13 Year Old Choir Boy Goes Viral With Stunning Cover Of Les Misérables’ “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”
Cormac Thompson, a talented choir vocalist from Lancashire, UK, began his singing journey at age 8. He launched a YouTube channel in 2020 and uploaded performances that caught the attention of Decca Records, who approached him to create an album. His treble rendition of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" from "Les Misérables" was captured at London's Masterchord Studio. This track was distributed as a charity single to support "Acting For Others," an organization providing financial and emotional aid to theater workers during difficult times, particularly throughout 2020.
In the video, Cormac, now 13, displays remarkable vocal skill and artistic understanding. During 2020, government stay-at-home mandates prevented him from visiting his nannie. Since she enjoys his singing, his mother recorded videos to share with her on YouTube. Cormac later expressed, "It wasn't until I uploaded videos to YouTube singing songs for my Nannie in Northern Ireland that I realised just how much really I love it".
This experience sparked his musical dedication, and he now sings daily while pursuing a promising career. In 2021, accomplished pianist Dominic Ferris reached out to record several tracks with him. Dominic has worked with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on projects totaling over 3 million album sales globally. He has contributed to six top 10 albums and collaborated with Michael Ball on "Coming Home To You," which reached No.1 on UK album charts. Together with Cormac's parents, Dominic recognizes the young singer's exceptional gift and enthusiasm. They have produced 8 songs together so far.
UK television viewers might recognize Cormac's outstanding vocals from the "BBC Young Chorister of the Year" competition, where he advanced to the 2021 finals at Salisbury Cathedral. Clips of this achievement are available on his YouTube channel.
Discussing his musical inspirations, Cormac shared, "I like to listen to all kinds of music, I love Ed Sheeran and I'm learning to play one of his songs on the piano to sing to at the moment too. I really love singing songs with beautiful melodies that really show my voice at it's best and I am keen to sing these sorts of song before my voice changes to a man voice and that is only ever getting closer every day."
Continuing his reflection on his singing career, Cormac admits: "I will be very sad when I lose my treble voice but I know that it is a gift that was only ever mine to borrow for a short time and hopefully I wont sound too awful when I get my adult voice too."
