A TOWN’S own musical superstar is preparing to go global after landing her first gig in the United States.

In a year which has already seen Ulverston’s Jess Gillam achieve so much 2018 still has surprises in store for the talented teen.

A prodigy on the saxophone, the BBC Young Musician of the Year winner recently announced she would be playing her first ever concert in America, playing the Phillips Collection, in Washington DC in the new year.

The Phillips Collection, a museum founded in the 1920s, will see Miss Gillam perform her music as part of a wider artistic exhibition.

Already preparing to play the Last Night of The Proms in two weeks, the news is still sinking in for the musician.

She said: "It's all still a bit surreal. Someone approached my manager for me to perform. It is great as when I do one concert that establishes more interest."

In Washington she will play a specially commissioned piece of, paying tribute to the musical heritage of Cumbria.

This year has been a string of successes for Miss Gillam and her music. Since the start of the year she has been nominated for and won a Classic BRIT Award, signed her first record deal with Decca, will release her debut singles in the first week of September, and was announced as one of the musicians performing at one of the most iconic nights in world music - the Last Night of The Proms.

She continued: "It is a strange feeling. Everything is now heading to the Last Night. It's all brilliant.

"I feel so grateful to be able to share my music. In the classical world the saxophone is not hear as often as other instruments. Quite often when people come to a concert it will be the first time they have heard someone play classical music on the sax, or, even the first time they have gone to a classical concert."

The Last Night of The Proms will this year take place on Saturday September 8. Following her performance at the Royal Albert Hall, Miss Gillam will then literally dash over the road to perform in her second concert of the night, Proms In The Park, in Hyde Park.