Congratulations to violinist Lily Whitehurst, who has just been offered a place in the highly esteemed National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, after taking part in a series of auditions and workshops in Cardiff and London.

At 15, she will be one of the younger members of the orchestra, which is open to young people from all over Britain up to the age of 19.

As a member of the NYO, Lily will be working with world-renowned conductors such as Vasily Petrenko and Paul Daniel, in concert halls across the country, concluding with a performance at the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.

Lily attends Greenhill School, and is no stranger to success, having already won several competitions: she is the current overall winner of the Pembrokeshire Secondary Music Festival, has won first place at the National Urdd Eisteddfod on two occasions and was a finalist at the Rotary Young Musician Competition at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff earlier this year, as well as being part of the Greenhill Quintet which won the Classic FM Award at the National Festival of Music for Youth in Birmingham.

" I would like to thank my teacher Jim Walker for his constant encouragement and expertise," said Lily, "and also Mr. Rapi, head of music at Greenhill School, and Mr. Chris Llewelyn, head of the Music Service, for giving me so many valuable musical opportunities over the years. I am really excited at being given the chance to play with such a fantastic orchestra, but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of these people."