Primary school choirs shine at Music Festival

A large crowd of parents and supporters turned out to support the performers in the Junior Choir category of the Music Festival on Wednesday. It was the largest audience present at Queen's Hall during the morning session since the beginning of the festival.

The first class was the finals of the boys’ vocal solo for 13-15 years, performing the test piece Rocking in Rhythm by Mira and Michael Coghland. Adjudicator Dr Roselyn Ward advised the contestants to be patient with themselves as they were in the age group where their voices were still changing. She said even though they might have felt shy to express themselves, they needed to free themselves up facially and through movement. Jakini Ollivierre of Restoration Health Centre came third with 85 points, Steffon Levi Joseph of Barataria South Secondary took second place with 85 points and Liam Gooding of Holistic Music School was awarded first place with 90 points.

The second class was the semi-finals of the primary school choirs, upper voices for 15 years and under. There were 27 registered entries, of which 19 competed. The test piece was Amazing Grace arranged by Roger Emerson.

Before announcing the results, Ward told the participants they needed to work on their facial expressions and movement, as some were very stiff. She said they needed to give themselves room to express the song and feel what it’s saying. She said they should watch the intonation and pitch as this made a difference to how the notes blended.

Ward also cautioned the directors and accompanists to be faithful to the musical score, as the composer would have written the song to be performed in a certain way.

Ten choirs moved on to the final to be held on March 18. They were Dunross Preparatory School Choir and Maracas SDA Primary School Choir, both with 90 points; St Andrews Private and Moulton Hall Methodist School, both with 92 points; Belmont St Francis Girls’ RC Choir and St Mary’s Mucurapo Girls’ RC School, both with 93 points; Maria Regina Grade School Choir and Diamond Vale Government Primary School, both with 94 points; and Sacred Heart Girls’ RC School and Bishop Anstey Junior School Upper School Choir, both with 95 points.

The announcement of the results were greeted with shouts of jubilation from both the students and their supporters.