Bath College music student picked to play at the Royal Albert Hall

A student at Bath College has been offered the chance to perform at one of London’s best classical music venues just weeks into his new course.  

Multi-instrumentalist Kenan Broadway has been picked to play at this year’s Music for Youth Proms at the world-famous Royal Albert Hall.  

The Bath College music student will be part of a mass ensemble bringing together members of Gloucestershire Music, Bath & North East Somerset Music Hub and South Gloucestershire Music Hub.  

Musicians across the three counties are joining together to celebrate the life of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death with a new piece of music from conductor and composer Philip Harper.  

It will be Kenan’s first visit to the Royal Albert Hall and he will play the double bass or the bassoon as part of a 140-piece wind band backed by an impressive choir of 450 singers.  

Kenan, 16, started playing the piano at the age of 11 and also plays the cello, double bass, viola, violin, guitar and bassoon.  

He said: “I love solo pieces. I started on the piano and then I heard the Bach Cello Suites and thought ‘I want to be able to do that’. Over time I have started collecting all the instruments I can.  

“I’m feeling very excited and lucky to be playing at the Royal Albert Hall. Ten people could show up and I’d still be happy because it’s such an amazing venue – it’s going to sound brilliant with the acoustics in there.  

“It’s likely that there’ll be a double bass part and if not, I’ll be playing the bassoon. I started playing the double bass in January and got myself up to scratch very quickly because I’ve learnt the cello before.  

“It’s going to be nerve-wracking, but to say I’ve performed at the Royal Albert hall, that’s a great thing for university. It’s my dream to go to music college.”  

Kenan, from Midsomer Norton, was at secondary school when he heard one of his teachers playing the album I Giorni, by the Italian pianist Ludovico Einaudi, and was inspired to start playing the piano.  

He will be playing at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday November 14.  

Kenan said: “I love it at Bath College, it’s so different to school. I love the people and the course and what it’s teaching me. It’s great being surrounded by like-minded people and people you can connect with.  

“I went straight to college from GCSEs. I did have the option to do sixth form, but I knew what I wanted to do already. I have two years in college and the next five to six years of my life will be in music education – I’ve never been happier.”  

To book tickets for the concert at the Royal Albert Hall visit http://www.mfy.org.uk/coreseason/mfyproms/massedensembles