Lancing College girl is Young Chorister of the Year

A-level student Ella Taylor, 16, and one boy competitor, won the grand final at St Paul’s Cathedral, London.

Hosted by Aled Jones, Ella’s success in the competition’s 25th anniversary year was broadcast on Radio 2 yesterday (Sunday, November 7).

Ella, a boarder and choral scholar, said after her victory: “I’m speechless. I can’t believe it.”

Previous winners have earned recording contracts, appeared in West End musicals and sung with prestigious choirs.

In the competition, Ella sang a hymn to the Londonderry Air and the aria How Beautiful are the Feet from Handel’s Messiah.

As a result of her triumph, she will also appear on Radio 2’s Good Morning Sunday, Sunday Half Hour Christmas Special and Friday Night is Music Night, as well as Radio 4’s Daily Service and Sunday Worship, and special events at Christmas and Easter, including a Royal Albert Hall Christmas concert.

Ella is a former chorister of Sheffield Cathedral, where her father, Neil, is the director of music.

At Lancing College, her fellow members of the chapel choir include choristers from Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, and St Paul’s, Salisbury and Chichester cathedrals. Neil Cox, director of music of Lancing College Chapel since 1978, is responsible for the exceptional standard of the choir today.

Ella also plays the violin in the college’s symphony orchestra. Her ambition is to become a professional singer, perhaps after studying music at university.