By Rebecca Crockett
Donegal musician Ellie Carson has been honoured by the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM), receiving a national award for singing.
The 17-year-old from Glenmaquin near Letterkenny won the RIAM Spotlight Award for her impressive distinction grade in her Senior Certificate singing exam.
Ellie said when she found out about the award, the news came as a complete shock: “I was so happy! I didn’t expect it at all.” This year RIAM partnered with Ace Autobody to present the Spotlight Award to highlight some of the 30,000 students who take exams every year and achieve outstanding results.
Amazingly, this is the second time the young musician has been recognised by the RIAM as she received the High Achiever award when she was just 12 years old.
Ellie was also one of the chosen few to be asked to sing live at a special awards ceremony held in Ballina Arts Centre last month.
Singing Misty by Errol Carrol, Ellie’s family and friends, including her mum, Wendy, proudly watched her take to the stage.
Although she has watched her daughter perform since Ellie was 5 years old, Wendy said she still gets butterflies on Ellie’s behalf: “I’m so proud watching her but I am so nervous when she gets on to the stage. She’s done a few shows at school and when she performed in Calamity Jane and got the main part I didn’t rest until her performance was over.”
During her performance, she was accompanied on piano by her singing teacher Claire Crockett who has been Ellie’s singing teacher for ten years.
Claire said: “It’s great to see a student recognised for their hard work and especially develop in such a specific area. Ellie loves musical theatre so it’s always a reward for me to see a student develop a love for a genre of music and want to continue further in that field.”
Looking ahead, the teenager has high hopes for the future as she plans to continue her musical education after leaving secondary school. Ellie said: “Whenever I get my Leaving Cert finished, I’ll go on to college and hopefully do music.”
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