Young people invited to hit the high notes in Berkshire singing competition

Published by RoyP for Sovereign Housing Association in Communities

Young people across Berkshire are being urged to show off their singing talents at a series of workshops and to take part in a competition to find the Royal County’s best young singer.

As part of a joint initiative by Sovereign Housing Association and Berkshire Maestros, a charitable trust providing music education opportunities to children and young people across the county, a series of six workshops will be held during the autumn and spring terms.

The first three workshops will be held at Kennet School, Thatcham, on Tuesday 6 November (4.15 – 5.45pm); Fir Tree School, Newbury, on Thursday 8 November (3.30 – 5pm) and at John O’Gaunt School in Hungerford on Friday 9 November (3.30 – 5pm). Another three workshops will be held in the spring term.

“We want to get as many children singing as possible, and this project, thanks to the support that Sovereign is giving us, is a way of reaching out to more communities and generating a bigger interest in singing,” said Louise McGahon, Head of Voice with Berkshire Maestros.

“The involvement of Sovereign allows us to reach communities, especially in West Berkshire, that we have struggled to access in the past. We are really keen to see lots of young people turning up to the workshops and hopefully deciding to take their love of singing further,” she added.

At all workshops, which will be supported by Sovereign’s own choir, ‘Harmonisation’, Maestros will have staff on hand to talent spot those that show promise who may want to continue singing and possibly enter the Berkshire Young Singer of the Year Competition, the first round of which takes place on 24 November.

Application forms for the Berkshire Young Singer of the Year Competition will be available at the workshops, and applicants can enter into categories that cover classical, popular, folk and opera. 

For those who don’t want to take part in the competition proper, there will be an opportunity to join a choir that will perform at the grand final in Reading next May.

Jim Holah, Sovereign’s Regional Director for Berkshire, said: “Music is a great way of empowering individuals and communities, and we are really excited to be supporting this initiative.

“Our partnership with Berkshire Maestros is a fabulous chance to open up this opportunity to young people who would not normally access it.”