and Galloway.
Born in Sterling originally, Will moved to Langholm while he was still a child and took up the cello when he was 7.
Will has already racked up an impressive record across the last year, winning at the DGMA music festival, the Carlisle music festival, and the Dumfries and Galloway Music Service Solo Performer of the Year 2022 award.
Not only that, but he has won the Beatrice Huntington Award and played in the Edinburgh Music Festival.
Will attended the event to compete alongside 30 of Scotlands best musicians at Glasgow, and won a prize of £250 alongside fellow runner-up Michael Gemmell.
Alongside their cash prize to spend on musical activities, the pair also received a coaching session and masterclass slot at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Alan Kerr, Chair of Scottish Young Musicians, said: “The 31 amazing finalists playing today represent only the top of the tree of talent that Scottish Young Musicians has encouraged.
“Now covering 99 per cent of the Scottish population, our other winners and participants have benefitted from developing their music and life-skills on their journey with SYM.
Our goal is to achieve the broadest possible participation and to be as inclusive as possible. We’re delighted at how 2023 has turned out and we’ve even started to get ready to return next year.”
John Logan, head of the judging panel who presented the awards, said: “Many people wonder how we can actually pick a winner from so many talented young people, and not only that, so many diverse instruments.
“Today we enjoyed everything from rock drums to guitar to classical guitar to baritone horn, to voice. At the end of the day, we’re in the entertainment business. We look for sound technique, but we also look for emotion and storytelling.
“They say that technique is the passport to storytelling in this language that we call music.”
