Exmouth youngsters wow national music judges

WITHYCOMBE Raleigh Primary School youngsters impressed judges with their musical skills when they scooped two awards at a national festival.

WITHYCOMBE Raleigh Primary School youngsters impressed judges with their musical skills when they scooped two awards at a national festival.

Some 45 children from Year 6 travelled to Birmingham to take part in the National Festival of Music for Youth, performing to a high standard and wowing judges with their enthusiasm, rhythm and ability to work as a team.

Two groups, Stomp, and Trifle with Children, successfully qualified for the regional event after performing in Exeter earlier this year.

Trifle with Children members, Josie Argyle - guitar, Issie Pratt - violin, Kirra Spillings - clarinet, Ben Rix - trumpet, Caitlin Fawcett and Faye Bland - bass xylophone, Jacob Rix and Sam Smith - percussion, performed their own composition, called Seascape.

This composition, a musical depiction of the coast at Exmouth, won the award for composition in the Junior Ensemble category for being an 'original and maturely-written' piece.

The Stomp group, children who attend the choir, used recycled materials as instruments and gave an energetic performance.

Their performance, called The Gathering which was written by the group, was accompanied by African song and dance.

Stomp was entered into the Senior Ensemble Category and won the Music for Youth Award for 'an outstanding performance'.

Chair of Withycombe Raleigh Primary School governors Nickie Mallett said: "Both groups performed to a very high standard and the adjudicators were delighted with their enthusiasm, rhythm and ability to work as a team."

The school thanked the staff and pupils who gave up their time and gave special thanks to Gill Chalkley for her dedication.