Xavier, who was born with a cleft palate that affected the way he talked, has used perfecting his on-stage speech performances as a way to recover after an operation to repair the disorder. 

Xavier is one of the thousands of students who will perform in the City Of Orange Eisteddfod, which started yesterday with speech and drama.

He performed 16 pieces throughout yesterday’s competition for children aged nine and 10 years and under.

The nine-year-old said he had been practising piano, speech and drama since he was three years old and performs across the state in eisteddfods for 10 weeks of the year.

He said ever since an operation to fix his cleft palate when he was seven, he wanted to use the stage to improve his speech.

“I want to have perfect speech now that I have the opportunity and performing gives me that option,” he said.

His mother Lozan is proud of his achievements, which include being awarded a scholarship to the Mitchell Conservatorium, the youngest to gain that recognition.

“He has this spirit to working for the better after his operation, and that’s really touched my heart,” she said.

The speech and drama section of the eisteddfod continues until Saturday at the Orange Function Centre.