Jodi Bird Is The 2015 Principality Building Society Welsh Musical Theatre Young Singer Of The Year

On Saturday April 11 the Taliesin Arts Centre in Swansea hosted the 13th annual staging of the Principality Building Society Welsh Musical Theatre Young Singer Of The Year, sponsored by the Principality Building Society and founded and administered by the prestigious Dunvant Male Choir, both of whom are strongly committed to celebrating and promoting the arts in general and the musical theatre genre in particular.

In a closely fought contest between Melissa Bayern, Jodi Alexandra Bird, Caitlin McKee and Tom Richards, the audience were treated to a varied and exciting selection of musical theatre fare, ranging from Rodgers and Hart to Joe Iconis with a little Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew Lippa and many more along the way.

17 year old schoolgirl from the Vale of Glamorgan Jodi Alexandra Bird was awarded the 2015 title as well as a cash prize of £1000 plus an all-expenses-paid trip to perform in concerts in Sydney, Australia, courtesy of Cymdeithas Cymru Sydney (the Sydney Welsh Society). Jodi, who was a 2014 semi-finalist on ITV's Britain's Got Talent, has appeared on stage with John Owen Jones and on screen with Rhydian Roberts and Trevor Eve and, earlier this year, she performed a Welsh language version of Let It Go (from the Disney movie Frozen) live on TV and sang at Disneyland Paris.

All four contestants were accompanied by highly acclaimed pianist Jeffrey Howard and the competition was adjudicated by Claire Hammacott, Michael Morwood and Vivien Care. The evening's celebration of musical theatre also included choral renditions of musical theatre songs by the Dunvant Male Choir and solo performances by the 2014 winner, Luke McCall.

Many of the previous winners of the coveted title have gone on to perform in musicals in the West End and in major UK touring productions, including Connie Fisher (Wonderful Town, They're Playing Our Song, The Sound Of Music), Hayley Gallivan (Oliver!, Wicked, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Grease, Spring Awakening), Kit Orton (Tom, Dickens Abridged, Spamalot, The Hired Man), Michael Riseley (Les Miserables) and 2011 Olivier Award winner David Thaxton (Les Miserables, Candide, Passion, Love Never Dies).