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Singer Gabriella 's dream is a step nearer
Talented Dogsthorpe teenager Gabriella Pineda Rodrigues has hit all the right notes after being accepted at one of the country's leading music schools.
Talented Dogsthorpe teenager Gabriella Pineda Rodrigues has hit all the right notes after being accepted at one of the country's leading music schools.Gabriella Pineda Rodrigues has been given the chance to go to the Chethams School of Music, in Manchester, from September.
The school is known as one of the leading specialist music schools in the country, and is the next step on the road for Gabriella's dream of becoming a leading opera singer.
Today, the 16-year-old, of Derby Drive, Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, said: "I have been told that only one in every 100 people who audition get a place at the school, and people from all over the world apply to go there.
"I am delighted to get a place, and it was a bit of a shock."
The teenager's interest in music began when she was aged just six, when her mother started to teach her to play the piano.
She has also been a member of the Peterborough Cathedral Choir for the last five years, and will move to the Manchester school from King's School, in Park Road, Peterborough.
Today, Gabriella said that despite getting her place on the course, she still had a long way to go before realising her dream.
She said: You can't really be an opera singer until you reach your 30s, because your voice has to develop.
"But by going to this school, it will be the perfect place to develop.
"I have been told by quite a few people I have a powerful voice, so I think I will do well."
Along with her musical training, Gabriella will also face the normal stresses of being a teenager, including her A-levels.
She will take exams in music, French, music technology and English literature.
She said: "It is going to be a step into the unknown.
"I don't know too many people who will be at the school, but I am looking forward to it.
"All my friends said they were pleased for me, but will be sad to see me go."
Today, director of music at Peterborough Cathedral Andrew Reid said he was delighted by Gabriella's success.
He said: "She joined the choir a couple of months before I did, but, over the last five years, she has really developed as a singer.
"In a way, achieving a place like this is not a reward for what she has achieved in the past, but for the incredible potential she has in the future."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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