The 17-year-old is taught by Morag Stewart of the Ulster Orchestra at the City of Belfast School of Music.

David fended off competition from more than 500 applicants to win one of the 160 coveted places in the orchestra.

The teenager said: he was "delighted" with the appointment, adding: "It is a privilege and an honour to be able to represent Belfast High School and the Belfast School of Music at national level."

A spokesperson for Belfast High School described David as "a truly outstanding and mature young man."

David is already well advanced in his musical studies, having completed his DipABRSM diploma. He is currently studying biology, chemistry, further mathematics and mathematics, with plans to study maths at university next year.

David will now join other talented young musicians for a series of two-week residential courses during the winter, spring and summer holidays, each of which will culminate in performances at some of the finest concert halls in the country.

He will also have the opportunity to work with some of the world's leading conductors, and be taught by top professional musicians.

Next year will also see the local teenager playing a varied programme of music in such prestigious venues as the Symphony Hall Birmingham and Barbican Hall London. He will also play in the NYO's annual BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.

David's first date with the NYO will be at the start of 2008, in a performance of Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet and James MacMillan's Symphony: 'Vigil', conducted by MacMillan. This will take place at The Roundhouse London and Leeds Town Hall during the first week of January.

NYO director, Sarah Alexander, commented: "Sixty years of exceptional orchestral tradition and the vibrancy of the young players combine to make the NYO a unique organisation. I look forward to developing new opportunities for the orchestra and its players."

The Times recently described the NYO as playing with "the kind of finesse any world-class professional orchestra would envy."

The orchestra, founded in 1948, has worked with a number of world-renowned conductors, including Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, Mark Elder, Sir Colin Davis and Gianandrea Noseda. In 2008 the Orchestra will work with James MacMillan, Vassily Petrenko and Antonio Pappano.