A recent winner of the Croydon Performing Arts Festival, Hassan has studied the recorder at Junior Academy since the age of nine. Now aged 15, he performed as a soloist with the London Mozart Players in January. As part of the LMP's 'Music Through the Ages' concert at St John the Evangelist, Upper Norwood, Hassan played in Gordon Jacob's Suite for Recorder and String Quartet.
On his time studying at the Academy and on his public performances, Hassan said:
'There’s a real sense of community in the Junior Academy Recorder Department that I think you’d struggle to find anywhere else. The teachers are brilliant, everybody is really supportive and the opportunities we get are incredible. I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else!
'As a person with Indian heritage, I really hope to encourage others from BAME and multiethnic backgrounds to pick up the recorder because it’s often overlooked as a credible instrument. Through my performances I really hope to inspire everybody, no matter where they’re from.'