Swansea Excelsior Ladies Choir

STUDENT AWARD : SELCSA

In 2004 the choir introduced an award scheme SELCSA (Swansea Excelsior Ladies Choir Student Award) with the aim of helping a student whose intention is to go on to further education to study music. The winner each year is offered the opportunity to win not just a £500 monetary award but also the chance to perform at the choir's Annual Patrons Concert.

Click here for application details

This years winner

2008 Céline Forrest - Soprano

Previous winners

2007 Hannah Gill - Pianist

2006 Felicity Panniers - Flautist

2005 Natalya Romaniw - Soprano

2004 Joe Morgan - Baritone

	SELCSA Winner 2008 Céline Forrest Céline has been singing since her early years. She has been a leading performer at her school, Ffynone House and in the Grand Theatre Harry Secombe Theatre productions. Her most recent role was that of Killer Queen in We Will Rock You. Her love of and interest in opera began some two years ago and t is in opera that she hopes to follow a career. She sang the part of Ruth in West Glamorgan Youth Theatre’s production of Pirates of Penzance. As a member of the Welsh National Youth Opera company she was a chorus member in The Rake’s Progress and this year she will be a cast member in The Calling of Maisy Day by award winning composer Brian Irvine. Céline has been guest soloist with the Dunvant Male Choir and as a member of the Ariosa Singers has been a soloist in their tours of Dublin and Prague . This year she will sing with them in the cathedrals of Paris . Together with three other Ariosa singers she sang at a coffee concert last year which raised well over £400 for Breast Cancer Care. Caller Divas-in-Waiting, they have recorded a specially commissioned arrangement of the Ave Maria by Swansea composer Lisa Mears. Céline studies singing with Penny Ryan and in 2007 gained her Performer’s Certificate with distinction. She is soon to take her examination for the prestigious award of the Trinity / Guildhall Recital Diploma ATCL. Earlier this year she was awarded a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music, London where she will study for an honours degree in Music specialising in singing and vocal studies. (April 2008)
	SELCSA Winner 2007 Hannah Gill Hannah Gill was born in 1988 and began her piano studies at the age of 11. At the age of 15 she passed Grade 8 piano with distinction and was subsequently awarded the Dorothy Grace Atkinson Memorial Prize by the ABSRM. Hannah also holds a Grade 8 distinction in viola and music theory. She is a church organist in Cardiff and accompanist for a ladies choir. At 16 she made her concert debut with Cardiff Chamber Orchestra, and has since gone on to perform with the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra as a finalist in the Texaco Young Musician of Wales 2007 competition, which was broadcast on ITV Wales. She has given recitals at numerous venues, including Wales Millennium Centre and Brecon Cathedral. In 2005 she gained a distinction in her piano performance diploma, along with ten A* grades at GCSE. Competition highlights include awards for best pianist in both the South Glamorgan and Abertawe Festivals. Hannah currently holds the title 'Vale of Glamorgan Young Instrumentalist of the Year' and was a prizewinner in the Rotary Young Musician 2006. For two years Hannah has attended North London Piano School International summer course where she undertook masterclasses with artists such as Ronan O'Hara, Ruth Harte and Irina Ossipova, and performed at the Royal Academy of Music. Hannah is currently a student at the Junior Department of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and was chosen to represent the college at this year's Junior Intercollege Beethoven Competition. She studies piano with Alison Bowring and will begin her music performance degree in the autumn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London . (May 2007)
	SELCSA Winner 2006 Felicity Paniers Felicity Panniers is a second year A-Level student at Gorseinon College studying Music, Music Technology and French. She has been a flautist for nine years and studies flute with Phillip Emanuel (Head of West Glamorgan Youth Music Service). Felicity obtained her Grade 8 with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music last summer and is now working on widening her repertoire. In September this year Felicity is intending to study music at Cardiff University . During her nine years of flute playing Felicity has been a member of many orchestras and ensembles. For seven years she has played with the West Glamorgan Youth Wind Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra where she has performed in 'The Youth Festival of Music' at the Festival Hall, London . For the past five years Felicity had been a member of the West Glamorgan Youth Wind Ensemble - a highlight of which was a special performance for Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. Both ensembles have had very successful tours of Italy - touring the North Italian Riviera and Lake Garda . This experience, in addition to her achievement at Grade 8, enabled Felicity to be eligible to audition for national ensembles. Felicity gained entry into the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Wales and has been a member for the past three years - achieving the honour of becoming principal piccolo in 2004 and principal flute in 2005. Last year Felicity played with the world famous pianist Gordon Back in his annual recital in the Brangwyn Hall and has been invited to do so again this year. She has played in many shows throughout South Wales including West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Carousel and in July this year will be playing in a production of 'Oliver' at the Grand Theatre, Swansea. Felicity has recently formed a flute group called 'The Pink Ladies' which has been the supporting act for the Gower Brass Ensemble and are now the current supporting act for the Pontardulais Town Brass Band. She has recorded film score transcriptions namely 'The Kingfisher' and 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'. Felicity has recently been invited to be a guest soloist at the Gwyn Hall, Neath. (May 2006)
	SELCSA Winner 2005 Natalya Romaniw Natalya Romaniw is a second year A-Level student at Gorseinon College taking Music, Drama and French. She has a distinction at Grade 8 in singing and is also about to take the ATCL Recital Diploma examination. She has been awarded a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with full fee remission. There are hundreds of students who compete for these awards and Natalya's audition performance was described as memorable. In studying at Guildhall, she will be following in the footsteps of Bryn Terfel, Rebecca Evans and last year's winner, Joe Morgan. Natalya has frequently sung and acted at the Grand Theatre. She has sung with Tylerstown Band and is due to tour this summer with Parc and Dare Brass Band. She has recorded film score transcriptions, including 'The Jungle Book' and 'The Interrogation'. Natalya recently sang the part of Eve in 'Children of Eden' at Llandaff Festival and was soloist last month at Mumbles Navy Days concert when she appeared in All Saints Church with Pontardulais Male Choir. In September, in the All Saints Alive Festival, Natalya will sing in the Young Singers Spectacular and she will be joined by Nicolas Dwyer, (a runner-up in the annual Swansea Excelsior Ladies Choir award auditions, when they present a joint, lunchtime recital. Natalya's singing teacher is Penny Ryan. (May 2005)
	SELCSA First Winner 2004 Joe Morgan Joe Morgan is eighteen. He was Heads Boy at Penyrheol, where he starred in several school productions, taking the lead in ' Oklahoma !' He is now studying Music, Music Technology, German and Italian at Gorseinon College . A versatile and accomplished singer, Joe sings with All Saints Choir Oystermouth, the National Youth Choir of Wales, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Welsh National Youth Opera and with professional choir 'Only Men Aloud'. Last year he played Pish Tush in the Welsh National Youth Opera production of 'Mikado', as well as singing the bass solo in Mozart’s 'Requiem' with the Swansea Philharmonic Choir, the part of Joseph in a concert performance of 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat' and gave a stunning portrayal of 'Gabriel' in an original musical, 'Hello Jesus'. Last February he was guest soloist at All Saints in a charity concert organised by the Mumbles Rotarians that raised £1700 for Morriston Hospital 's Maxillofacial Injuries Unit. In September, Joe gave a recital in the All Saints Alive Festival in Oystermouth. Joe has just completed the audition for conservatoire admission and has been offered major scholarships at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music, one of two Foundation Scholarships at the Royal College of Music, where he was invited back to sing in a post-graduate masterclass, and a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he will follow in the footsteps of Bryn Terfel to study with Rudolf Piernay. As a member of the Ariosa soloists, Joe has sung several fundraising concerts helping to raise almost £3000 for charities. He plays piano and classical guitar and gained a distinction for his Grade 8 singing examination. As a result of this achievement he was selected to perform in the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music High Scorers Concert last October winning a prize for outstanding vocal achievement. At Easter, Joe sang at the famous Birmingham Symphony Hall with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain directed by Mike Brewer. He was the baritone soloist and cantor with All Saints Choir Oystermouth in a recent BBC Wales radio religious broadcast and he is the first recipient of the S.E.L.C.S. Award. He is a founder member of 'Souled Out', a local soul band, very popular in the community, which raises much money for charity. His singing teacher is Penny Ryan OBE FRSA. His regular accompanist is Hywel Evans, a third year Bmus student at the Royal Welsh College of Music, Cardiff . (May 2004)