Sing choirs of schoolkids

Click here to read an article by Abigail Frymann entitled 'Sing choirs of schoolkids' which appeared in The Tablet.





The article begins:


The Diocese of Leeds is developing a marvelous program in which the cathedral's music staff are reaching out to schools to give them access to top-level tuition - and the results are there for all to hear...

Click here to continue reading

(By kind permission of The Tablet - http://www.thetablet.co.uk/ )

BYC school hits the airwaves

BYC singing school Our Lady of Victories in Keighley has gone were no other BYC school has gone before! They have created their very own radio station - Radio OLV!

Each Friday afternoon the whole school sits listening intently to the weeks program, presented and produced by the pupils themselves!

Funded jointly by the school, and the Bradford Creative Partnerships programme, the studio – dubbed ‘RadiOLV’ – has been the brainchild of head John Devlin and the local community radio station, BCB 96.7 FM.

In addition to broadcasting in school, the weekly programme is available as a podcast - why not give it a try. Watch out for a programme in the near future which will feature tracks from BYC's first CD 'Jubilate Deo.'

Doctor's Appointment

From this term onwards, the Bradford Boys' Choir will have a doctor's appointment at St Bede's School from 4-5pm every Thursday. Not because they're ill, but because their director, Christopher Johns, has been awarded a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Durham University, where he studied from 2003 - 2006.

His dissertation was about Finnish, Arabic and Modern Irish, but German is the foreign language he speaks best, as he was Assistant Choirmaster at Osnabrueck Cathedral before starting at Durham. Here he is pictured outside Durham Cathedral just after receiving his degree from Chancellor Bill Bryson.

Congratulations, Dr Johns!

Lunchtime Concerts Series

The Lunchtime concert series returns for the Spring Term 2008 with a varied music programme. Details are as follows:-

Benjamin Saunders (Leeds Cathedral)
Thursday 31 January 1.10pm
Music by Langlais, Dupré & Hollins

Simon Lindley (Leeds Parish Church)
Thursday 7 February 1.10pm
Organ music by Bach, Vierne & Jackson

“Music for Spring & Lent”
Thursday 21 February 1.10pm
Leeds University Chamber Choir
Music by Allegri, Praetorius & Ockingham

Martin Couzin (Cello) & Andrew Bedford (Piano)
Thursday 28 February 1.10pm
Music by Beethoven & Martinu

Tom Leech (Ripon Cathedral)
Thursday 6 March 1.10pm
Excerpts from Bach’s Klavierübung III

“Rhapsody on a Ground”
Stephen Power (Southwell Minster)
Thursday 13 March 1.10pm
Organ Music by Howells, Alcock & Statham

Other Cathedral concerts also include:-

St John Passion by J.S.Bach
Sunday 17 February 3.00pm
Leeds Cathedral Choir with members of LUUMS

"Miserere mei"
Tuesday 18 March 8.00pm
Music for Holy Week by Allegri, Tallis and De Cristo

Free admission/retiring collection for all the above concerts and recitals

BYC on BCB

BYC Director Chris McElroy and members of the choirs were today the special guests on BCB radio's 'Our Top Ten' program. Award winning station Bradford Community Radio each week invites people in the local area who make positive contributions to the local community. As the largest youth singing program around, BYC certainly fits the bill with over 1000 children singing each week under the leadership team.


BCB presenter David Clapham played songs from the BYC recently released debut CD 'Jubilate Deo' and interviewed James Baxter (Boys' Choir) Hayley Nolan (Girls Choir) and Gavin Malewski (Changing Voices.) Each choir member brought along a CD of music of their choice which ranged from Elvis, through to 80's pop and music from the Harry Potter films!

If you missed the show, you can catch it again on

Wednesday 22nd January - 9am
and
Saturday 26th January - 12 midday

If you are in the Bradford area, you can listen at 106.6FM

Alternatively, listeners can tune in from anywhere via the Internet site which can be accessed by going to the BCB homepage, and clicking 'listen live'!

Choral Vespers at LPC

To mark the the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity a special service of Vespers was held yesterday at Leeds Parish Church.


Sung by the combined boys' choirs of Leeds Parish Church and Leeds Cathedral, the service featured music by Mozart and Byrd in a addition to traditional Epiphany tide hymns.

The music was directed by Dr Simon Lindley, Organist and Master of the Music at Leeds Parish Church. Simon is also Organist to the City of Leeds, and runs a very popular Monday lunchtime organ recital series at the Town Hall as part of the Leeds International Concert Season which attracts many famous organists.

Boys' can't sing? They can in Bradford!

The newly formed St. Bedes Male Voice Choir, one of the Bradford Youth Choir secondary schools, will sing at the Royal Albert Hall in April. The Royal Albert Hall in London is one of the most famous concert venues in the world, and is where the famous proms (including the 'last night') take place each year.

Click here to read all about the choir in today's T&A.

Click here to watch a video report featuring the boys singing and Mr Paul Martin, the headteacher being interviewed.

A great example of our talent!

Today's T&A carries a letter from a reader praising the performance of the Bradford Youth Choir in last weeks broadcast of Songs of Praise - well done to all concerned!

SIR -
I switched on to Songs Of Praise on Sunday and enjoyed the singing from the Cathedral in Leeds.

My surprise was when Bradford's Youth Choir flashed on the screen.
What a super performance they gave. All smartly dressed, a perfect rendition, brilliant

Congratulations to each and every one of them, they were a credit to their choirmaster/mistress and to Bradford which seems to be overshadowed by Leeds.

Bernice Bailey, Flawith Drive, Fagley, Bradford

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/search/display.var.1958158.0.a_great_example_of_our_talent.php

Anticipation building!

Tomorrow, Sunday 6th January, 400 singing youth from Bradford will broadcast live to the nation on BBC 1 TV.

The anticipation is building, so don't miss out!

To whet your appetite, why not have a look at:

Preview clip of 'We three kings'

Article in the Bradford T & A about the event

Video report