A TEENAGE singer has won a prestigious trophy in her first time competing in the adult category at the Swindon Music Festival.

Matilda Wale from Nythe faced stiff competition from other singers and musicians but came out on top in the Senior Vocal Champion and Supreme Championships categories.

The New College student has had singing lessons from Janice Thompson since she was a toddler and has competed in the festival 10 times, winning the Junior Vocal Champion trophy in 2014.

More than 600 people entered this year’s festival and around a dozen competed in the Supreme Championships after winning smaller competitions.

Matilda said: “I was very surprised when I won, and thrilled, the trophy has a lot of history behind it and many of the singers I admire started at this festival.

“My first song was at 9am and my final song was at 9.30pm, I was the last song in the entire festival, luckily Janice has been teaching me how to build up my stamina.

“I thought it was going well but it was the third time that day I’d sang the same song so I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it better than the first performance.

“I sang Silent Noon by Ralph Vaughan Williams, it means a lot to me.

“It’s lovely, sentimental and romantic, the poetry of the lyrics makes me cry, and when you have someone in mind while you’re singing it, it becomes more authentic and genuine.”

Matilda has thrice-weekly private singing lessons with Janice, who also teachers her older sisters, and Matilda helps teach little ones at Janice’s JPT Trust junior classes on Tuesdays.

Janice said: “When Matilda was younger I could see the talent coming through.

“It is always rewarding for a teacher when their students do well, and Matilda has gone from strength to strength in the last twelve months.

“Winning a prestigious prize is the result of many years of hard work and devotion on her part, my part, and on the part of her devoted mum.

“She’s a lovely girl - intelligent, kind, talented and hard-working. “

Matilda added: “Janice is a big part of my life, I spend most of the week with her,.she’s like a second mother figure.

“I absolutely love singing, I’m a classical singer, I enjoy opera and operetta, I’d love to do it as a career.

“My mum is very supportive, we joke that she’s already my manager, chauffeuring me everywhere.

After finishing her A-Levels, Matilda will keep competing and hopes to study music at university.