The British Columbia Girls Choir has taken home an award for an international choral competition with the help of young singers from New West.
The choir won the “Children’s Choir of the World” award this month during the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, considered to be one of the most prestigious choral competitions in the world. The group tied with the Hereford Cathedral Girls Choir of England for the award.
This year, 12 children's choirs competed from America, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, England, India, the Isle of Man & Wales.
Seven of the 40 singers in the British Columbia Girls Choir are from New West.
Four of the youngest singers are recent Glenbrook Middle School grads: Ilana Gastado, Lara Kantman, Nelia Savenkov and Veronica Popova.
The girls said they were delighted to compete on the world stage, and that winning the top award was unexpected.
They also spoke about hard work, both in their individual efforts and as a team.
“Working well as a team takes a lot of individual work at home. It also takes a lot of help from each other during rehearsal,” Savenkov said in a press release.
Popova was determined to give it her best shot, no matter how she placed: “I told myself that whatever the outcome was, I could still be proud of myself and the choir because I gave it 100% on the stage.”
For Mia Bevaqua, who has been singing with B.C. Girls Choir for eight years, both an individual's hard work, and a strong team are important for the groups’s success:
“We knew exactly what to do at the right time and we stayed calm and collected before we walked on stage,” she said. “This competition meant so much to all of us and the fact that we won has brought us even closer as a group.”
Artistic Director Fiona Blackburn said succeeding in the competition required a lot of concentration.
“The girls have a special bond that comes from weekly rehearsals and a knowledge that they are preparing music that is of the highest quality,” she said. “I love the girls’ commitment to our art.”
The choir competed in Wales, and spent a week in Scotland at the Stirling Bridge International Festival where they met singers from USA, Belgium and Germany. The two-week tour wrapped up with a performance in Ireland at the Galway Cathedral.
The girls will return to rehearsals in September.
The forty-member-choir also won third place in Folksong and 1st in the Senior Children’s competitions.
