Blind Scottish pianist reaches BBC Young Musician final

Ethan Loch will now compete in the grand final of the competition

An 18-year-old Falkirk pianist, who was born blind, said it was an amazing feeling to reach the grand final of the BBC Young Musician competition.

Ethan Loch won the keyboard final of the competition, with a performance described by presenters Jess Gillam and Alexis Ffrench as "spellbinding."

Ethan has been playing the piano since he was four years old.

The grand final of the competition will be broadcast on BBC Four and BBC Radio 3 on Sunday.

Ethan told BBC Scotland's The Nine that the competition had an "amazing, friendly atmosphere."

He said: "I simply loved it. And then when they called me and when I was up there, it was crazy because I could hear all these people clapping.

"I was so honoured to be on that stage."

Ethan, who was born with a genetic condition and diagnosed blind at birth, was raised in Canada until he was five.

Ethan beat four other competitors to win the keyboard final of the competition

He said: "For my entire life past, present and future, music has honestly been my world.

"My first exposure to the piano was when I was 18 months old.

"I remember this moment, the clearest of my childhood, just literally reaching up. .

"As soon as I went up there, I could just hear all those amazing overtones and all those amazing sounds."

Ethan said that he feels that music is "just another language" for him.

He said: "One of my favourite things to do is improvise.

"Whenever I'm improvising I always think how do I feel, and what do I want to communicate to everyone?

"It's something you can't really express in words, honestly."

Ethan started learning the piano when he was four-years-old

Ethan was previously featured in a BBC radio documentary called Batman and Ethan, about his work with teacher Daniel Kish, who is also blind.

He said that he had been "blessed with a really crazy brain."

He said: "I can hear any sound and pitch it for you in any frequency, and it was really quite an amazing journey for me.

"It's an amazing experience when you're out there on the stage."