A talented North Ayrshire musician has admitted his "dream has come true" after landing a plum role with a leading BBC orchestra.
Adam Lee has been named Principal Clarinet No. 2 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra - and played his first official Prom this week in the Royal Albert Hall.
Adam's talent for his beloved clarinet was seen locally and beyond ever since he starred for North Ayrshire Schools Senior Concert Band.
Adam, from Irvine, was a key member when the band won Platinum Awards at the National Concert Band Festival - and individually when he won North Ayrshire’s Young Musician of the Year competition in 2017.
And the former Greenwood Academy pupil has now recently graduated with a Master of Performance (Clarinet) with Distinction from the Royal College of Music in London.
Adam was also awarded the Tagore Gold Medal, which is presented to a student who has been judged to have made outstanding contributions musically and in other important ways to the Royal College of Music.
Next season, Adam will be performing Verdi’s Requiem which has been on his bucket list for years.
Adam is also a board member and Young Trustee at the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland NYOS.
The 23-year-old said: “The experience at the Royal College of Music was a really good one. It was challenging and they really pushed me to be the best I can be. But there was a lot of support as well and it was a great place to learn.
“I’ve also recently become the Principal Clarinet No. 2 with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and you could say that’s a dream come true.
"If you read any of my old news articles, I always talked about my dream of getting a permanent spot in an orchestra, so to have achieved that is fantastic.
“To get the chance to perform locally with so many brilliant musicians is an amazing opportunity.
“We get to perform in Glasgow and around Scotland and recently we performed at the Royal Albert. It’s such an iconic venue.
“It’s the sort of thing you might look at as being unattainable when you are younger so it shows what you can achieve if you work hard and you have people encouraging and supporting you.
“I’m very lucky that my passion is my job. I love what I do and will continue to work hard and explore new opportunities.”
Adam joined the North Ayrshire Senior Schools band in 2013 and credits his first teacher as being a major influence.
He added: “It was a great grounding and those first lessons were so important.
"My first teacher was Rachel Considine and she really started this whole process off for me. She encouraged me to seek opportunities and a lot of my success is down to her.
“I still bump into her at events and it’s always nice to see her. I’m always thankful to Rachel and all my old teachers for all their support and help over the years.”
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