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About the Competition
The BBC Choir of the Year is the UK's largest
singing competition which was started in
1984 as a platform to celebrate the best
in amateur choral singing. The Choir of
the Year brings together singing groups
of all ages to battle it out for a place
in the Grand Final at London’s Royal Festival
Hall in November 2010, which will be broadcast
on BBC Radio 3 and televised on BBC Four.
Every two years thousands of singers come
together to perform music in many different
styles. The preliminary round and the area
selection takes place at venues across the
UK in Spring 2010. A team of expert judges
will consider each choir’s musicality, performance
and technical achievement and give live
feedback. Only the best groups in each category
- Children, Youth, Adult and Open will go
on to compete in the finals and only one
will be crowned Choir of the Year 2010.
This year representing the great city of
God Leicester; is the EAGA children’s and
adult’s choir. For further information
click here.
About the Choir
The EAGA adult’s choir was formed in 2003,
borne out of the Emmanu’-EL Apostolic Church
(EAC). In October 2004 the choir became
affiliated with De Montfort University (DMU)
where it is now based, meeting 2-3 times
a week on the University’s campus. The choir
is comprised mainly of students from DMU,
with others attending the University of
Leicester as well as colleges and junior
schools in Leicester.
The work that the
Academy does involves the following:
- Outreach work within the community
of Leicester
- Supporting home and international
students
- Empowerment through Performing arts
- School workshops
- After school club
- Fund raising
The choir has members who are former drug
addicts and criminals one of them is even
a former prostitute. Many of the members
have been rehabilitated through the Christian
teachings of Jesus Christ that are taught
at EAC and EAGA and have empowered them
to be productive members of the community
and to obtain professional qualifications.
Children’s Choir and EAGA in
the Community
The EAGA children's choir are aged 0 – 18.
The 6 – 11 year olds were selected from
the choir to compete in the youth category.
Samworth Academy is one of the local schools
where EAGA already do outreach work teaching
the children music and academic subjects.
The entry of the children’s choir in the
competition is an example of the types of
initiative and partnership work that EAGA
is involved with in the community. Most
of the children are from the Saffron Lane
and Eyres Monsell estates where there are
high levels of depravity, with Saffron Lane
having the highest level of teenage pregnancies
in Britain and Eyres Monsell falling within
the Government’s definition of the 10% most
deprived areas in Britain.
The core ethos
of EAGA as a Christian organisation includes,
education, good morals, discipline and respect.
This competition provided another opportunity
for local children to be further empowered
by broadening their horizons as well as
developing their team work, communication
skills and confidence. The trip to Manchester
for the competition is also an example of
the work of EAGA that takes them outside
of Leicester.
The children’s choir had a
very limited amount of time to prepare and
only managed to have a few joint rehearsals.
The category they were in was extremely
competitive and on the day they put in a
tremendously brave performance. The judges
were impressed, however all of the choirs
that competed were of a very high standard
and unfortunately the children’s choir did
not make it through to the next round of
the competition. The children all enjoyed
themselves and gained much from their first
experience which will set them in good stead
for future competitions.
The Start of a Journey
Saturday 20th February 2010 marked a momentous
event in the journey of EAGA; as the children
and adult’s choir set off for the first
leg of the competition which was held at
the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
The day was divided into a morning and afternoon
session, with the children performing in
the morning and the adults performing in
the afternoon.
After prayer, the EAGA adult’s
choir set off for the event; immaculately
dressed in their famous black and white
with the men wearing specially made black
and white shoes. The journey to Manchester
was a peaceful and jolly affair with the
choir in fine fettle.
On arrival at the
venue they took their seats in an orderly
manner along with the other eight choirs
who were to compete in the event. It was
a packed auditorium with a great atmosphere.
The EAGA choir was entered in the adult’s
category up against two other choirs for
one place into the next round.
The EAGA Choir Team and the
Performance
The musicians for the EAGA choir were the
accomplished 14 year old Brother Jordan
Anderson and violinist Sister Carika Weldon
who is a new member of EAGA. The conductor
for both the adults and children’s choir
was the exceptional Brother Emmanuel Adebayo.
The song performed by the choir is called
‘Total Praise’ composed by Richard Smallwood.
The choir filed onto the stage with confidence
and poise as a well drilled unit in black
and white and immediately captured the full
attention of the audience. One spectator
told how she was moved to tears and one
of the judges in his summary of the performance
declared that he was so captivated; he had
forgotten to write his comments for the
first 4 minutes of a song that lasted 6
minutes. As the choir departed the stage
the choir delivered a masterstroke on the
spur of the moment, breaking out into a
catchy Zulu rendition entitled ‘Avulekile
Amasango’ which means the gates have been
opened in heaven. This brought further rapturous
applause and brought the house down.
The EAGA choir throughout the event was easily
the most vocal in their support for the
other choirs; whose performances were of
a very high standard. Finally the judges
announced that the EAGA choir had made it
through into the next round and would be
removed from the adult’s category and entered
into the open category which is the most
difficult of them all. There were wild celebrations
and congratulations came from all the other
choirs who were all supportive of each other
throughout the event. The fantastic atmosphere
captured the spirit in which such competitions
are held.
The Grand Finale
As everyone was about to depart, the EAGA
choir arose from their seats and unexpectedly
sang another song: ‘Oh Happy Day’ which
accurately summarised the day. All the other
choirs joined in, along with the judges
and presenter. This created a joyous celebration
of a perfect day and a fitting finale to
the competition. EAGA had made a massive
impact at the event which certainly will
not be forgotten by the judges, organisers,
their fellow competitors and peers. It was
the day the choir came of age and made many
friends in Manchester; ministering the name
of Jesus, reaching hearts and minds. The
EAGA Choir boarded the team coach and made
a triumphant return to Leicester: the City
of God....
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