Two choirs from St Stithians College blew away supporters when they placed in first and fourth place during the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival.
The Duke of Cornwall Singers and the Baron Choir travelled to England to participate in the festival from 5 to 6 May. The Duke of Cornwall Singers came in first place in the Youth Gala competition and were also awarded the Kelwood Cup for Most Entertaining Performance. The Barons Choir placed fourth in the same division.
Yvette Schoeman, the head of music at the boy’s college explained that the Duke of Cornwall Singers was founded in 1985 and consists of 16 Dukes between the ages of 14 and 18. Two of the founders of St Stithians College were from Cornwall, which inspired the name of the choir. The Barons, which are led by Altus Moolman, consists of 16 Grade 7 learners.
Schoeman said, “This was our choirs’ first visit to Cornwall and it was very significant and meaningful going back to the birthplace of our school.”
In total, 31 choirs from across the world participated in the festival, which is now in its ninth year. “The Dukes and Barons each participated in five gala concerts as well as the youth competition. The gala concerts were held across the county of Cornwall and the choirs got to sing for audiences from Redruth, Saltash, Bodmin, Helston, and Truro.”
Schoeman added that the Dukes have performed in nine international festivals while the Barons were able to experience their first international festival. The Dukes have enjoyed much success performing overseas. They performed at the Venezia in Musica International Choir Competition in 2013, where they came second in the Youth Choirs of Equal Voices category with a Gold III diploma and won the Folklore Category with a Gold VI diploma.
“This outstanding achievement secured them a place to compete in the Champions Round of the World Choir Games. They travelled to Russia for the 2016 World Choir Games, where they were awarded two silver medals in the highly competitive Champions Round,” said Schoeman.
“We were overjoyed with the results as the St Stithians choirs were up against extremely strong competition from highly acclaimed world-class choirs. The Dukes was placed first overall and won the John Langdon trophy for the Best Youth Choir. They also won the Kelwood trophy for the performance of the most entertaining piece in the competition.”
She added that it is a remarkable feat for the Barons to be placed fourth overall in the Youth Choir Competition as they are still a very young choir.
Details: St Stithians College 011 577 6000.
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