Andrea wins prestigious place on conservatoire degree course

Congratulations to tenor horn player Andrea Crumlish on being accepted to study for a Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

She is only the second tenor horn player to be enrolled onto this prestigious course, following in the footsteps of Andrew McMillan, formerly of Campbeltown Brass and now principal horn with Whitburn Band.

Andrea, 17, is principal horn with the Riverside Youth Band and also plays with Brass Sounds Inverclyde, the National Youth Brass Band of Scotland, Inverclyde Schools Senior Wind Orchestra and Inverclyde Academy Concert Band.

The Inverclyde Academy pupil is also a talented singer and pianist. She commented: “It’s so exciting knowing that only one person on tenor horn has gone through the course before me. The conservatoire is offering the course tailored specifically for it, which is fantastic.”

Andrea started to learn the instrument in 2018 after playing the cornet for a short while and took lessons from Mark Good of Riverside Youth Band.

“I was getting a bit fed up with the cornet and was getting terrible headaches with it so my mum suggested trying tenor horn and I really took to the instrument,” she explained.

Andrea has praised Mark Good and the music department at Inverclyde Academy for all their help and support.

She added: “They have been wonderful in helping me develop. I love the thrill of being on stage and seeing how music can influence the emotions of people in the audience. I want to improve my musicality and become a better player and there is no better platform to do both than the conservatoire.”

In her audition for the degree course, Andrea played Nocturno by Franz Strauss and Variations on a Welsh Theme by Peter Kneale as well as demonstrate her skills at sight reading.