A CHORISTER from St Thomas-on-the-Bourne Church has made it through to the finals of the BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year competition 2019.

Of Welsh heritage, 12-year-old Cai Thomas lives in Farnham and has been singing since the age of seven under the direction of the church’s director of music, Rob Lewis, with whom he also studies as a scholar at Edgeborough school in Frensham.

Cai is an accomplished soloist, holds the Bishop’s award for choral singing and has won competitions at local festivals and at school.

He regularly performs both locally and during choir tours, alongside St Thomas’s close-knit team, in European cathedrals including St Mark’s Venice, Brussels and Cologne.

Cai has also just completed a highly successful crowdfunding campaign to raise the funds to record his first solo album which will be released in spring 2020.

Over a short and focused five-week period, backers were drawn not only from the Farnham and Welsh communities but from countries across the world including the US and Japan.

The album will showcase Cai’s talent across a range of well-known treble classics and lesser known contemporary tracks, creating new and exciting opportunities for Cai’s development as a performer.

Dan Thornburn, headmaster of Edgeborough School, said: “All of us at Edgeborough were delighted to hear that Cai is through to the finals.

“Not only is he a special talent but he has worked so hard, along with those teachers and choristers around him, to get to where he is now – he deserves every success.

“I am sure he will wow the judges and audience alike!”

Speaking about Cai’s achievements, St Thomas’ director of music, Mr Lewis, added: “I’m delighted that Cai’s prodigious talent has been recognised in this way.

“He is a great ambassador for the choristership, energy and talent of all our choristers, who receive a wonderful musical education here at St Thomas-on-The Bourne.

“A choristership is a hugely beneficial all-round education for a young person which I would recommend to any child with a love of singing!”

The choir is currently recruiting and further details on how to join are available by emailing Mr Lewis at [email protected] or online at www.thebourne.org.uk

The BBC Radio 2 final is due to take place in the autumn, with a broadcast date close to Christmas.