KCJC join the ETO!
Kent County Junior Choir members join English Touring Opera!
Pictured above in rehearsals on Monday 29th October, 30 members of KCJC sing a new commission called Towards an Unknown Port. The 10-minute piece featured music by Helen Chadwick and words adapted from poems written by children in the Terezin (Thereisenstadt) Nazi concentration camp and the words of survivors of the Bosnian conflict in the book I Dream of Peace.
The songs were a poignant counterpoint to the short opera The Emperor of Atlantis, written and first rehearsed in the camp by composer Viktor Ullman during World War II and performed by English Touring Opera.
Jo Fitzmaurice, manager of Kent Youth Choirs, said: “These melodic and accessible songs gave further background and context to the issues raised in the opera which followed. We were delighted to have been invited to join this performance, which was a fantastic experience hugely enjoyed by our young singers who relished the opportunity to perform in full costume, with orchestra and in a professional theatre!”
Tim Yelland who directed the children said “they really managed to transcend the challenges, and sang at their very best, and with incredible accuracy.”
We were also delighted to be singing under the baton of former Kent Youth Orchestra cellist Chris Stark.
KCJC meets once a month on a Saturday, from 10am to 4pm, with rehearsals alternating between Rochester and Maidstone. Admission is by audition; details can be found at www.kent-music.com or by calling Valerie Cordina on 01622 358402.