A STUDENT stole the show at a university brass band concert at a York church with a wacky solo performance.

Third year University of York music student Jake Muffett performed Eduard Khil’s Russian opera song ‘I am glad, cause I’m finally returning home’, as part of a concert at St Lawrence’s Church on Lawrence Street.

A clip of the performance, which shows some of the band struggling to hold back the laughter, has been shared across social media since it was uploaded.

He took his inspiration from an original track, which has more than 22 million views on YouTube, and features a Russian businessman singing different sounds in a variety of pitches.

He is seen in the clip, which is often used as a ‘bait-and-switch’ prank similar to Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, grinning as he performs in front of a brown wall.

The track was recorded in 1976 and the original text was banned by the Soviet government after being deemed ‘inappropriate’. Following this, Khil decided to vocalise it as ‘Tralala’.

Mr Muffett told the student newspaper York Vision: “I am good friends with the conductor Leo Conroy and we discussed performing this piece a while ago and we agreed that I would arrange the piece for solo voice and Brass Band.

“I arranged the piece by aurally transcribing it from the original track and referencing a piano reduction I found online.”

>> Original story by Jack Gevertz in York Vision