A YOUTH choir from Barrowford has been chosen to sing at one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.

Arden Youth Choir will be flying to France in July to show off their singing skills in front of hundreds of people at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The all-female 30-strong choir passed a rigorous audition process in order to be able to be allowed to sing at the world famous monument.

The girls are jetting off to Paris to host a string of mini concerts in the city, which also include singing on the main stage at Disneyland, and in the Parc du Luxembourg, one of the most famous parks in the city.

Only a handful of British choirs ever get through the audition process to sing at the cathedral.

The choir will be given a half hour slot at both the Cathedral and Disneyland, where hundreds of tourists will watch them sing.

Susan Eames, musical director of the choir, said: “The girls are so excited about going to Paris and singing at Notre Dame and Disneyland.

“They have worked so hard to be chosen, we had to send a DVD of the choir singing at a concert and pass auditions.

“The entry panel were looking for musical ability, harmonic skills, present-ation and approach, dict-ion, perfect intonation (tuning) and professi-onalism in their perfor-mance.

“The Disneyland reper-toire is to be boppy, light-hearted and fun music preferably with choreo-graphy, whereas Notre Dame has to be all sacred music.

“This is giving the girls fantastic experience of singing all styles from Stevie Wonder to Bach.”

Ilarai Roche, musical tours manager from School Travel Service, which arrange the concerts, said: “Only a handful of choirs that apply ever get chosen to sing at Notre Dame.

"The choir’s audition tape was very professional and a much higher standard than other entrants that we received.”

Whilst in Paris the girls will also have the chance to explore the city, visiting the Arc de Triomphe and walking down the Champs Elysees.