Triumph for Spinnaker at prestigious music festival

Spinnaker Chorus competed at the festival at Oaklands School, Waterlooville, on Sunday, along with scores of other choirs.

They competed in five classes and were delighted to receive first place trophies in each of them.

The categories were:

Songs from the shows – Defying Gravity, from Wicked, and Anthem from Chess.

Opportunity Knocks – Ain’t no Mountain High Enough and One Day Like This

Barbershop Female Chorus – The Moment I Saw Your Eyes and What kind of Fool am I

Own Choice – Red, Red Rose and Something Inside So Strong

Single Sex Choir – It’s Raining Men and Come In From The Rain

Tracy Daniel, from Spinnaker, said: ‘In the final class, group of the day, we were invited to sing a song from one of our previous winning classes plus an additional one which we’d not competed with.

‘Our choices were The Moment I Saw Your Eyes from the barbershop chorus class and Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You.

‘We were delighted to also take the top prize here, the Florence Cassidy Memorial Trophy.

‘We were so excited to also be awarded the Pitchpiper Scroll trophy which was the adjudicator’s award – Elizabeth Stafford – to the group which made the greatest impression on her from the barbershop classes.

‘In all there are seven trophies for Spinnaker Chorus to cherish for the next year, so lots of extra polishing of silverware in addition to our sequins.’

But they weren’t the only successes this month.

Tracy went on: ‘We have two fabulous quartets who have also competed and been hugely successful.

The Tutti Frutti Quartet made up of Liz Waddon, Emma Payne, Helen Childs and Caroline Chetwood, won the Sterling MacKinley Cup with honours singing Ain’t Misbehaving and When I fall in Love.

At the Isle of Wight Music, Dance and Drama Festival on Friday, March 9, newly-formed One Eyed Jacks – Liz Hill, Kay Sumpner, Jill King and Mary Quinn – competed with their debut performance and were delighted to be awarded joint first place with outstanding, winning the Quartet Cup, singing Anthem and Can You Feel the Love Tonight.

‘Spinnaker are a wonderfully talented and dedicated group of women with a passion for a cappella, harmony singing’ said Tracy. ‘Under the expert direction of the amazing John Palmer, who tirelessly puts us through our paces every Wednesday at rehearsals, we are going from strength to strength.’

If you would like to find out more about joining the group, visit spinnakerchorus.co.uk or e-mail [email protected].