Ashwell French horn player Ben Goldscheider will perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London next month, before jetting off to Venezuela to represent Britain in an international soloists’ festival.

BBC Young Musician 2016 finalist Ben, 19, has been going from strength to strength since joining Berlin’s Barenboim–Said Academy in the autumn, and has prestigious concert dates lined up even into 2018 – including a Beethoven performance with Chinese concert pianist Lang Lang this June.

Speaking to this paper from a sun-bathed Berlin yesterday, Ben said he would be heading straight from the Royal Albert Hall to the airport so he can perform in the European Soloists’ Festival in Caracas from May 8 to 15.

“To be representing Britain is an amazing feeling, obviously,” said Ben, who until last year went to Baldock’s Knights Templar School.

“This has come via the British Council. It’s the European Soloists’ Festival, and they nominated me to represent the UK.

“I feel very proud and very privileged, and I’m just very grateful that they asked me.

“We’re one of 10 countries chosen, and of those they pick six or seven to go to Veneuzela. The soloists are from Europe but we play in conjunction with El Sistema.

“That’s an absolutely fantastic organisation that helps give opportunities to poor children in the favelas and everything to play music, and they perform worldwide.

“The concerto I’ll be playing in the concert hall is the same Strauss horn concerto I played in the Young Musician final last year. Then I’ll play in the festival in a square in Caracas.”

On June 4, Ben will play French horn with Lang Lang at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal, part of Barenboim–Said, in a concert of chamber music including Beethoven’s Quintet for Piano and Winds.

The concert will also feature other musicians from the academy and the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, which are both led by legendary conductor Daniel Barenboim.

Ben said: “It’s really a dream to study here. I can’t fault it in any way and I just feel I’m in the right place to learn. The opportunities we get are really second to none and I’m very grateful for that.”

The highlight of Ben’s exciting schedule, he said, would be his Royal Albert Hall date on May 7, when he will perform Mozart’s Horn Concert No. 4 with the English Festival Orchestra.

He said: “It’s such an iconic building and concert hall for a British player – and I’ve spent my whole life seeing my mum and dad playing there at the Proms.

“To be on that stage will be amazing.”

Ben added that we can expect to see him back around these parts in about five months, when he comes home to perform at St Mary’s Church in Ashwell on September 15.

He is also set to play at the 2018 Ashwell Music Festival.

To find out more, see Ben’s website at bengoldscheider.com.