North Lanarkshire's top young musician announced
The event brought together talented young musicians from across the area, giving them a rare opportunity to perform at a high level beyond their usual school experiences.
St Bernadette's Primary School in Motherwell hosted the North Lanarkshire round of the Scottish Young Musician of the Year (SYM) competition.
The event brought together talented young musicians from across the area, giving them a rare opportunity to perform at a high level beyond their usual school experiences.
After an evening of impressive performances, Oliver Cairns, a sixth-year pupil and clarinettist from Our Lady's High School (OLHS) Cumbernauld, was named the 2025 North Lanarkshire SYM winner.
Oliver first entered the competition in his fourth year and has continued to grow as a musician since then.
He said: 'I'm thrilled to have won the North Lanarkshire Scottish Young Musician 2025. It was amazing to perform for the audience and judges, and I'm looking forward to the final at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
'I'd like to thank my music teachers, Ms H. Blain and Mr S. McEwan, at Our Lady's High School, and my clarinet teacher, Mrs R. Whitener, for their support and guidance.
'I'm also grateful to North Lanarkshire Council for choosing me to represent them. Competing in the final will be an incredible experience as I go on to study clarinet and composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in September.'
Oliver will now represent North Lanarkshire in the Scottish Young Musician Final 2025 at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow this May, competing against winners from Scotland's 31 other local authorities and private schools.
Special recognition also went to the two runners-up: Ava Dean, a fourth-year clarinettist from Brannock High School, and Patrick Dysko, a sixth-year pianist from Taylor High School. Ava, who took part in the first SYM competition as a second-year pupil, has made great progress since then.
Councillor Michael McBride, Convener of Education, expressed his gratitude: 'Congratulations to Oliver, Ava and Patrick and all the other pupils who took part. Thanks also to all the music department staff and instrumental instructors for their invaluable support in preparing the pupils for this event.'
Kirk Richardson, Lead Officer of the North Lanarkshire Instrumental Music Service, added: 'A huge well done to everyone who took part. The commitment and passion shown by the young musicians were outstanding, making it a truly memorable competition.'
A total of 11 schools participated, including OLHS Motherwell, Dalziel High School, OLHS Cumbernauld, Taylor High School, Brannock High School, St Maurice High School, St Aidan's High School, Bellshill Academy, Chryston High School, Clyde Valley High School, and St Ambrose High School.
*Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Courier
3 days ago
- The Courier
TikTok's 'Perth accent man' confesses he 'owes Alan Cumming an apology'
Actor and well-known TikTok creator Tyler Collins does a killer Alan Cumming impression. The talented mimic, whose uncanny impressions of regional Scottish accents have won him online fame and more than 30K followers on TikTok, hasn't met the Traitors star yet. But that could all change as Tyler is set to spend the summer on stage at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, where A-lister Alan is artistic director. 'I actually think I owe him an apology,' Tyler, 36, says sheepishly. 'I said in one of my videos (demonstrating a Perth accent) that Alan was from Perth, but he's actually from Aberfeldy. 'A lot of people corrected me on that one!' he laughs, before becoming serious. 'People do get pernickety over this stuff, but one of the things I want to do with my videos is make people from each region feel seen. 'Scotland has more than just this West Coast, Glasgow mish-mash we see a lot on TV.' Born in Alaska, Tyler's party trick as a child was his spot-on impressions of Peter Griffin (Family Guy) and ability to mimic voices of friends and family members. When he moved to Scotland at age 18 to attend the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, he developed an ear for Scotland's different regional accents. And his demonstrations, from 'chewy' Glasgow Uni to more 'back of the throat' Dundonian, saw him go viral on social media, with approval even from the harshest critics – Scottish people themselves. But how does someone whose natural accent is American differentiate between the likes of Dundee, Perth and Fife? 'I think of Perth, Dundee and Fife as all having interconnecting rubber bands of varying strengths, indicating how much they don't want to sound like each other,' laughs Tyler, who has worked for stints at the Dundee Rep and Dunfermline's Alhambra, but still lives in Glasgow with his partner and their senior cat, Freddy. 'So Perth has a very strong rubber band stretching in the opposite direction to Dundee. Over there, they want to try as hard as they can to not sound Dundonian. 'I suppose Perth is in the kind of touristy belt too, which means the accent becomes clearer and more homogenised over time.' He draws parallels between the Perth accent and Edinburgh accent, highlighting they're both 'softer' and closer to received pronunciation, albeit with a slightly harder 'R' sound in Perth. To hear him slide in and out of different cities across one sentence is mind-boggling; never mind when he eases back into his natural Alaskan tone. 'Meanwhile Dundee and Fife don't want to sound like each other either,' he observes. 'But they both have that East Coast pride. 'This is our sound, eh?' he demonstrates, heavy on the Dundee 'eh'. Up in Pitlochry, where he's been staying with other repertory cast members in a their hillside 'oasis', Tyler hasn't had much of a chance to actually study the town's accent. 'You don't meet people from Pitlochry in Pitlochry,' he says. 'But one of the cast members, Eden (Barrie) is from there. She was told at uni that her Scottish accent 'didn't sound Scottish enough', which is not fair. 'I think that's part of the identity crisis of Scotland,' he muses, sliding into a nasal Glaswegian: 'I don't want tae hear masel on the telly!' During his stint at Pitlochry Festival Theatre this summer, Tyler is taking on the roles of Ally in Sunshine on Leith, Kenickie in Grease, and Tom in The Great Gatsby. For the latter two, Tyler is thrilled to get to speak 'in my own accent' but admits his ear for voices is helpful when bringing to life characters from different eras. 'In Gatsby, one of the hardest things is that the language is so specific. There's no contractions – you wouldn't say 'we're', you'd say 'we are'. There was a clarity of the time. 'The danger is slowing down, because although the words were very clear, people actually spoke incredibly quickly.' And when it comes to singing, Tyler's talents transfer over, meaning he can sing in a perfect Proclaimers impression for Sunshine On Leith, or a convincing Chicago-based Danny Zuko. 'I only got to audition with an American accent for the first time two years ago,' he reveals. 'There aren't a lot of American plays put on here, eh?' he jokes in Fife-ish. 'Literally the only reason I've been able to live and work here is my ability to do a good Scottish accent.'
Edinburgh Reporter
3 days ago
- Edinburgh Reporter
The 77th Edinburgh Taxi Outing sets off
The 77th Edinburgh Taxi Outing is taking place on Tuesday. The outing is organised and paid for by the taxi drivers themselves and offers a fun day out for children with additional needs, life-limiting conditions and terminal illnesses. The taxis are all decorated with balloons or as floats and assembled this morning at the car park at Edinburgh Zoo for judging and presentation of prizes. The procession of cabs then left the car park under Police escort to make its way through the city and along the coast to Archerfield Walled Garden (between Gullane and Dirleton, East Lothian) with a stop outside Luca's in Musselburgh to refill the water tanks and to eat as much ice cream as possible. Our galleries of photos from the Zoo car park and on Princes Street show just a few of the day's fun moments. PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson One of the prizewinners with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson A prizewinner with the Rt Hon Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson Richard Tod, Neil White and Iain McHardy PHOTO Alan Simpson Matt Jones PHOTO Alan Simpson Kerri and Joshua 6 PHOTO Alan Simpson Jasiu 10 PHOTO Alan Simpson Logan 11 PHOTO Alan Simpson Joe 9 Arran 11 Ava 4 Yosaf 12 PHOTO Alan Simpson Barry Collins and Sonny 13 PHOTO Alan Simpson Casey Carlyle 5 PHOTO Alan Simpson Casey Carlyle 5 PHOTO Alan Simpson Lucas Petit 11 PHOTO Alan Simpson Rad Szczerbinski and Antony 7 PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson The Rt Hon Lord Provost conducting the judging PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson A winner with the Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson The Lord Provost and Lennon Ford 12 PHOTO Alan Simpson Ryan Preston age 12 with the Lord Provost PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson PHOTO Alan Simpson Like this: Like Related
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Megan McKenna stuns in SECOND gorgeous wedding dress as she shares more snaps from wedding to footballer Oliver Burke
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) MEGAN McKenna stunned in her second gorgeous wedding dress, as she shared even more snaps from her wedding to footballer Oliver Burke. The 32-year-old star, who got engaged to Oliver in June 2023, shared photos from her fairytale wedding over the weekend. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Megan McKenna stunned in her second gorgeous wedding dress, as she shared even more snaps from her wedding to footballer Oliver Burke Credit: instagram/@meganmckenna 6 The Towie star snogged her new husband in a cheeky snap Credit: instagram/@meganmckenna 6 Megan shared some behind-the-scenes photos from the reception Credit: instagram/@meganmckenna Megan, 32, looked like a princess in a white bridal gown with a long trail and veil. She was seen beaming with joy as she posed with her new husband, surrounded by hundreds of roses and a piano. And now, the former Towie star has shared new photos in a beautiful second wedding dress. Megan opted for a striking white floor length gown in a very chic design, and she beamed as she walked down the stairs at Grantley Hall. In other snaps, the mum-of-one was seen snogging her new hubby Oliver, with her wedding garters on show. She shared snaps of the delicious food, from personalised chips to their huge seven-tier cake. And Megan posted a sweet video from their special day, of Oliver twirling her around on the dance floor. The proud bride shared an inside look at the reception fun, with dance floor snaps and partying pics. She told her three million followers: 'My second dress was so special, Peter designed me a couture dress of dreams. Inspired by Jackie O. Shameless Arg dances with pal Megan McKenna at her wedding after assault arrest 'It was everything and more. Before our first dance & then the official Burke's after party I wanted to slip into something more sexy. I've added in some snaps from the evening… I hope you're enjoying my wedding content. There's a few more posts to go.' The big day comes eight months after they welcomed their first child together. Megan gave birth to a son named Landon in Germany on October 7. In the wedding snaps, the reality star wore a silk mikado ballgown with a pleated skirt, a sweeping train, and a corset bodice. Megan McKenna's TV Timeline Since her debut on Ex On The Beach, Megan has rarely been away from TV screens. Can you remember all the shows she has appeared on? 2009 - Britain's Got Talent, series 3 - ITV 2015-2016 - Ex On The Beach, series 3-4 - MTV 2016 - Celebrity Big Brother, series 17 - Channel 5 2016-2017 - The Only Way Is Essex, series 17-21 - ITVBe 2017 - There's Something About Megan - ITVBe 2018 - Celebs On The Farm, series 1 - Channel 5 2019 - Celebs Go Dating, series 6 - E4 2019 - The X Factor: Celebrity - ITV 2021 - Celebrity MasterChef - BBC One 2022 - Celebrity MasterChef: Festive Extravaganza - BBC One Megan then changed into a second gown, wearing a evening dress with a square neckline and pleated overskirt at the back. Oliver looked dapper in a black morning suit and a crisp white shirt. The new bride held a huge white bouquet of flowers and smiled from ear to ear as she leaned in for a kiss with Oliver. He then sweetly pecked his wife on the cheek in the black and white photo. The ceremony was held at the picturesque Grantley Hall in North Yorkshire. The former Towie star captioned the post: "Mr & Mrs Burke." Her close friends raced to congratulate the newlyweds. Scarlett Moffatt wrote: "Omg simply breathtaking. Huge congratulations to you both." Kelsey Parker gushed: "Omg you look Stunning Megan." Jess Wright posted: "Awww congratulations, beautiful darling," with a string of red heart emojis. 6 Megan opted for a striking white floor length gown in a very chic design Credit: instagram/@meganmckenna 6 The couple shared a look at their huge wedding cake Credit: Charlotte Wise Photography
