Balulalow is new Silent Night

The contest was run by St Mary’s Singers of Potton and Lindsay Music Publishers.

The winner was 13-year-old Bethany Reeves from London with her carol, Balulalow.

Her carol will be performed at St Mary’s Singers Christmas concerts at St Mary Magdalene Church in Dunton on Friday, December 7 and Saturday, December 8.

She attended a rehearsal on Wednesday, October 31. Bethany also won a cash prize from a bequest to the singers given by the late members, Betty and Arthur Warnes.

Bethany started writing her carol when she was 11. She started composing when she was eight and her first proper composition, for clarinet and piano, Für Brian, was written when she was nine; it was for her Grandfather, Brian, to play on the clarinet.

At 11 she wrote the winning fanfare for a Royal Opera House competition.

Bethany plays seven instruments, is the organist sometimes at a local church and is already teaching the piano to others. She says that music is a big part of her life.