Twenty Key Stage 2 pupils at Great Ouse Primary Academy choir triumphantly took home the Luton Jubilee Challenge Shield after being awarded first place in their category at the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama.
The Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama was founded in 1921 and provides a showcase for the wealth of talent in the amateur performing arts within Bedfordshire and the surrounding area.
Great Ouse Primary Academy, which is part of the Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust (CMAT), was up against choir groups from Bedford Modern School and Great Denham Primary School in the ‘2B Year 6 and Under Choirs’ category.
Achieving first place was made even more impressive considering the group has only been together since January.
Zoe Rooke, Subject Leader of Music at Great Ouse Primary Academy, said: “We’re so proud of each and every one of our pupils who attended the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. They’ve worked so hard in rehearsals and have been committed to practising their parts at home.
“It’s a tremendous achievement, especially when you consider the group has only been up and running for three months and they’ve only sung in assembly together once. The festival was their first real chance to perform on a stage and they seized the opportunity with both hands.”
The group’s programme featured an unaccompanied four-part Nigerian ‘Highlife’ song called O-re-mi – arranged by Mike Brewer. It also included Adiemus by Karl Jenkins and Sing by Gary Barlow and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
One student, Leo Wood, said: “It was very exciting and a bit nerve-racking. It was a relief when we won and I think everyone enjoyed the performance.”
Another, Abigail Pokoo, said: “It was amazing knowing that we sang so well that we came first. We sang our hearts out.”