A TEN-YEAR-OLD Poole pianist won a 'prestigious award' at the Southampton Competitive Music Festival.

Ariel Yanne, who performed a piece by Greig, was awarded with the Alban Rees-Jones trophy for the most promising young pianist at the festival.

The young pianist wowed audiences at Thornden Hall in Chandler's Ford.

The trophy, presented by the Southampton Choral Society, commemorates their late accompanist and supports budding musicians.

When asked about winning the trophy, Ariel said: "I feel brilliant because it was a lot of hard work.

"I love sharing my music with others."

Ariel, who is the piano accompanist at her school, Baden Powell said when she grows up, she want to be a concert pianist.

Ariel's father, Gabriel, is a piano teacher. When the family moved to Poole from Hong Kong in 2020, he started teaching her to play.

Gabriel said: "We are very proud of her because we can see that she is working very hard.

"She is practising a lot at home and takes her music really seriously."

At only ten years old, Ariel passed her grade eight piano exam and is currently working towards a diploma.

Gabriel said: "I think that Ariel is quite a talented musician, and she has a great future in piano.

"She is incredibly hardworking."

Gabriel says he hopes to get Ariel into a specialist music school in the future.