Elmley wins place in NYO

Elmley de la Cour has been chosen to join the percussion section of the National Youth Orchestra, the ultimate accolade for any young orchestral musician in the country. He won one of only 150 highly coveted places in the orchestra, against competition from more than 500 applicants.

Elmley was head chorister of the Exeter Cathedral Choir, before joining King's on a major music scholarship in September 2002. He hopes to read music at Cambridge University, and will be travelling to Cambridge for academic interviews early next month.

As a member of the NYO he will have the opportunity to work with some of the world's leading conductors. The Times recently said that the NYO plays with "the kind of finesse any world-class professional orchestra would envy. The National Youth Orchestra makes you glad to be alive."

Soon after Christmas he'll be performing Britten's War Requiem under Richard Hickox with the London Symphony Chorus in St Paul's Cathedral and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. His year finishes at the BBC Proms under Mark Elder.