Laura Nicholas - Cornish Soprano - Performer and Singing Teacher

Using Trinity College London music exams and performance to empower young people Trinity Champion Centres - Laxton Junior School and ActII Theatre Company - share their experiences of embedding Trinity music exams and how it supports building student confidence

🎉✨ Happy New Year to all my amazing singing students past and present! ✨🎉
I’m so proud of everything you achieved this year — from performances and exams to personal breakthroughs, confidence boosts, and those aha! moments in lessons. Every bit of progress matters, and you should be incredibly proud of yourselves 👏🎶
Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and the joy you bring each week. Teaching you all is an absolute highlight for me!
I can’t wait to see how your voices grow, goals expand, and confidence soar in the year ahead. Here’s to new songs, new challenges, and even more exciting achievements in 2026! 🌟🎤
Let’s make it our best year yet! 💛

Another highlight of 2025. I would also like to congratulate Sophie, Ingrid, Natalie, Kenza, Imogen, Izzy, Issy, and Addison for their lovely performances at Gulval Church in December. It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying the opportunity to sing a little something for friends and family, and I am delighted to announce that this will now become a monthly event. Singing to an audience is an important part of developing as a performer, helping to build confidence, stage presence, and communication skills. Performing regularly in a supportive setting like this allows singers to grow, manage nerves, and connect with their audience, turning practice into a truly rewarding musical experience.

Another young lady I haven’t yet celebrated is Kenza, who achieved fantastic success at the Camborne Music Festival. She won two of her three classes, including one with an impressive 91 marks! Kenza was then awarded Most Promising Young Singer and has been entered into a national Rotary Club competition this February. What an outstanding achievement, Kenza — very well done!

A few highlights I should share before 2026 begins…Issy’s first music festival was a real milestone, and she truly rose to the occasion. She sang beautiful French repertoire, brought character and style to Bernstein, and added genuine emotion to a well-known Sting song, along with so much more. She came away with some trophies, but more importantly with valuable performance experience, constructive feedback (diction and dynamics 😛), and a set of polished repertoire ready for future concerts.

🎤 So proud of my youngest, most courageous and fabulous singers! 🎶

On Saturday, my youngest students performed an incredible range of music — Lieder, French song, Italian repertoire, Musical Theatre, Film, Disney, Pop, Folk, sacred pieces, and even duets. Every performer stepped up with poise, polish, and a commitment to giving their personal best.
It didn’t take long for us to recognise what the adjudicator was looking for, and I was blown away by how many of you immediately lifted your performances to meet those expectations. Some of you even embraced the extra challenge of harmonising with a fellow singer — and you did it beautifully!
A huge well done to those who gave their first ever solo performance, and to those who showed such clear progress since their last time on stage. Your growth, courage, and musicianship were shining all day.
So incredibly proud of you all! Camborne Music Festival

🌟 Last night was a massive milestone for these two incredible women, as they took a huge step in their performance journeys and launched their solo careers!

Ingrid mesmerized us all with a beautiful unaccompanied folk song, while Sophie flew the Cornish flag high with a gorgeous Fisherwoman’s song and closed the night with a haunting *Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again*. 😍

Sophie also took on one of the greatest love songs of all time, *Woman in Love*, and walked away with some well-deserved silverware (which I won myself 18 years ago!) By the end of the evening the adjudicator commented on the singers being "experienced performers” and Sophie was in their league and alongside them!

So incredibly proud of both of them—these ladies are just getting started out performing to the public and I can't wait to see what comes next! 🌟

🎶✨ So incredibly proud of these two amazing ladies! 🌟 They took the stage with nothing but their voices and delivered an unaccompanied folk song with the most beautiful harmonies. The whole audience was so moved and they got an invitation to join Duchy Opera! 🎤🙌
I was lucky enough to join them for a challenging but super fun trio, and we WON! 🏆🎉 What an unforgettable experience and a huge shoutout to my brilliant students for their hard work, dedication, and beautiful voices! You make me so proud! 💕🎶 Keep shining, ladies!