Leng Medal winners!

A talented High School of Dundee vocalist is celebrating success in a Dundee-wide singing contest!

Emily Baptie won the girls’ Leng Gold Medal competition

Congratulations to Emily Baptie, who last week won the girls’ Leng Gold Medal competition for the unaccompanied singing of a traditional Scots song.

The event took place in the DC Thomson building at Meadowside, with Emily finding favour with the judge for her rendition of ‘Fear a' bhàta’.   

The Gold contest – which had been cancelled for the last two years because of the pandemic – is open to all those who have, in the current year or previously, won medals in the 'Silver' competitions which are held annually at primary and secondary schools across Dundee and the immediate surrounding areas for pupils from P7 to S4. 

Emily was the winner of this year’s HSD F1-F4 Silver competition and congratulations are also due to Alexandra Clark who was the winner of the L7 section.

Alexandra won the L7 section of the Leng Medal Silver competition

That qualified the pair for the Gold competition, at which they were joined by previous Silver medal winners Matthew Jamieson and Neil Bhat.

Emily’s victory continued a remarkable run of success for HSD pupils in the Gold competition, with a High School of Dundee pupil having won one of the two Gold Medals on offer (boys and girls) every year bar one since 2013.

Director of Music at the School, Dr Lionel Steuart Fothringham, said, “All four of our pupils sang superbly in the Gold competition and can be very proud of their efforts. Gold participants are required to sing two verses and chorus of a traditional Scottish song unaccompanied - a significant challenge for a young singer. 

“Congratulations to Emily on her Gold success, and to Alexandra for winning the Silver medal in the L7 section of our own competition this year.

“Our tremendous track record in the Gold competition since 2013 is testament to the very high quality of our singing teaching, our choral programme, our classroom teaching of Music, our Musicals, and support from instrumental teachers and our instrumental co-curricular programme.”