The eight choirs short-listed for this prestigious, county-wide, competition, who will battle it out on Saturday 31st March at the Shirley Hall, King’s School, Canterbury, are:
- Bromley Boy Singers
- Canterbury Girls Chamber Choir
- Kent College Sedecim Choir (Canterbury)
- Kent Girls’ Choir
- Opus 32 (Sittingbourne)
- Pharos Chamber Choir (Dover)
- St Stephen’s Church Choir (Canterbury)
- Thanet Community Gospel Choir
The eight finalists will perform before a panel of judges headed by Dr David Flood, Organist and Master of Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral. Dr Flood will be joined by Susan Wanless, Director of Music at the University of Kent and David Burridge, former Kent Schools’ Music Adviser.
The final will be compered by BBC presenter, Rob Smith, in the presence of Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Patron of Top Choir Kent and Lady Carey.
The winning choir will receive the Brett Top Choir Kent trophy and be given the chance to perform in the 2012 Canterbury Festival. Each of the choirs appearing in the final will receive a cheque for £100 funded by competition sponsors Belmont International Ltd, Insurance Brokers.
Competition Director, John Harris, is looking forward to the final with great excitement. He said: “From a record number of entries we have managed to whittle the number down to eight finalists who all demonstrate what a rich singing heritage we have right across the county of Kent. All of the choirs have demonstrated extraordinary talent and I can’t wait to hear their final performances.” He added: “The judges will certainly have their work cut-out finding a winner from amongst them.”
An added attraction of the Final will be a performance by the winners of the Top Choir Kent 2011 competition, Viva Acappella from Orpington.
Demand for tickets is already high and seats are selling fast. Tickets priced £15, Family £40 (2 x adults + 2 x children) are being sold online and can be obtained by logging-on to: www.topchoirkent.org
BBC Radio Kent is the competition’s media partner and will record the Final for subsequent broadcast.
Local and international charities benefit from the funds raised by Top Choir Kent. The 2011 event raised raised over £6,500 for the Rotary Club of Canterbury to use in support of a wide range of charities. The end of competition collection additionally secured in excess of £1,000 for the Pilgrims Hospice.
