Students from Ellesmere College have revelled in the chance to sing in a variety of historic Roman buildings.

Members of Ellesmere College Chamber Choir, along with some members of the local community in the town, said they were thrilled with the chance to sing in St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, the Pantheon in Rome and the Cathedral in Ravello, Sorrento.

The one week music tour has been deemed a huge success by director of music at the College, Tony Coupe.

“Everyone has had a wonderful time on the trip,” he said.

“Singing in these historic places has been an absolute delight and the choir have really done themselves and the college proud.

“A highlight was singing in St Peter’s Basilica as there is such a calming atmosphere and the surroundings are so striking, we knew our singing had to match it to do it justice.

“The Pantheon comes a close second though - the building is incredible and the choir were amazed.

“You can see just by looking at the pictures what the circumstances were like. It took some time to compose ourselves ready to sing when you’re stunned into silence, but the visitors who were there at the time enjoyed our singing.”

The choir sung Christus Factus Est (Bruckner), Ave Verum Corpus, (Byrd), O Nata Lux (Tallis) and O Quam Gloriosum (Vittoria) amongst other repertoire.

The also went sightseeing and enjoyed visiting the area.

Mr Coupe added that the choir had managed to do plenty of practice on the trip ready for the upcoming competitions they have now that they have returned home.

“The opportunity was fantastic,” he added.

“We do a lot of practice at school and after school activities, they are a very committed group so the annual music tour is always something to look forward to - still plenty of hard work, but in different surroundings.”

The trip follows a performance at the Royal Festival Hall in London last month when they took part in the Barnardo’s Youth Choral Competition.

In February the students celebrated a record year at the Oswestry Youth Music Festival with successes across all categories and 24 first places as music continues to thrive and grow at Ellesmere College.