A teenage musician from Edgware is hoping he can win a London-wide busking competition to realise his ambition of attending a prestigious music school in the USA.

Alex Barnett, of Broadhurst Avenue, was recently chosen among more than 4,500 entrants as a finalist in the Gigs Big Busk competition, organised by the Mayor of London.

The winner will be the artist with the most online votes at the end of the competition, which closes at the end of August.

The18-year-old hopes the extra publicity will gain him private sponsorship for a place at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

He said: “Earlier this year I auditioned and was offered a place to study music at the school.

“UK student funding is not available for studying at overseas universities, so I’m not currently able to take up this once-in-a-lifetime offer.  

“I want to raise awareness of the situation and hopefully obtain private sponsorship for the tuition fees.”

Details of Alex’s upcoming gigs will be broadcast on his Twitter feed @alexsbarnett.

To vote for free between August 1 and 31, go to www.gigsbigbusk.com/vote and  search for Alex Barnett.