Select a region
The Musical Originals Singers have excelled in the 2014 Jersey Eisteddfod, winning what is thought to be an unprecedented hat-trick of prestigious Platinum Awards.
Furthermore, at the Gala event on Saturday 15 November they picked up the Amy Luce Cup for Best Overall Ensemble while the principal and choir teacher of the Musical Originals Singers, Imogen Nicholls, was awarded the Marilyn Davies Cup for Best Conductor.
The choir of young girls aged from 12 to 18 won three Platinum awards in the Classical Section of the cultural competition. Platinum awards are rarely given, and are the top grade of prize that the eisteddfod bestows, are only given to performers who the judges score at higher than 90%.
The Training Choir of even younger girls also won the Connetable of St Helier Shield with a Gold Award.
Imogen Nicholls, says that in decades of involvement with the Jersey Eisteddfod, she had never known one group to win so many top awards. “I have certainly never known a choir get a Platinum award every time they perform on stage,” said Ms Nicholls. “I’m so proud of the girls, they have worked extremely hard and they are just so dedicated to what they do. All of these girls are so focused on this work – the discipline and teamwork that it takes to perform this well at such a young age is astounding, I’m so pleased with them.
“The adjudicator, Mr Donal McCrisken is an experienced judge on choral competitions and he told me that he doesn’t think that there is another children’s choir in the British Isles that does what we do, to the standard that we do it.”
The Musical Originals Singers performed pieces that won silver awards at the World Choir Games in Riga in July. At that event the girls went up against 460 competing choirs featuring 27,000 singers from 73 countries – taking three medals in elite-level “Champions” competitions, which are only open to choirs who have won events elsewhere.
The next major international event for the Musical Originals Singers is the International Festival in Londonderry this time next year.
Ms Nicholls said that she always considers applications to join Musical Originals from those girls who love to sing and offer commitment to the choir’s pursuit of excellence. “It is all about the attitude,” she said. “I want someone who can sing, who loves to sing, and who wants to push the boundaries of what they can do.”
