Choral Scholarship Success

Three Year 13 students have been awarded Choral Scholarships at prestigious institutions next year. Emilia Jaques, Anna Barrett and Xavier Leitch have been awarded Choral Scholarships at The Queen’s College, Oxford, Christ’s College, Cambridge, and Portsmouth Cathedral respectively. This is a superb achievement by our student singers and a testament to their dedication to the superb tradition of choral music at Ampleforth. We asked them a few questions about how they prepared for the auditions and what they will be expected to do…

How has your experience at Ampleforth prepared you for the next step in your musical journey?

Ampleforth gave me a platform to continue developing my voice as a music scholar in the Ampleforth Abbey Schola along with other groups such as the chamber choir. Schola especially broadened my knowledge base of choral works and, because of the tight schedule on learning pieces for upcoming services, allowed me to practice my sight reading skills.

What did you have to do for the audition?

Sight reading was a big part of the audition at Portsmouth Cathedral as I also had to sing a song of my choice, mine being O Del Mio Dolce Ardor by Gluck. I prepared for this piece with my Ampleforth singing teacher, Matthew Lennox, who I had a singing lesson with each week while at College.

What are your duties as a Choral Scholar?

As a Choral Scholar at Portsmouth I will form part of the choir along with the choristers and other Choral Scholars and Lay Clerks. Along with working in the Cathedral I will also have a job at The Portsmouth Grammar School in administration and supervision of younger students. This will be an interesting experience for me as I will be given an insight into the other side of schooling. I also feel that this year at Portsmouth will also help me prepare for student life as I will be living in a flat with other Scholars and will be responsible for my food and utilities helping me learn to budget. What I am most exited about, however, is the prospect of continuing to develop my voice in much the same way that I did at Ampleforth.

Emilia Jaques writes…

How have your experiences at Ampleforth prepared you for this next step in your musical education and experience?

Firstly, as part of the College choir, Schola, I have been lucky enough to regularly sing challenging repertoire in the amazing venue which is Ampleforth Abbey. This has been both as a part of the Abbey’s religious life and in fantastic school concerts, for example the annual performance of Handel’s Messiah. I have also had many varied vocal opportunities, for example

being part of the ‘Ampleforth Singers’ and the Schola Christmas trip to London.

Alongside this, I’ve received excellent individual and ensemble tuition from dedicated staff of Ampleforth Music Department: my performance skills, wider musical knowledge and analytical thinking have really developed during my time at Ampleforth.

What are the responsibilities of a choral scholar. What are the perks?

As part of a specific college at my university, I believe I’ll have a responsibility to contribute to the best of my ability to the choir and the musical life of the college, whilst upholding the standard of its long standing musical tradition. Through this, I will also have to support the religious side of college life, singing in services in the chapel 4 times a week. There are of course perks as well - I will be able to sing at a really high standard under the direction of top choral professionals, for example the choir director, Professor Owen Rees, surrounded by young singers who enjoy singing as much as I do! I will hopefully get amazing concert, recording and touring opportunities too. Not to the mention the free dinners in the college dining room when we’re singing Evensong!

What did you have to do at the audition?

Firstly, I had to record a 5 minute piece and send it in before the audition, which was Rejoice greatly from Handel’s Messiah. In the actual audition (which was on Microsoft Teams), I had to sing a short accompanied folk song to my college’s Director of Music and do a short piece of sight reading. It was all very relaxed and after the sight reading we had a quick chat about what singing events I had been doing in recent months.

What do you hope to gain from this experience?

I hope to further develop my singing, musicianship and ensemble skills, broadening my musical education alongside my degree. I’m also really looking forward to making friends with musical students throughout the college who are passionate and spending lots of time singing with them!