The Gold Singing Award is one of the most prestigious events in the Queenswood musical calendar, and several past winners have gone on to enjoy successful careers in the music and performance industries.

This year, twelve singers from Years 10–13 participated, each delivering a heartfelt rendition of a number from the musical theatre canon. Our guest adjudicator was Deryn Edwards, star of the West End hit Sunny Afternoon.

Acting Director of Music Christos Kokkinos was extremely impressed by the performances. ‘It was a wonderful evening – an emotional roller-coaster, with each performer telling a story with their chosen song and taking us on a real journey. The overall standard of the singing was exceptional this year.

‘I would like to take my hat off to Ms Pilgrim and Ms Rees for their wonderful teaching and coaching. Mr Newport also did a great job of accompanying our pupils – we are so lucky to have him at Queenswood. And Deryn Edwards, our adjudicator for the evening, was a true legend. With her wealth of experience in all styles of singing and stagecraft at the highest level, we could not have had a better person judging this event.’

• Winner: Isabella P-V (Year 12)
• Highly Commended: Konyinsola S (Year 13)
• Commended: Bethany N (Year 11)

You can watch highlights from the concert above, including the three prizewinners’ performances in full, or click here to access the entire recording.

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PROGRAMME

• Silvana A-A: Little Miss Perfect (a song cycle) – Kwame
• Charlotte C: A Million Dreams – Pasek & Paul
• Theodora C: In My Dreams – Ahren/Flaherty
• Nia J: When She Loved Me – Newman
• Tanya D: Sentimentai – Liu
• Elly K: A Whole New World – Menken
• Annie L: I Am Alive – Kitt/Yorkey
• Konyinsola S: Vienna – Joel
• Liana S: Seventeen – O’Keefe
• Olivia T: Kindergarten Boyfriend – O’Keefe
• Isabella P-V: As If We Never Said Goodbye – Lloyd Webber
• Bethany N: Words Fail – Pasek & Paul

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DERYN EDWARDS

Deryn trained at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama and The Royal Academy of Music.

In the field of opera, Deryn has performed with Glyndebourne Festival and Touring Opera Company, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and regularly at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

For  many  years, Deryn sang  with the international a cappella vocal group, The Swingle Singers, appearing in venues such as Carnegie Hall and The Lincoln Centre, New York; Orchard Hall, Tokyo; Ronnie Scott’s; The Barbican; and The Royal Albert Hall, London. Other performances with the group included the world premier of Luciano Berio’s Outis at La Scala, Milan, and concerts with various orchestras including the New York Symphony with Pierre Boulez; the Toronto Symphony with Steven Reineke; the Indianapolis Symphony with Stuart Bedford and the Royal Amsterdam Concertgebouw with Luciano Berio. She also had the privilege of performing with many eminent jazz musicians, including Stephane Grapelli, the Jacques Loussier Trio, and Cleo Laine and John Dankworth.

In recent years, Deryn has been in Sunny Afternoon (UK Tour), Mamma Mia (Prince of Wales), Mary Poppins (UK tour), On The Town (Royal Festival Hall) and Much Ado About Nothing (MTP tour).

Deryn has recorded numerous film soundtracks including Disney’s Christmas Carol, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Maleficent and Aladdin.

Deryn now mainly works in the audiobook world, and has narrated and produced many audio books including children’s, adult fiction and non-fiction.