Country representing: Jersey
Number of performers in the whole group: 35
Group website: http://www.musicaloriginals.com/
Competitions Participating In: Senior Children’s Choirs, Children’s Open Choirs, Children’s Folk Song Choirs
Biography:
The Musical Originals Singers is a choral group from Jersey in the Channel Islands.
As Jersey’s leading youth choir, they perform contemporary classical repertoire primarily written for young voices but which is nonetheless challenging. The Choir has around 35 members, aged from 12-18, with another 24 or so, aged 7-11, in a training choir. They perform as a team either as one single group, as separate Training and Senior choirs, or in discrete smaller ensembles.
The Choir is un-auditioned, the only requirement for joining being a love of singing, keenness to tackle demanding repertoire, and preparedness to work hard to develop musicianship skills. Choir members come from a wide range of Island schools and rehearse weekly in their own time. Many also develop their skills as soloists; one Choir member, then aged 12, won the Junior Solo competition at Llangollen in 2023 and two others were selected for the same competition in 2024.
Conductor
Under its founder and conductor, Imogen Nicholls MBE, the Choir has achieved much success both in the UK and internationally. They won the Children & Youth competition at the Rimini International Choral Competition in both 2019 and 2022, and the Sacred Music section, too, in 2019. In 2017 they were chosen by the BBC to represent the UK in the EBU’s Let the Peoples Sing competition at Helsinki, in consequence being invited by the BBC to give a half-hour live recital on Radio 3 from the Sage, Gateshead. They performed in the Open Choirs competition in 2023.
The Musical Originals Singers regularly performs on state and civic occasions in Jersey, notably at the annual commemoration of the Island’s liberation in 1945 from enemy occupation.
In 2020 Imogen was appointed MBE by Her late Majesty for services to singing and music in Jersey.
