A young Barnoldswick composer has had his work played in front of an audience at one of North's top churches.

Vahan Salorian, 15, of Back Chapel Street, was given the honour after winning the North Yorkshire Young Composers Competition.

Students in year 10 and above were invited to write a short piece of music for the North Yorkshire Schools' Symphony Orchestra.

Vahan, a pupil at Ermysted's Grammar School, Skipton, had his winning piece - Voyage into the West - played by the orchestra at a concert in Selby Abbey.

Vahan, who plays a range of instruments including the flute, violin and trombone, has written compositions in the past for Barnoldswick Brass Band, in which he plays, but this was the first time he had written music for a full orchestra.

His violin teacher, who runs the youth orchestra, suggested he entered the competition.

Vahan said: "There's 20-odd instruments in the orchestra so there was quite a lot to write for. The other entrants were older than me and I hadn't really put much work into it because I didn't think there was much chance of winning, so I was quite shocked really. I was quite proud that I'd done it though."

Vahan was at Selby Abbey to hear his piece being played.

"It was nice to hear it being played by real people and not just on a computer and, after the concert, people were coming up to me and congratulating me," he said.

Among the other shortlisted candidates in the composers' competition were fellow Ermysted's pupils Layth Hanbali, who also plays in the orchestra, and Andrew Kingham.

The North Yorkshire Schools Symphony Orchestra includes 10 other youngsters from Ermysted's and Skipton Girls' High School.

They are: violins - Zoe Kelly, Sarah Osborne and Kathryn Woodhead; double bass - Emma Wilberforce; clarinet - Felicity Chilton; oboe - Kelda Boothroyd and Oliver McKinney; and flute/piccolo - Sophie Cass.

The concert at Selby Abbey was attended by Craven District Council chairman Coun Marcia Turner and her consort Paul Whitaker.

"We were thrilled and proud and wish to publicly extol the musical talent of our students, with special mention to Vahan Salorian for his unique composition," said Coun Turner.

This was not Vahan's first taste of the limelight.

He was Barnoldswick's first junior town crier, a position he held for more than two years, and has also starred in productions at Ermysted's.