Pupil is poised for a musical life

5 February 2010

A Derbyshire schoolboy is poised for a harmonious career after successfully mastering the highest possible grade for three different musical instruments.

Kris Garfitt, 18, who attends Mount St Mary's College, has achieved a grade 8 distinction for the piano, euphonium and trombone.

After taking up the piano at the age of six he started learning the euphonium at nine and moved on to the trombone when he was 12.

A school captain, Kris plays in the City of Sheffield youth orchestra and features in the school's jazz band, brass band, choir, concert band, madrigal group and male voice choir. Kris, from Sothall, Sheffield, hopes to go on to study trombone at the Royal Northern College of Music and is well on the way to reaching his goal of becoming a professional freelance musician.

But music is not the only field in which Kris is blessed with talent. He has also won several golf competitions, playing off a handicap of just six. Laurence McKell, headteacher of Mount St Mary, said: "Kris is clearly a supremely talented young man, because to achieve a grade 8 distinction for one instrument, let alone three, is a truly remarkable achievement.

"We are very fortunate to have a pupil like Kris here; he is very involved in the life of the school and his music is an absolute pleasure to listen to. "We know he will continue to be a superb ambassador for Mount St Mary's in the future, whatever career path he chooses."