Year 12 pupil and musician Robbie Rayne has been selected to perform at the First Night of the BBC Proms! A prestigious and much-loved event in the calendar, the Proms is the World’s biggest and longest-running music festival, and draws an audience of millions. Robbie, an accomplished singer, has been chosen to perform as part of the BBC National Proms Youth Choir and Academy on the opening night of the classical music event.
The 200-strong Choir was started by the BBC as a way to nurture new talent, bringing together the best young singers from across the UK and creating a massed youth choir, with opportunities to perform at the highest level with professional symphony orchestras. Robbie underwent a vigorous audition process to be selected as part of the choir. He attended an audition day in Maida Vale, London, with hundreds of hopefuls from across the country. The hopefuls had to perform a song in Japanese, Aka Tonbo, followed by a group exercise involving two people singing four parts, testing their pitch and precision. Following a short break, the hopefuls then came together as a group to sing the piece as a full choir. It wasn’t a long wait to find out who had been successful; later that very evening, Robbie received an email from the organisers congratulating him on successfully being selected to sing in the Youth Choir.
The Choir, performing on the First Night of the Proms in July, will consist of 200 people from across the country, and will be accompanied by a professional choir of 100, and the National London Philharmonic Orchestra. They will be singing a piece titled Harmonium, performing in the world-famous Royal Albert Hall. Director of Music Mr Richard Curran says: ‘It is an incredible opportunity for Robbie, who has shown his musical talent numerous times on the stage at Shiplake’s annual concerts. We wish him the very best of luck!’