OSCAR Stocks is a budding French horn player in Bathurst who would like to perform internationally one day.
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Fortunately, he doesn't have to look too far for inspiration: when he starts a Bachelor of Music in Melbourne next year, his teacher will be a French horn player from Bathurst who went on to perform internationally.
It's not just a nice coincidence; according to Mr Stocks, "it's really quite extraordinary".
Former MacKillop College student Carla Blackwood spent more than a decade in Europe and these days is a lecturer at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.
She was in town last week to perform at Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre as part of the Australian Haydn Ensemble, taking the chance to have a quick catch-up with Mr Stocks before he becomes her student next year.
"Most of my students are from capital cities," she said. "I do have a few students from NSW, who have moved down to Melbourne to study with me, but they're from Sydney.
"I get the occasional student from regional Victoria, but, no, it [having a student from a regional area] is not common.
"Now that I'm a teacher, I really look back on the professionals who came to Bathurst when I was young and how important that was.
"But I think students from the country have an advantage because moving away to a city and figuring all that stuff out early on is actually a bonus, in a funny kind of way.
"They're not used to having everything available to them, so they tend to make the most of opportunities."
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Mr Stocks, 18, who finished year 12 at Scots All Saints College this year, has been playing the French horn for about five years.
"I began with trumpet and, after getting to grade six, the school needed a French horn player as well and I decided that I'd play both," he said.
"After a few years, I decided the horn was a bit more interesting and a bit of fun and so continued with that and got to the stage where, actually, I might get a career out of it."
He likes the French horn's tone, he said.
"It's a nice, warmer tone compared to a trumpet. It's not a brassy, bright sound, it's a warm, mellow sound which kind of encourages the strings and works well in an orchestra."
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Moving to Melbourne will be a challenge, he said, particularly after all the COVID disruptions of recent months.
"I haven't been down there to see the accommodation or the uni itself because of the lockdowns.
"Going down there in February will be the first time I see the site and I'll be doing it all for the first time.
"It will be a little challenging, but I'm looking forward to it."
And, of course, there's the opportunity to study with a great player - and a former Bathurst person, to boot.
"There's all sorts of teachers around Australia, but she [Ms Blackwood] is one of the best, if not the best," Mr Stocks said.
