An ���ϸ������� Academy Ripon student is celebrating after winning Gold with his choir at the World Choral Cup.

Michael Chihobvu, a Year 7 student and member of the Choice Children’s Choir of Zimbabwe, joined 54 choirs at the competition hosted in Barcelona where the choir scooped Gold for its Western performance in the children’s division. The group also secured a Silver award in the folklore division and was one of a select number of acts to perform at the competition's opening ceremony. Although known for its traditional Zimbabwean music and dance, the choir gave several performances throughout the competition, singing in a range of languages including Shona, Latin, English and isiNdebele.

Despite being over eight thousand miles away from the rest of the choir, Michael was able to join group rehearsals via video calls and get extra practice in at school break times. The youngster is currently looking for a local choir to join.

Commenting on the win, Michael said:

“The competition was a thrilling experience for me after doing most of my practice online. I had to wake up very early for rehearsals because of the time difference and I also had to give up my break times to practice in the school music room. Winning gold was a huge achievement and it showed me that hard work pays off.”

Winning is nothing new for the choir which walked away from last year’s Lisbon Sings competition with two silver awards!