A 16-YEAR-OLD Scots musician has received a lesson from renowned violinist Nicola Benedetti after fighting off UK-wide competition to win a music contest.
Laura Ayoub, a fifth-year student at the Music School of Douglas Academy in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, received an informal tutorial from her fellow Scot as she got the chance to record her music at Sarm Studios in London.
She also received a once in a lifetime opportunity to play a 300-year-old Stradivarius violin, which had been imported from Italy, after winning the competition, run by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).
Benedetti said: "I was thrilled to meet Laura Ayoub. She is a talented, wonderful young musician and it was thrilling for both of us to talk about technique and repertoire and share our experiences of studying the violin. I was extremely impressed with her commitment, hard work and dedication to the violin and I wish her the best of luck for the future."
The violin was flown over from Cremona in Italy – the birthplace of leading violin maker Antonio Stradivari – especially for Miss Ayoub after being restored by violin expert Eric Blot.
The contest – a joint venture by ABRSM and recording platform PureSolo – was introduced to mark the launch of a new ABRSM violin syllabus and PureSolo website.
The website is an educational tool which allows musicians to record their own versions of music from the syllabus.
Miss Ayoub, who is studying piano and violin, previously won the Nivina MacDuff prize from ABRSM in 2005 and the Esther Fisher prize for piano in 2009.
She has also won the Lillian Campbell memorial prize and the William Findley trophy at Glasgow Music Festival in 2010 and 2011. Last year, she achieved third prize at the Moray International Piano Competition in the under-16 category.
The young musician has performed in many prestigious venues, such as Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and the Usher Hall.
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