THE girls of a choir at St Mary's Calne were delighted to discover that they had be crowned the winners of this year's Wiltshire Choir of the Year competition.

The Junior Choir, which comprises of all the girls in LIV house, were crowned winners on May 20 after a stunning performance in the preliminaries and a pitch perfect performance in the final where they beat three other schools, some of whom had older competitors.

"The girls were commended by the judges for their excellent posture, clear diction and the quality of their communication and engagement, Chris Totney, director of the junior choir, said. "They appeared thoroughly involved in the characterisation of their songs with a strong sense of narrative, powerfully expressing emotion and singing some challenging harmonies at times.

"The girls have been working towards this result for six months and it was wonderful to see them rewarded for their team work and dedication. They were an absolute credit to the school and the fabulous, silver cup will bear testimony to this throughout their years at St Mary's Calne. We are so proud of them!"

The girls are now focusing on next year's competition where they hope to defend their prestigious title.