A gifted seven-year-old Birmingham schoolboy has won a place at the Royal College of Music in London.
Cyril Vinzent, a pupil at Blue Coat School, Edgbaston, has only been playing piano for two years, but has become one of the youngest pupils to win a place at the college after impressing in an audition last month.
He will take advantage of the training opportunities the college offers to children aged 8-18.
Peter Hewitt, director of the RCM Junior Department, said: "Cyril has achieved much as a pianist in one so young. He has a bright, focused musical intelligence and is developing technical control on exactly the right lines We might not normally take on one so young, but feel he has the potential to do very well indeed."
From September he will take a course that includes piano, clarinet, composition, musicianship, choral work and orchestra.
The latest achievement follows Cyril's three-month spell at Hanover's University of Music and Theatre where he was the youngest pupil by five years.
Richard Lynn, deputy head at Blue Coat school, praised the talented youngster. "His ability is breathtaking, You'd think you were listening to someone who has been playing for their entire life."
The youngster's achievements include winning first prize at the Solihull Competitive Music Festival and a Birmingham Music Festival Trophy for his performance in the Pianoforte Solo Class. He has also passed the Grade 4 piano exam, an assessment which usually takes four years' formal training.
Cyril, a football lover and keen Liverpool fan, hopes to take advantage of his opportunity at the Royal College of Music and become a composer.
* Talented young musicians from Birmingham have joined forces to perform a concert paying tribute to legendary British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. Young classical music fans have formed The Vaughan Williams Players to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the composer.
They have been giving up weekends and evenings to rehearse for the concert, at St John's and St Peter's Church, Ladywood. The Bishop of Birmingham has agreed to attend the event, which will see the youngsters performing a host of Williams' work and will be conducted by 18-year-old Andrew Browning.
Andrew, who began conducting two years ago after he helped to found the Chamber Orchestra of King Edward's in Edgbaston, said: "Vaughan Williams, in my opinion, is the greatest British composer of all time and his music touches something deep within our souls. The young musicians who will be performing have glittering careers ahead of them and it has been an honour to work with them."
* Tickets for the concert, at 7.30pm on Friday, cost £5 or £2 for under-16s.
