Ebrington pupils reach Choir of the Year final

Finalists: Ebrington Primary School choir with their teachers, BBC Radio Ulster presenter John Toal and judges from the BBC Radio Ulster School Choir Of The Year. Photo: Stephen Latimer

The event will take place on Sunday, April 26, and will be broadcast live on BBC Radio Ulster from 2pm.

The choir is one of 12 set to compete to be named as Northern Ireland’s top junior and senior  school choirs.

Presented by John Toal and Kerry McLean, the final will be broadcast live from the Ulster Hall, Belfast and the judging panel will be made up of series regulars Dominic Peckham, Artistic Director with the Ulster Youth Choir; Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council for Northern Ireland; Richard Yarr, Senior Producer Classical Music, BBC Radio Ulster and joining the panel for the live final is Yvie Burnett, a Mezzo Soprano who is also well known for her work as vocal coach with  ‘The Voice’.

Each choir will be invited to perform two songs after which the judges will decide which two choirs from the junior and senior categories will go head-to-head as they battle it out to pick up  the two titles.

The other junior choirs taking part are: Ballyholme Primary School, Bangor; St Colman’s Primary School, Saval; Riverdale Primary School, Lisburn; Pond Park Primary School, Lisburn and St Conor’s Primary  School, Omagh.

The three-hour live radio programme will also include a performance from Soprano Rebekah Coffey and a duet with Sinead O’Kelly and Dawn Burns, both winners of the Northern Ireland Young Musicians’  Platform Awards.

The competition is produced in association with the Ulster Youth Choir, and supported by the Arts Council for Northern  Ireland (ACNI).

The winning choirs will help BBC Radio Ulster celebrate its 40th anniversary during this year and feature across a range of the station’s programming  and events.