A TALENTED local musician has been crowned the winner of this year's Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform.

Zhengting Li, a student at Bromsgrove School, beat off fierce competition to take first prize in the senior section for musicians aged 14 to 17 years.

The 15 year old has already achieved his ATCL Diploma, equivalent in standard to the first year of an undergraduate degree.

Rebecca Bazlov, aged 12, won the junior category.

The adjudicators said they were blown away by the standard of the entries, with each competitor taking part in an earlier audition round.

They were then whittled down to just 11 finalists.

Monica Toso, chairman of the Bromsgrove Young Musicians’ Platform, said: “We were extremely pleased with the level of entries received this year and we welcomed a new panel of adjudicators, experts in their fields, to ensure the platform continues to remain one of the premier music competitions in the Midlands for young people.”

The competition, in the Routh Concert Hall at Bromsgrove School, was open to anyone within a 30 mile radius from Bromsgrove.

Both Zhengting and Rebecca won financial bursaries of £1,000 (senior section) and £750 (junior section) to enable them to further develop their musical talent.

Its sister competition, The Bromsgrove International Musicians Competition will be held in Routh Concert Hall from April 9 to13.

For more information, go to bromsgrovecompetition.com.