A 12-YEAR-OLD schoolboy has become the youngest person to play the organ for an Oxford University college.

Louis Moss, of Chipping Norton, began playing the piano when he was six and tried the organ for the first time just over a year ago – bucking a national trend of declining numbers.

The youngster has now gained a scholarship to play the instrument at Jesus College, where he will start to perform hymns for services in the spring. He has already started to assist the musicians in the organ loft.

Louis, who is a student at The Cotswold School in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire, is thought to be one of only 750 young people learning the organ in the UK.

He said: "It is great to play such an amazing instrument.

“I am looking forward to improving further through my organ scholarship at the college."

The teenager now hopes to have many years of organ playing in front of him thanks to funding from college alumni and and ongoing support from the Dr Martin Clarke Young Organ Scholars’ Trust (YOST).

The scholarship scheme, run in conjunction with the trust, hopes to reverse the declining numbers of organists in the country.

There are about 6,000 organists in Britain, both professional and amateur, with a rapid decline in numbers in the past decade, thought to be due to the cost of lessons and the skill required to play, as well as the availability of good instruments.

This means live organ music, at Sunday services, weddings, baptisms and funerals is also in decline.

Sir Nigel Shadbolt, principal of Jesus College, said: "We are delighted to have Louis with us.

"By starting a young music scholarship scheme here - the first of its kind in an Oxford or Cambridge college – we are creating more opportunities to connect local state schools with Jesus College through music."

The numbers of young people participating in church music has been declining since the 1980s.

At any one time there are about 50 undergraduate organ scholarships available in Oxford University colleges alone, but with fewer young organists around they are rarely all filled.

YOST is working closely with major church music bodies to encourage more young people to take part, through funding for their studies and scholarships.

It is hoped the Jesus College example will help the charity to develop a whole new generation of young organists across other parts of the country.

The scheme aspires to see 200 new young organ scholarships funded throughout the UK over the next five years.