Iris Downes, a Year 9 student at Moreton Hall school in Oswestry has gained a place in the prestigious National Youth Girls’ Choir of Great Britain.
The audition day in Shrewsbury was one of 23 days across the UK for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain. Iris has been selected for the Girls’ Choir in the Senior Section as a Soprano 1. The choir has around 200 members.
Iris commented: “I felt very excited as I did not expect to get in and was going with an open mind. It was my first ever audition. At the start of the audition, I had to sing my accompanied one minute piece.
“Next I sang my unaccompanied folk song, which went surprisingly well as I had only started learning it a couple of weeks before. Following this, I had vocal tests which focused on my breathing. The last test was sight reading.
“I am so excited to have this fantastic opportunity and I cannot wait for the first residential training week in the Easter holidays.”
Iris’s music teacher, Amy Lott added: “Iris thoroughly deserves this life-enhancing opportunity.”
The Director of Music at Moreton Hall, Helen Rayner, summed it up: “On behalf of the Music the Department, we are all very proud of Iris’s achievement in gaining a place in the National Youth Girls’ Choir of Great Britain.
Alongside her other commitments she has found time to succeed at this highest level with true ‘Moreton Spirit’. Bravo!”