A HYDE teenager will show off his skill with the bassoon to audiences across the country after winning a place on the National Youth Orchestra.
Kwasi Sefa-Attakora, who hails from the Newton area, is one of just 156 people from across Great Britain to feature in the group.
The 16-year-old admits being given the opportunity to play while at primary school gave him the inspiration.
Now his new orchestra is set to entertain audiences in London, Nottingham, Warwick and Liverpool as it goes on an Odyssey between January 4 and 8.
With Andre Bloch conducting, the self-titled ‘world’s greatest orchestra of teenagers’ performs work by Benjamin Britten, Anna Clyne and Richard Strauss, including some immortalised in Stanley Kubrick’s cult movie 2001:A Space Odyssey.
Kwasi, who says he became interested in seeing his sister Nana at a concert and the male alto saxophone player behind, also credits Dukinfield’s Tameside Music Centre for helping him on the path to the National Youth Orchestra while he studies at Manchester’s Chetham’s School of Music.
He said: “In primary school, I had the opportunity to start a musical instrument.
“I was quick to pick up the saxophone and my passion for music began.
“I soon discovered the woodwind section and instantly knew bassoon was for me.
“Starting at Tameside Music Centre was a real step up for me and even though I struggled at first, I began to find my place and grow as an orchestral player.
“Then I joined the junior department at Royal Northern College of Music before my secondary school.
“Life then took me to Chetham’s School of Music which has been an amazing experience so far.
“NYO is the highest level of orchestral playing I’ve ever done, and it is teaching me the skills I need to become a professional orchestral player.”
Kwasi’s talents were spotted at a young age through participating in Award for Young Musicians’ Identifying Talent programme, he then joined the charity’s Furthering Talent scheme.
During that time, he worked his way up through the grades on alto saxophone, then bassoon and he had high ambitions, stating: “In 10 years I think I’ll be in a well-known orchestra, like the London Symphony Orchestra, and I might be a known soloist.
“I don’t think I’ll be too famous, not the next big thing or anything, but I will definitely be known.
“Living in Manchester, we have two of the biggest football clubs in the world – City and United – so at school, everyone was into football. I was into music.”
Kwasi, who admits he would love to improve his orchestral saxophone playing, makes up a National Youth Orchestra they say celebrates the incredible diversity of the UK.
Half of it comes from state education and a further 16 per cent are members of the Department for Education’s Music and Dance scheme, attending specialist music schools.
A total of 29 per cent musicians are black, Asian or ethnically diverse.