Charlotte Jackson & Amabile Girls' Choir

To quote Forrest Gump, "My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." For Amabile, winning the BBC Radio 3 Youth Choir of the Year 2006 last November was a delicious surprise!

Amabile's involvement with the Choir of the Year competition over the last 10 years has taught us that competition quickly improves a choir's singing. The need to cajole and persuade choristers to work hard vanishes in the face of competition!

While one feels exposed and vulnerable in participating in such events, we recognise their value in cementing both musical and social relationships. In our microwave society, where celebrities are made overnight, it is important to show children how much time and effort goes into achieving something of quality and worth, and how deeply satisfying the process and outcomes can be.

This effort and satisfaction came in planned and unplanned ways. In preparation for the Category and Grand Finals, we had many extra rehearsals. What emerged was a surprising level of commitment and action from the girls between our technical rehearsal on the Millennium Centre stage and the actual competition. They became driven by the upcoming performance, organising sectional rehearsals in their dressing rooms, giving each other pep talks, thus producing the final spark.

Watching the other choirs also inspired our performances, in matching their polish and emotional power:

"It was an amazing experience because it was the biggest auditorium and the largest number of people we had performed for. We were on second to last which made it more nerve wracking as we knew we had to raise our game because the standard was so high," Bethan Thorsby and Bethanne Barnett-Jones, Amabile Choristers

Coming off the stage the girls skipped arm in arm through the lobby of the theatre on their way back to their seats. We believe that working with young musicians is for this purpose - that they will experience the true joy and exhilaration of music making together.

"I felt so happy that I knew every girl in the choir had given it their all and we couldn't have sung those songs any better," Kathy Tigg, Amabile Chorister

We believe the girls learned a great deal about music making from watching the Amabile musical staff, including our choreographer Wendy Cook, working as a team - getting input from one another, relying on each other to say when things were and were not working, and brainstorming new ways to rehearse problem sections. The parents and choir supporters were also a part of this team, providing us all with meals, transportation and moral support. It was a very satisfying and productive way to work, and we believe it has influenced the way Amabilites communicate with one another in and out of rehearsals.

At the Grand Final, our choir was inspired to compete with other adult, open and children's choirs. We gave our best, and performed new and challenging repertoire in front of a television audience. A magnificent adult choir from London won the Choir of the Year, and from this experience, we learned a great deal about our next goals. Through it all, the BBC provided us with a remarkable opportunity and a positive experience.

Charlotte Jackson: Director & Frances Chiasson: Accompanist, Amabile Girls' Choir

Article published in MasterSinger, Spring 2007.