Audience brought to tears at music festival

Following on from last night’s concert, which saw a wide range of group performances, attention turned to the vocalists today at the Shetland Schools’ Music Festival.

First on this morning was the Secondary School Choirs. Five choirs with pupils from the Anderson High, Baltasound Junior High and Sandwick Junior High Schools took to the stage at Mareel and impressed the audience with a high standard of singing. It was the Sandwick Singing Group which particularly impressed, bringing some audience members to tears, and were rewarded with a Gold Award from adjudicator Mr Paul Clancy.

In the afternoon session, solo vocalists performed songs from a range of genres, including dialect, classical, musicals and pop. In his adjudication, Mr Clancy was delighted by the different types of music being performed and encouraged the youngsters to continue to explore a variety of different styles.

He gave credit to all the youngsters who performed, explaining to the audience how exposed a vocalist is. “It’s just you and the audience” he said, “there is no place to hide.” All performers received either Gold or Silver awards.

Reflecting on the group performances so far, Mr Clancy, said that he was particularly impressed by the variety of instruments included within the groups and the sheer number of talented musicians performing, often involving whole classes or even schools.

Tomorrow evening is the Junior and Senior Young Musician of the Year Competition. Five youngsters are taking part in the junior section. They are Isabella Taylor (recorder), Rebecca Kerr (Flute), Tom Tait (Piano), Eva Jamieson (Cello) and Mae Jamieson (Piano).  Those selected to compete for the  senior title by Mr Clancy are Lara Polson (strings), Peter Kay (strings), Caitlin Munro (clarinet), Kiera Munro (flute), Amy Laurenson (piano) and Connor Dixon (vocal).