At the Grand Final of the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year 2010, which took place in St Paul’s Cathedral on 29 October, Lancing College sixth-former Ella Taylor was named as one of two young choristers (one girl and one boy) to win this prestigious prize. Thirteen-year-old Liam Jones, who sings at Durham School in the Chapel Choir, was named as the other winner.
A boarder and a choral scholar, Ella chose Lancing for her sixth-form studies because of its outstanding choral tradition and Music Department, and also for the many additional experiences and opportunities offered by the school.
Ella is a dedicated member of the Lancing College Chapel Choir, which sings in weekly Chapel services, and makes tours to major churches and cathedrals in the UK and abroad, including Westminster Abbey, St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Salisbury, Gloucester and St David’s Cathedrals and St Mark’s Venice.
The BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year celebrates young talents singing for worship in churches, chapels, cathedrals and beyond. The finalists performed to a huge audience in St Paul’s Cathedral, and the judges included John Rutter; singer and songwriter Nell Bryden; Lindsay Gray, Director of the Royal School of Church Music; and singer and actor Sharon D Clarke.
The annual competition was celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2010, and winning choristers from former years were invited to the final to tell their stories of how the competition has launched their musical careers and enriched their lives, as well as being on hand to encourage this year's finalists.
Ella Taylor sang the hymn 'I cannot tell why He whom angels worship' to the melody 'Londonderry Air', and the aria 'How beautiful are the feet' from Handel’s Messiah.
Having received the trophy, Ella appeared on BBC Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday, Sunday Half Hour Christmas Special and Friday Night is Music Night; also on BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service and Sunday Worship, as well as special events at Christmas and Easter, including a Royal Albert Hall Christmas Concert.
Ella said: ‘I’m speechless, I can’t believe it!’ Previous winners have won recording contracts, appeared in West End musicals and sung with prestigious choirs.
Ella also plays the violin in the school symphony orchestra. Her ambition is to become a professional singer, perhaps after studying for a music degree at university. Many young musicians from Lancing have taken up choral and organ scholarships at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London, as well as Gloucester and Truro Cathedrals.
Major composers have written music for the Lancing College Chapel Choir, including Benjamin Britten who composed his cantata Saint Nicolas for Lancing's centenary in 1948 and Arvo Pärt who composed Triodion for the school’s 150th anniversary. The famous Chapel at Lancing is the largest and one of the finest school chapels in the world. It is a magnificent neo-Gothic, Grade I listed building and is an impressive Sussex landmark. Over 90 foot in height, its internal vaults are matched in England only by those at Westminster Abbey and York Minster.