The Heath Mount School Choir has reached the final of the BBC Songs of Praise Choir of the Year Competition – for an unprecedented fourth time! The 50 girls and boys will travel up to Manchester in February for the semi final, where they will compete against 5 other schools for the coveted Junior title.  This year, Haileybury College will join Heath Mount in Manchester as they compete in the Senior Semi Final.

Last year the Choir made it all the way to the final, only to be beaten by what the judges remarked was a wafer thin margin.  They are hoping this time they will get lucky and win the prestigious competition.  The choir will perform ‘I Danced In the Morning’ and ‘Wade in the Water’  to the judges and the audience in Manchester, and the shows are then aired to the television audience of millions in March.  Last year, judge Russell Watson was visibly moved by the children’s performance, and fellow judge Suzy Digby described their rendition of ‘You raise me up’ as  “Molten Gold and Molten Chocolate”, and the choir are hoping they will strike a similar chord with the judges this year.

Andrew O’Brien, Choirmaster and Director of Music at Heath Mount commented “We are delighted to have made it to the Semi Finals again.  The children have worked so hard since the beginning of term to prepare, and we are all hoping this may be our year!”.

It will be a busy few weeks for the choir, as the week before the journey to Manchester, they will travel to Milton Keynes to showcase their talent in the first round of the BBC Choir of the Year Competition.  That competition is open to any amateur choir, not just schools, so the children will have their work cut out as they compete against some of the finest adult groups in the country.