Teenager busker's music school overlooks old pitch
BBCA young musician is honing her talents at an international music centre which overlooks the spot where she used to busk.
Skye, 14, is one of four young singer-songwriters who are being taught at the Centre for Advanced Training at The Glasshouse in Gateshead.
Five years ago she was busking on Newcastle Quayside but is set to play at the Royal Albert Hall after joining the scheme.
Skye said her love of music started when she began singing in the back of her mum's car while listening to ABBA.
"I took up the guitar and started playing the piano," she said.
"Then I started busking and now I've just discovered songwriting, which I love."
Since joining the music academy she has developed her talents to a level where she has been able to work with the 30-strong Young Northern Sinfonia Orchestra on an arrangement of her song Run Like Rain.
Reuben Abraham"It was amazing to be in such a big space performing with a 30-piece orchestra," she said.
"It's like a poem to myself."
Her tutor Sam Rapley is impressed with her development and dedication.
"She is very creative and hard working and the songwriting is a real skill of hers as well," he said.
"The lyrics and a lot of the ideas for the orchestra, she has come up with herself."
The Glasshouse, formerly known as The Sage, turned 20 years old in December.
To mark its third decade the music venue recently launched a new project to expand its Music Academy for Young People and double the number of students who can attend.
It also aims to become the most affordable music centre in Europe and plans to offer £500,000 of bursaries towards music classes each year.
The Glasshouse also wants to encourage more people to take up a career in music.
As for Skye, she plans to work on writing new songs and hopes to entice the interest of streaming services.
"Music is a space for me to express myself," she said
"I want the lyrics in my music to hold meaning for others, so they can relate to them."