ONE of the region’s most talented young musicians has added to his achievements by passing a highly-regarded exam and winning a place at a prestigious music college.

Alexander Bone, an 18-year-old saxophonist from Darlington, won the inaugural BBC Young Musician of the Year award for jazz a year ago this week and last week completed the final examination for his Fellowship of the London College of Music diploma.

The diploma is the fourth and highest level awarded by the London College of Music examination board.

The final exam was purely performance based, so Alexander invited the examiner to attend a showcase concert held by his school, Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester last week.

He explained the significance of the exam.

“It’s sort of like a Masters,” he said. “So I can have the initials after my name if I want.

“It just felt like a normal concert, it didn’t feel like an exam at all.

“The examiner was just sat the back of the audience, it was pretty informal – you want to be as relaxed as possible so it was ideal really.

“It’s pass/fail, and usually you have to wait for a letter through the post, but the examiner came up at the end of the concert and told me that he really enjoyed it and that I’d passed, he was really nice.”

Alexander is still completing his A-levels at Chetham’s, but has already been accepted into the Royal Academy of Music in London for the next academic year.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to being immersed in the music scene in London.”

In the more immediate future, however, he is performing a number of live events, including a concert with a jazz trio at Saltburn Theatre on April 10.