WATCH: Winning performance from Worksop College pupil that scooped him prestigious music award

Christian Aldridge, aged 13, from Tuxford, was crowned the Independent Schools' Association’s Musician of the Year' for his age group.

The prestigious competition is open to more 110,000 pupils from over 600 schools across the country, and just three musicians made the top spot.

And it is not the first national win for Christian.

Just eight months ago he won the Woodard Schools' Musician of the Year competition, which is open to the 30,000 pupils across Woodard's 39 academies, independent and state-maintained schools.

Christian has been studying at the Northern College of Music since September 2020 - managing his studies at Worksop College alongside attendance at the prestigious music school on a Saturday.

His winning performance was conducted live over Zoom, and his piece on the Marimba, a large percussion instrument with notes made of wood, impressed the panel of judges enough to score him top marks.

Dad Phil is also a musician and accompanied Christian on the piano as he played a piece by Italian composer Vittorio Monti called 'Csárdás - a Hungarian folk dance.

Director of Music at Worksop College, Tim Uglow, said, "Christian's continuously high levels of motivation and desire to refine his playing, combined with his natural talent, are the key qualities that any musician needs to succeed. The fact that he has been able to continue this throughout the lockdown eras has helped him outperform his competitors in recent competitions. We're incredibly proud of him."

Christian, who started at Ranby House School in year five and moved up to Worksop College in 2017, has always been musical, playing the drums since he was three-years-old. Also a proficient piano player, it was at Ranby that he found his love of percussion.

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