READING Male Voice Choir is set to host an evening of live singing with some accomplished guests next week.
On Saturday, June 10, RMVC will be joined by the winners of the Gwyn Arch Young Singers’ Competition as well as The Abbey School Junior Choir.
The event will see the 10-13-year-old category winner Oregon Thia Gerrits, 14s-16s winner John-Ellis Wallace, and 17-21s winner Sophie Kileff taking to the stage for vocal performances.
Oregon, 11, took first prize at the North London Music Festival last year and has made television appearances in the Nordoff Robbins carol service.
John-Ellis performed for six years as a chorister in St Albans Cathedral Choir and on international solo tours in mainland Europe.
Sophie is a diploma-level singer, pianist, and violinist, and leads the Hampshire County Chamber Orchestra.
The inaugural Gwyn Arch Young Singers’ Competition saw performers aged between 10-21 take part in auditions back in March in the hope of winning a grand prize: £100 for the juniors (10-13), £200 for the youth category (14-16) and £300 for the young adult category (17-21).
The competition is named in honour of Gwyn Arch, the founder of Reading Male Voice Choir and its musical director until 2015.
He became the head of music at the Berkshire (latterly Bulmershe) College shortly after it opened in 1964.
He was awarded an MBE for his services to music in Berkshire as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2006, and died in June 2021.
The Gwyn Arch Young Singers’ Winners Concert takes place at The Abbey School, Kendrick Road, from 7pm on Saturday, June 10.
Tickets cost £10, £5 for under-13s, and under-3s go free, with tickets available via: ticketsource.co.uk/readingmalevoicechoir
