A GROUP of young Italian musicians have been performing alongside their Yorkshire counterparts during a week-long exchange visit.

Yorkshire Music School, in Saltaire, has run the exchange trips with a Milan school each year for the past decade.

And the scheme had an unexpected bonus for the music school's half-Italian principal, Rino Grice, as it's how he met his wife, Beruska - the director of the Italian school, Mundo Musica.

The pair married last year and now split their time between Yorkshire and Italy.

Mr Grice said while the Italian exchange students learnt English at school, it was great to see them communicate with the young Yorkshire musicians through the medium of music.

He said: "Music is an international language."

And he said the students were given a good insight into British life as they stayed with the families of the local musicians taking part in the scheme.

He said: "When the Italians come over, the English parents say, 'Should we get pasta and pizza?', and I say, 'No, no no, you must do everything as normal, it defeats the object otherwise!'"