A Space to Just be Myself - Rosie J, Age 15

I only joined WFYV around one and a half years ago, but as soon as I set foot into my first rehearsal, I knew it was home. You know when you get that feeling of comfort or when you are just certain you are meant to be somewhere? That's how it felt for me.

Now I have done multiple concerts and events with them and it's always such an amazing and different atmosphere to anywhere else. Everyone supports each other and we all see it as fun more than anything. If you are doing a whole solo or just a little bit of one of the songs, you can

always find support and encouragement from people around you. It always makes me feel so confident that I have the support of the whole choir.

As well as all of the fun we have, in my humble opinion, we are actually quite good! Naomi is an

amazing musical director and always pushes us to the best of our abilities. She always helps us to improve our performance skills, whether it's how we stand on stage or how to act properly in an actual concert. She helps us enhance our musical knowledge too! We sing wide range of music from very choral pieces to more folk pieces. This helps us expand our repertoire and explore different genres of music. We have also performed in a wide range of venues and been on a summer tour to Devon. The trip was such an amazing experience, it was just a bunch of kids doing what they love with their friends for a week. I had the best time! And the two venues that we sang in were not only gorgeous, but they also had great acoustics, which made our pieces sound even more impressive.

I think being in Young Voices is such an amazing experience with all the opportunities. From my perspective, it gives me a space to just be myself where I won't be judged. It has given me friends that share the same interests as me, that will make me smile and laugh and people that I can look up to as my role models. Young Voices creates a family and a team which I never want to leave. I wish I could stay forever!