BECOMING a conductor – of an orchestra, that is, rather than a train – takes long years of study.

Most of the successful ones are middle-aged, or older, and generally male. Marin Alsop, the first woman to conduct the Last Night of the Proms is a rare exception to the rule.

So when Ross Gunning decided, at the age of 10, he wanted to be a conductor, everyone told him it would take him decades.

"Even when I started to conduct, at amateur orchestras for example, people were a bit reluctant and just kept telling me I was too young," he says, adding with a shrug: "That just made me more determined to do it."

The 18-year-old, from Clarkston, East Renfrewshire, took matters into his own hands last year, when his mum asked him to help arrange a musical fundraiser for a charity aiming to build classroom blocks in Malawi.

"I decided to set up an orchestra," he says, as if this is the kind of thing people do all the time.

"I called and emailed everyone I've ever worked with, from friends and fellow students to tutors, and I got 50 people on board. It was amazing – we had a great time rehearsing.

"Professional tutors, from the RSNO and the BBC SSO gave us such fantastic support. We did it over three weekends, and had the concert in a church in Clarkston. We raised £1600."

The Fundraising Orchestra –"really bad name," groans Ross – was supposed to be a one-off, but buoyed by the event's success, and encouraged by the musicians' support, Ross decided to do a second concert, and the Glasgow Philharmonia was born.

"We are a youth orchestra, aged from around 16 to 23, but we keep the fees low so it is accessible to as many people as possible," he explains. "It's horrible that people can't do music because of money.

"Some of the musicians are still at school, others have kept up playing their instruments but have gone on to study subjects such as law or medicine, and some are already working."

The second concert, at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland last month, was a huge success, with an audience of more than 300.

"I want to make it bigger and better," says Ross. "We want to do a Christmas concert and another next June – I just hope it grows."

ROSS, who lives with his mum, dad and 24-year-old sister, started playing percussion aged eight.

"You spend a long time waiting for your part when you are a percussionist," he says, "so I watched the conductors – what they did, how the musicians responded. I love shaping music, bringing all the sounds together.

"I'm now doing conducting as part of my music degree at the RCS and it's what I want to do."

Ross has played with most of Scotland's youth orchestras and the Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. "It's not as big as it looks on TV," he says.

ann.fotheringham@ eveningtimes.co.uk

ROSS Gunning wanted to be a conductor so much, he set up his own orchestra.

What started out as a one-off fundraiser has now become a successful and credible organisation with more than 70 members and professional support from some of Glasgow's leading orchestral musicians.

The teenager, from Clarkston, spoke to ANN FOTHERINGHAM about his plans to create Glasgow's biggest and best youth orchestra.