Pond Park pupils in fine voice as they secure place in semi-final

The Lisburn school came out on top in the third round, securing a place in the semi-final of the prestigious competition, which will take place at Dalriada School in Ballymoney.

Over the course of seven weeks, 60 choirs from across Northern Ireland are singing to impress as they battle it out for a place in the final of the BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of The Year.

Presented by John Toal and Kerry McLean, the series is recorded at seven venues across Northern Ireland.

In the third programme, recorded at St Catherine’s College, Armagh and broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster on March 19, the Pond Park PS choir impressed the judges with a beautiful rendition of ‘Somewhere Out There’. (Watch video by clicking here.)

They fought off some stiff competition in the junior category from the choirs of Hardy Memorial, Richhill; Ballinderry Primary School, Lisburn; St Mary’s Primary School, Craigavon and Antrim Primary School.

The judging panel - Richard Yarr, Senior Producer Classical Music, BBC Radio Ulster; Ciaran Scullion, Head of Music, Arts Council for Northern Ireland and Rebekah Coffey, soprano and vocal coach - were extremely impressed with the Pond Park pupils’ performance.

They now take their place in the junior category semi-final, which will be broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster on Sunday, April 16 at 2pm.

The BBC Radio Ulster School Choir of the Year competition is produced in association with the Ulster Youth Choir, and supported by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland (ACNI).

The series, part of BBC Music NI, will culminate in a live final from the Ulster Hall, Belfast on Sunday, April 30.

The winning choirs will feature across a range of BBC Radio Ulster’s programming and events during this year.

If you missed the programme, you can catch it again via the BBC Radio iPlayer by logging on to the BBC Radio Ulster website.