Christmas has come early for one Birmingham Conservatoire student in the UK, as she has been selected to join a prestigious Welsh orchestra.

Violist Yue Yu from Shenzhen, China will be performing with Sinfonia Cymru from next year, along with two fellow students.

Founded in 1996, Sinfonia Cymru is a chamber orchestra made up of professional musicians in the early stages of their careers, and is the first and only orchestra of its kind to be revenue-funded by the Arts Council of Wales.

The three Birmingham Conservatoire students join a small cohort of new performers to the Sinfonia, whittled down from 150 auditions held across the UK in November.

Birmingham Conservatoire second year student Yue Yu said:

“It is a great honour to have been accepted by Sinfonia Cymru. I have not had much orchestral experience, and being able to play with this ensemble provides me with a great opportunity to learn.

“This was my first audition for a professional orchestra, and my teacher Louise Lansdown gave me plenty of lessons on the excerpts I had to perform in the audition, as well as opportunities to play all the required music in front of classmates, which was very helpful.

“I am very excited to meet and play with all the talented players that make up Sinfonia Cymru. I cannot wait for the first project!”

 Founded by Principal Conductor Gareth Jones, the orchestra tours regularly to venues across Wales including The Riverfront in Newport and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama as resident chamber orchestra, as well as Theatr Clwyd in Mold, Y Ffwrnes in Llanelli and Pontyberem Memorial Hall.

Louise Lansdown, Head of Strings, Birmingham Conservatoire said:

“It is with immense pride that Birmingham Conservatoire announce the results of the auditions with the innovative chamber orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru.

“After listening to over 150 auditions across all disciplines throughout the UK, Sinfonia Cymru have chosen a small number of students across all disciplines, and we are delighted that three Birmingham Conservatoire strings students are among this number.”

Part of Birmingham City University and with a history dating back to 1859, Birmingham Conservatoire is one of the leading music academies in the country. Internationally renowned cellist Professor Julian Lloyd Webber took up the role of its Principal in 2015, as the Conservatoire prepares to move to a new state-of-the-art facility next year.

James Thomas, Artistic Director, Sinfonia Cymru said:

“Following recent auditions at Birmingham Conservatoire we are pleased to add three of the current string students to our pool of freelance musicians. Every year Sinfonia Cymru produces a diverse programme of orchestral, chamber music, education and community activities. We look forward to inviting these young talented players to work with us on a variety of projects in the near future.

“After such a successful first visit to the Conservatoire we hope to strengthen this relationship further over the coming years.”