INTERNATIONAL jazz musician Jamie Cullum sang the praises of Swindon when he visited Commonweal School yesterday.

The artist made a guest appearance at the school after students and staff were awarded his piano in a national competition after submitting a video of themselves singing a song with the line “Come on Jamie, give us your old piano" which subsequently went viral and can be seen below.

After taking to the keys to perform a number of pieces, Jamie said: “It is amazing to be here and it is amazing to be reunited with my old piano – although there is nothing old about it, it was a gift from Yamaha to me when I first started out.

“It is great to be back in Swindon, to be just down the road from where some of my first gigs were in Pizza Express and in Indian restaurants that no longer exist.”

During the evening a number of students, including Emily Ridley who has only been a pupil at Commonweal for a matter of weeks, had an opportunity to play alongside the musician.

Jamie also praised Emily’s choice in song to perform, citing the title of the piece – The Moody Prawn Blues – as “the best name ever”.

Along with year nine pupil Arthur Pinn and year ten Leah Fitzpatrick the three pupils not only performed their own pieces in front of a packed auditorium, but also took to the keys with him for an impromptu medley.

Ali Sutcliffe, head of expressive arts, said: “It was such a special experience for the whole Commonweal community.

"The students were really wowed by his passion for the piano and we already have students wishing to start piano lessons on the back of it.

“The piano is used every day for piano lessons and playing on such a really good quality instrument really does make a great difference to the learning experience.

"We are incredibly lucky to have won the piano and I’d like to thank all who voted for us last year as well as Jamie himself for giving us his beloved Yamaha piano. He is welcome back anytime.”