A CHOIRBOY has received the highest possible award for young church singers.

Robbie Major, 13, received the St Nicholas' Award from the Archbishop of York recently, during an event at York Minster with more than 300 young singers. The national award is only given to a small number of choristers by the Royal School of Church Music.

Robbie, of Guisborough, is a member of the 40-strong choir at the town's St Nicholas' Church. He has been singing for five years and is taught by choirmaster Richard Bendelow.

He received the award after lengthy studies and a tough exam this summer.

His solo singing, sight-reading and music theory were all tested, as was his knowledge of choral repertoire and Christian culture.

He said: "It was a big surprise when I heard I'd received the award. I thought it would be quite a while before I got the exam results, but the announcement came fairly quickly."

Robbie, who is a pupil at Laurence Jackson School, also plays piano and hopes to study GCSE music next year.