New Zealand’s youngest national choir, the New Zealand Secondary Students’ Choir (NZSSC), won the title of Children’s Choir of the World at the prestigious Llangollen Eisteddfod festival in Wales last week.
According to Choirs NZ, the festival is one of the world’s most inspirational cultural festivals, and has been staged annually since 1947 in Llangollen, a small Welsh village. Every year around 4,000 performers and up to 35,000 visitors join the festival.
NZSSC had been selected to submit a pre-recorded digital entry for this year’s competition. Not only did the choir win first place in the Senior Children’s Choir category but it was also awarded Children’s Choir of the World – the best of all children’s choirs competing this year.
While the other competitors from England, Wales and the USA appeared live on stage in Llangollen, NZSSC’s video performance was played to the judges and audience during the competition.
“We are over the moon to win this incredible title,” said Music Director Sue Densem. “I’m grateful to all the singers and the team to reach this quality of performance during 2 years of pandemic and disruptions. It’s just incredibly exciting and it will be such a boost for our upcoming tour”.
NZSSC is the national choir for secondary school students, aged 13 to 18 years, with up to 60 members. The choir is touring the South Island this week.
