TEES
VALLEY
VOICES

Please see our diary for the dates of our upcoming events.

Making an Opera - an exciting new project for 2011 and 2012!

New singers are very welcome to join the choir and take part in this project - it's not too late. Just come along to a rehearsal.

A grant from Youth Music of £11,176 has enabled Tees Valley Voices to take a major part in the creation of a new children's opera. John Forsyth (who conducted and directed the 2009 children's opera) has worked with the children to compose a new opera for the choir to perform. Children have contributed ideas about all aspects of the opera - plot, music and words, and some attended a workshop to learn about costume-making and makeup. The opera is now finished, and Darlington Youth Choir and boys' choir Locomotion have joined the project, learning the music in their own rehearsals. However, at a meeting on 8th December, the Tees Valley Voices committee, with great sadness and reluctance, had to cancel the 15th January performance at the theatre in Middlesbrough College.

Over the preceding few weeks, year 10 pupils had been withdrawing from the production as they learned from their schools that they had their first GCSE modules in the week leading up to the performance. This left the chorus seriously low in numbers, with many of the most experienced singers missing, and the committee felt that it was not right to put youngsters through the nerve-wracking experience of being involved in a weak performance. It would also not be good for the audience, and would not do justice to the excellent piece that John has written for, and with, the choir.

This has been a great blow after all the work that has been done so far by so many people, and very disappointing for the children. Never before have we had to cancel an event, and we are determined that it will not happen again. We are now working towards the best outcome in the circumstances - a performance at Middlesbrough College later in 2012.

We are pleased that the funding supports training for the Music Directors and has enabled Tees Valley Voices to offer conducting training to a young musician, Stephanie Ross, who has been mentored by Katie Hibbard.

Some singers have taken up the opportunity of using the experience of being involved in the opera to achieve an Arts Award. (You can obtain further information about the Arts Award scheme from our Downloads page.)

The process of creating, rehearsing and performing the opera is being filmed by a group of students from Middlesbrough College.

Underpinning the whole project is progress in singing skills, so lots of evaluation will be going on throughout the project.

Concert: Christmas Cracker. Saturday 17 December 2011, Meadow, Lingfield Point, Darlington.
Tees Valley Voices traditionally takes part in this great event which raises funds for St Teresa's Hospice, Darlington. They have a solo spot and also sing with the huge adult choir, accompanied by a big orchestra and watched by a large, enthusiastic audience. It's a brilliant experience. There is a rehearsal in Darlington Arts Centre on the Thursday before the concert (15th December) when the children are helped by adult singers to find their way around 4-part music scores, then there is an afternoon rehearsal on concert day at the venue.

Concert for Sponsors, Monday 19th December 2011, 12.30, The Wilton Centre, Redcar.
Please note that this is the first Monday of the Christmas holidays! Good attendance of singers is vital and we will arrange car sharing to make it easier. We will be singing for half an hour to current and potential sponsors and supporters, so our very best performance standard is needed. An excellent buffet lunch for all, generously given by The Wilton Centre, will follow the concert. The concert is free for the audience, but there will be a collection for Zoe's Place, the children's hospice, which is also supported by The Wilton Centre.