16 of the best singing groups in the UK will battle it out on Sunday 16 October at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall for Category Finals of the National Choir of the Year 2016 competition, broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Tickets to this singing spectacular, which features live feedback from the judges, are on sale now at www.thsh.co.uk. Finalists include choirs from across Britain, and as far afield as Northern Ireland and Jersey. These 16 groups have won through from the 160 Choirs who took part in the audition rounds earlier this year. It is the first time the 16 Category Finalists will have faced each other and the stakes are high as they bid to out perform each other and become one of the six to win their place in the Grand Final.
Choral talent appears to be on the rise in the UK with newcomers to the competition making up half the category finalists. These include The Adam Street Singers, a Central London based choir that came to international attention with a viral flash mob video that received 1.8 million hits. They will be singing to win against competition veterans, a jazz acappella group The Oxford Gargoles, European ladies’ barbershop champions The White Rosettes from Leeds and a show choir from Doncaster, the Rainbow Connection Singers. Similarly, three of the entrants in the children’s choir, Perfect Pitch, Musical Originals Training Choir and Macosquin Primary School Senior Choir are also new to this over thirty year old National wide competition.
The 16 October competition will feature live feedback back from the judges including Mary King, Will Todd and Stephen Connolly. This adds extra excitement and provides the audience additional insights to the performances. The judges will choose a winner in each category plus two ‘wild cards’ to go forward to the Grand Final at the magnificent Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on 3 December 2016.
Greg Beardsell quote: 'I'm so thrilled to be presenting this fantastic event again - something I've followed and loved for years! This competition is such good fun; it really shows off the very best in choral singing and lets the world see and hear how great Britain’s choirs are. Each year I am blown away by the talent we find across the nation!'
Grand Final - Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Saturday 3 December, 5pm
The six top amateur choirs in the country – four category winners and two wild card choices from the Category Finals – will compete to become 2016 National Choir of the Year. Hosted by TV presenter Josie D’Arby and West End, Broadway and TV star Julian Ovenden, the Grand Final will be filmed by BBC Four for broadcast. Judges include renowned choral director and founder of The Sixteen, Harry Christophers and Only Men Aloud, music director Tim Rhys-Evans.
