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The University of Nottingham’s Revival Gospel Choir has won the University Gospel Choir of the Year 2014 (UGCY).
The Nottingham group beat off stiff competition from seven other University choirs from across the UK to take the coveted prize — officially making them the best University Gospel choir in the UK.
The group performed a ‘Kumbaya medley’ arranged by their musical director — Frances Hamilton, which was very well received and saw the audience clapping and cheering mid-way through.
The group’s winning song was ‘Matthew 28’ by Donald Lawrence, an American Gospel artist and was directed by the team’s second musical director, Josh Smith. The group received two standing ovations from both the audience and the judges after performing — and were the only choir to be told that their songs were ‘faultless’.
This is the third time the Nottingham group, which is run by students, has entered the annual competition. The
UCGY, which is in its fourth year, provides a unique platform for fresh talent from the best and brightest of the UK’s universities to shine and elevate the Gospel.
The Revival Gospel Choir is made up of 100 singers from the University and throughout each term, various organisations request for the group to perform for free at various events. A highlight of the group’s calendar is a workshop with a musical director of London Community Gospel Choir as well as numerous charity and educational events.
Colette Davies, Publicity Officer for the Revival Gospel Choir, said: “We are over the moon about our win. So much time and hard work went in to rehearsing that this really was the perfect ending.
“When it was announced that we had won, the choir went absolutely crazy, jumping up and down, hugging each other and crying. The feeling that we had performed to the best of our abilities was incredible. I think that the passion that we all have for singing with RGC and our sense of community and family that we have in our society really came through in our performance.”
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottinghamhas 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is also the most popular university among graduate employers, the world’s greenest university, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the World's Top 75 universities by the QS World University Rankings.
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