Jacob Thorn, who sings in the choir of St Helen's Church Abingdon, has been selected as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Choristers of the Year 2010 competition. He is one of four boys and four girls competing for the coveted awards. The finals will be held in on 29th October at St Paul's Cathedral, London and will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday 7th November and on BBC TV Songs of Praise on 6th February.

Jacob is very excited about taking part, and has already started practising his two pieces with his singing teacher, Maria Thompson, who lives in North Oxford. Earlier this year he was the first boy in fifteen years to win the Michael Howard Junior Vocal Prize in the Oxford Festival and also gained distinction in the 2010 Abingdon Festival Grade 7/8 Recital Class, singing Britten, Schubert and Handel songs.

Even before entering the BBC competition, Jacob had been chosen by world-renowned conductor Vladimir Jurowski to be the treble soloist for Mahler’s Das Klagende Lied next January at the Royal Festival Hall with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and by Nicholas Cleobury for the Fauré Requiem next March, at the Sheldonian Theatre with the Oxford Bach Choir and the English Chamber Orchestra. Jacob will also take the title role in a production of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors to be staged at St Helen's Church on the 16th January 2011. This is a magical children's opera about the visitation of the Wise Men to present gifts to the baby Jesus.

As well as singing, Jacob is an accomplished pianist and violinist with the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain. He enjoys composing music, drawing, making animé movies, reading and walking his dogs.

Based on information supplied by Simon Thorn.