Blackpool's top school choir prepares for date at top London venue

The choir at Norbreck Primary Academy are through to the finals of Barnardo's National Choir competition

Norbreck Primary Academy’s choir, crowned the best in Blackpool last year, will compete in Barnardo’s National Choral Competition in March – two years after previously taking part.

The choir, which has enjoyed several tastes of success since 2012, will be one of 18 vying for the junior age title inside London’s renowned Royal Festival Hall after being picked from 500 applicants.

Karen McCarter, the choir’s conductor and director, and the school’s headteacher, said she is ‘extremely proud and excited’ to lead the youngsters into their battle of the voices.

“It’s a dream come true to be chosen again,” she said. “The children’s hard work and dedication has paid off and they are so excited and just can’t wait.

“It is an opportunity of a lifetime for them.”

The 32 songbirds, made up of 25 girls and seven boys who all auditioned for their parts, have been rehearsing ‘four to five days a week to reach the highest of standards’, with particular attention paid to ‘dynamics, diction and harmony, as well as how to perform on stage,’ the grade A pianist and vocalist added.

They will perform Lift Up Your Voice, Alleluia by Sally Albrecht, and Castle On A Cloud for Les Miserables.

The competition, held on March 17, will also see six senior age choirs featuring singers aged up to 18, perform inside the Grade I listed hall, which opened in 1951 as part of the Festival of Britain and is one of the world’s leading performance venues.

Four days later, they will defend their title of Blackpool’s best school.

They were crowned last year in front of a 900-strong crowd in the Tower Ballroom.