St John's Wood teenager to conduct at Barbican

He chose accomplished violinists Simone Porter, 13, from Seattle, and Michael Province, 14, from Florida, cellist Nathan Chan, 16, from San Francisco and pianist Zhang Ziaoming, 11, from Shanghai.

The four soloists, discovered by Alex when filming The World's Greatest Musical Prodigies, lived and rehearsed together before putting on a concert at the Sage music hall in Gateshead, with the Northern Sinfonia, with Alex conducting.

They will now perform alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, again conducted by Alex, at the Barbican, on April 8.

The concert will feature works by John Adams, Tchaikovsky, Bizet and Mendelssohn, as well as the London première of Velesslavitsa and the world première of Alex's latest work, Horizons - An American Crescendo for 4 soloists and Relatively Large Orchestra.

Alex's proud father Peter told the Chronicle he always knew his son would achieve success.

He said: "We first noticed that he could copy music he heard at the theatre without being able to even read music.

"He played the keyboard by as he got older he picked up other instruments like the French horn, and started singing.

"Alex loves music so much he is prepared to work at it."

Alex began composing at the age of eight and has now written more than 40 works.

He has recently completed his fourth year at the St Petersburg Conservatory with distinction, studying opera and symphonic conducting, and composition, and has taken up the post of assistant to guest conductors with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

For more information, see www.alexprior.co.uk or www.barbican.org.uk.