Wesley College, Dublin was the winning choir in the final of the third annual All-Island School Choir Competition which was broadcast live from the Millennium Forum Theatre, Derry tonight.
There were four schools competing in the Final: St Joseph’s Mercy College, Navan, Co Meath, de la Salle College, Waterford, Wesley College, Dublin and Victoria College, Belfast.
85 schools from across the country entered the competition and there were 20 schools in four regional finals, broadcast on RTÉ over the last four Sundays.
The competition, presented by Anne Cassin, was designed to encourage the tradition of school choirs in second level institutions throughout the island. The overall winners receive £4,000 and each regional final winner is awarded £1,000.
The audience included, the newly-inaugurated President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins.
Other guests attending were the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Paterson, Dr Donal Keegan, the Lord Lieutenant of the County Borough of Londonderry, Councillor Kevin Campbell, Deputy Mayor of Derry.
Also present were Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness; Peter Sheridan, Chief Executive CoOperation Ireland; Pat Doherty, Chairman Titanic Quarter Ltd; Tom Savage, Chairman, RTÉ Board and representatives of political parties in Northern Ireland.
The adjudicators for this year’s competition were: Seamus Crimmins, Executive Director of RTÉ Performance Groups, Dr Angela Feeney, Belfast Opera singer and teacher; Brendan O’Connor, Musical Director, Cois Cladaigh Chamber Choir, Galway and Dr Geoffrey Spratt, Director, Cork School of Music and Conductor of the Fleischmann Choir.
