Growing up my siblings used to laugh at me when I said I wanted to be a choir master, but I was passionate about it and it was something that I always wanted to do. I had no formal training, but I taught myself to read music and play the piano. I wanted to make my Mum proud of me. The first choir competition that we entered, we did just for the experience. It wasn’t about the winning, but about our journey together. It was really emotional. I remember telling the choir that this wasn’t about how they sung, but to just sing from their hearts. We were up against lots of really experienced choirs. No one expected us to do well. When we won, they had to call out our name twice, because I just wasn’t expecting it! I remember looking at Mum, her face was down and she was crying. She was so proud of me! That was one of the biggest achievements in my life.
