A pupil from Bushey has won first prize at a prestigious harp festival in the Netherlands.

Juliana Myslov scooped first prize at the Dutch Harp Festival in Utrecht - which is held every two years and is open to contestants from any country and of any age.

Juliana has been a pupil at The Purcell School since 2005 and receives a scholarship from the Government’s Music and Dance Scheme.

The 17-year-old is still working toward her secondary school exams and auditioned for the Royal College of Music last December.

Along with winning €10,000 and a concert tour in 2015,  Juliana also won the Audience Award and the prize for best interpretation of festival commission Fantasia, presented by the composer Paul Patterson himself.

She had not even expected to make it past the recording round of the competition.

She said: "I can’t believe it. I still can’t. Everything last week was just a dream.

"This is my first actual competition. I’ve done local ones. But that was when I was younger, and they were really small."

The theme of Juliana’s free-choice program for the semi-final round of the festival was based on the recent loss of a friend.

She continued: "It was quite a sad theme: the circle of life and death. I had a few ideas for my theme, but then in November, a friend of mine passed away from a brain tumour, so that’s why I decided on that."

Juliana will go on to participate in the Wales International Harp Competition next month in Caernarfon.

The Dutch Harp Competition will organize a concert tour for her in the 2015 season.