As part of the preparations towards the African Choral festival in March, the first in the series of Regional Choral Competitions organized by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA), to select winners who would represent Ghana at the International event, took place at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, on Saturday 21st January 2012.

The Sakumono Youth Choir emerged the Greater Accra Regional Champions. The first and second runner-up positions went to Adehyeman Sacred Choral Group and Royal Sparrows Choir Group respectively.

The winning choir received a cash prize of GH¢ 1,000 whiles the second and third choirs received GH¢ 500 and GH¢ 250 respectively.

The event was highly competitive and the jury had a hard time selecting the eventual winners.

The Divine Favour Choir set the ball rolling for the afternoon putting the audience in the mood for a great afternoon of authentic choral tunes. Some of the songs performed brought back old memories of Ghanaian traditional music.

Each choir had fifteen (15) minutes to sing a compulsory song: Ephraim Amu’s "Yaanom Abibimma" and three other optional compositions. It was truly an afternoon with good performances from all the participating choirs who were loudly applauded by the enthusiastic audience.

Certificates of participation were presented to all the fifteen choral groups by the GTA Regional Manager, Mr. Gameli Dzordzorme.

The Western Forces Choir, the Tanokrom Philharmonic Choir and the Amemereso Choral Group were was also crowned the champions of the Western, Brong Ahafo and the Ashanti regions respectively in their various regional competitions. The audiences at the events were excited about the return of choral music to the Ghanaian society.

Meanwhile, the Hospital Road SDA Choir emerged the Northern Regional Champions in an event that took place at the GNAT Hall at Tamale. The first and second runners-up positions went to the OLA Catholic Youth Choir and the Tamale Teaching Hospital Choir respectively.

The winning choir received a cash prize of GH¢ 1,000 whiles the second and third choirs received GH¢ 500 and GH¢ 250 respectively.

The last round of competitions comes off on Friday Jan 27 in the Central Region while Volta, Eastern and Upper East Regions hold their events on Saturday January 28.