Ben Goldscheider narrowly missed out on clinching the Young Brass Award2015. Playing live on national radio to 2.5 million listeners, Ben did himself and the school proud.
Achieving a finalist berth was made all the more remarkable as the other three competitors were already in their 20s.
Ben, 17, is the principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and regularly plays at KTS. He began learning the horn at the age of nine with Tim Welch (a trumpet teacher at his local primary school and KTS) who, after a short period of time, advised Ben to find a horn teacher as his talent became evident.
Ben has since been a pupil of Susan Dent at the Royal College of Music Junior Department, where he has received a full scholarship.
At just 13, Ben was appointed principal horn of the National Youth ChamberOrchestra and in 2014, became principal horn of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.
Aged 14, he was the youngest participant in the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra Brass Academy, participating in master classes and workshops with the LSO Principals.As a soloist, Ben has performed across the country in public recitals.
He has appeared as a soloist many times with orchestras, including the Guildford Symphony Orchestra playing the Richard Strauss Horn Concerto 1.
Ben has participated in numerous competitions and festivals and has won the Toddington Young Musician of the year, Marlowe Young Musician of the year, Musicale Eisteddfod (Open recital class) and both the brass and concerto classes at the Woking Music Festival.
Aside from solo playing, he has performed in orchestras at prestigious concert halls, including the Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Sage Gateshead,Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Belfast Waterfront Hall, the Royal Albert Hall and even Buckingham Palace.
Happily, we can still enjoy Ben’s melodious playing at KTS.