By Lesley Walsh
A PAIR of musical brothers are fine tuning their violins after learning they have been selected for the prestigious National Children’s Orchestra for 2026.
Playing in different age sections, Seahill boys Caleb and Silas Lawrence have reached the latest pinnacle in their budding musical careers after first picking up their instruments at the tender ages of just three and four respectively.
The appointments with the orchestra will bring the Campbell College pair to intensive courses in England at Easter and in the summer in preparation for a series of concerts across Great Britain.
Caleb, who is 14, returns for the third time to the orchestra in a new age category, while 11 year-old Silas ‘who is always trying to catch up with his brother’, according to proud mum Rebecca, who said it will be the first time for her younger virtuoso.
Conceding a ‘competitive’ streak between her two boys, Rebecca, a violin teacher herself, said seeing his older brother excel has helped fuel Silas’ dedication to the instrument, enabling him to secure a distinction in his grade 8 exam last week.
His swift ascension through the levels follows in the footsteps of talented sibling Caleb who earned an ABRSM diploma at just 13 – part of the Associate of the Royal Schools of Music qualifications.
The accolade equates to a first year undergraduate degree level, and follows the grade eight milestone achieved by Silas, so it might not be long before there’s another diploma recipient in the same household.
Caleb also added to his list of trophies recently by becoming the age group winner of the New Talent Online Competition in August.
Rebecca explained it all began when Caleb was just three and began ‘pestering’ her to learn the instrument she made beautiful sounds from.
“I do teach violin but I didn’t want to teach them – having taught my sister once upon a time I realised it wasn’t a good idea to teach family,” she laughs.
“But he kept pestering me for ages to learn to play,” she said, so at the age when many boys are pushing toy trains up and down the carpet, Caleb started formal lessons.
“That’s what he wanted to play, and has always loved violin and would practice, just a little bit at first when he was three, while I was preparing dinner.
“Silas found it harder at the start, but he decided he wanted to play it too. I thought he might like to change it once he got older, say to a trumpet or something, but he wanted to keep up the violin and now they both practice a lot.”
With Caleb’s tutor speaking of great things to come from the young man, he was awarded a £2,000 boost from the Noah Donohoe Foundation to allow him to step up with tutoring time. Like Silas, he has online tutoring and travels to England three or four times a year for face to face lessons.
Now with both boys destined for the national orchestra, it would be a bit of a ‘logistical nightmare’ to co-ordinate their scheduled practice sessions and their later concerts, especially as they come from a large family of seven children.
“Caleb definitely wants to be a professional violinist, but I don’t know about Silas yet; I’m trying not to push him. I encourage them and support them but they are making their own decisions,” she says.
