Teenage tuba player from Sheffield will appear in final of BBC Young Musician of the Year competition this weekend

William Burton, aged 18, performed in the preliminary round of the competition last October, and was delighted to receive an invitation to audition for a place in the televised final, which he filmed in March, shortly before lockdown began.

William’s performance, which saw him go head-to-head with four other UK musicians, will now be shown on BBC4 at the weekend, on May 17.

“I was nervous, but really just wanted to enjoy the performance,” said the Tapton School pupil.

“Preparation for the Category Final was certainly intense - learning my pieces from memory, aiming to convey detail in every bar, and regularly rehearsing in a variety of acoustics.

“Due to months of preparation, I was predominantly excited about playing on a stage to an audience, cameras and a panel of professional musicians.

“It is hard to remember my performance in detail as it seemed to go very quickly, but I was pleased with how it went.”

William was inspired to take up the tuba aged seven, when he attended a concert by Tapton Youth Brass Band, which featured his now-brass teacher, Pat Phillips.

He started playing tenor horn with Pat when he was nine, before moving on to the tuba aged 12.

William said: “After playing with the Tapton Band for a number of years I received an invitation to play with Stannington Brass Band, which I’ve been doing for the past three years, improving my confidence and skill as a player.

“During that time, I’ve become more serious about solo playing and, in the process, achieved my grade 8 with Peter Hurst, a pianist who has accompanied me since my grade 5.

“Looking for my next challenge, I joined the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, before deciding to audition for the BBC Young Musician competition.”

William’s brass teacher, Pat, added: “William is an amazingly talented tuba player who has worked extremely hard to achieve his current standard of playing.

“I have watched his confidence grow over the years, and it was a total pleasure to listen to him play in the BBC Young Musician Competition, after many years of hard work. He really demonstrates all the different facets of the tuba.

“Williams has not had the advantage of a specialist music education, and has therefore demonstrated that anybody can really excel on an instrument if they really work hard.”

William has applied to study history at the University of Manchester next year, where he will have access to the Royal Northern College of Music and various ensembles in and around the city.

He said: “I hope to continue pursuing music to a high standard and am keeping my career options open.”Speaking of his performance, which will be shown at the weekend, William added: “I hope it makes people rethink what the tuba is capable of as a musical instrument.

“I am thankful to Birkdale School and the staff at the Firth Hall, University of Sheffield, for allowing me to use their grand pianos to prepare.”