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Violinist Sam, 15, gets to play Royal Albert Hall

LOCAL violinist Sam Cole has been performing at Royal Albert Hall, after earning a place in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

Sam Cole at the Royal Albert Hall where he performed with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. (31127398)
Sam Cole at the Royal Albert Hall where he performed with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. (31127398) / Guernsey Press

He has already played the Barbican Centre and the Royal Festival Hall in London this year, but says that his experience at the Royal Albert for the BBC Proms was the best yet.

‘It was my favourite concert ever – there were so many people in the crowd and the energy was incredible,’ said the 15-year-old musician.

‘They had a lot of cameras filming as the performance will be shown on television in a few weeks, which was scary, but I am very excited to see it.’

The piece played by Sam and the orchestra was created especially by film composer Danny Elfman, whose resume includes writing the scores for Spiderman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the theme song for The Simpsons.

‘We had two weeks ahead of the performance where we did so much practice both as an orchestra and in the smaller sections,’ the Elizabeth College student said.

‘I was probably doing about six hours a day which was really intense, but I think it was worth it.

‘Having Danny there was amazing, too, it was a really cool experience being able to get tips from someone like that.

‘I have been playing the violin since I was seven years old after the Guernsey Music Centre came to our school. I typically practice for about an hour a day at home, although I should probably be doing a little more.’

Alongside his ventures on the mainland, Sam spends time helping and performing to underprivileged children, and also plays in his string quartet ‘Vivace!’

The quartet are set to perform in a Town Church concert on the 26 August before Sam plays with David Le Page and the Town Church Strings three days later.

‘I definitely want to be a musician when I am older, that is my dream for sure,’ he said, speaking on his future ambitions.

'Right now, though, I am not quite sure what instrument I would like to fully pursue, as I play the electric guitar and piano alongside the violin, and I love them all equally.’

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