FIVE students from Thomas Clarkson Community College gave the performance of their life when they performed before two adjudicators to win a place in the regional finals of the Rotary Young Musician of the Year Competition.

Those finals will be held on Saturday March 10 at Bancroft’s School High Road in Woodford Green, and if successful, the students will go through to the national finals in Bournemouth next month.

Rachel Ward, subject leader of music at the College, said “I have some very happy students, they were very impressed by the judges’ comments.”

The successful students were Emily Lyall who sang Think of Me from Phantom of the Opera ; Chelsie Smithson, who sang On my Own from Les Mis�rables;

Jasminda Sagoo, who played Turning Table by Adele on the piano; and saxaphone players Joshua Betts and Jake Tuck, who played Air by Henry Purcell.

The adjudicators were Fiona Marshall, and Lilian Miller. Fiona is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music where she studied singing and piano. She also studied jazz, and performed many times with the Royal Academy Big Band.

Lilian, a former head teacher, was classically trained in singing, but also trained in piano, dance and drama, and as arranged music festivals for Cambridgeshire Education Authority.