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Upper Beeding Primary School

Young Voices at the O2

30th January 2019

After six months of rehearsals, children from Upper Beeding Primary finally travelled to the London O2 arena for the annual Young Voices concert.   Under the baton of the world renowned conductor David Lawrence the children sang and danced the night away.  

Young Voices has been staging the largest children’s concerts in the world for the past twenty years.  The concerts are conducted by David Lawrence, whose work involves directing symphony choruses, European radio choirs and professional orchestras.

The rehearsal got off to a very exciting start for Upper Beeding Primary children who could not believe their ears when David Lawrence read out the school’s name in recognition of our 10 years anniversary of being a part of the Young Voices concerts. 

To be a part of such a massive choir – 8,000 children in total - is a truly unforgettable experience for children and adults alike.   As the lights went out to mark the beginning of the concert, the children let out ear-splitting screams of excitement which echoed around the arena. Thousands of mini torches shone through the darkness accompanied by spotlights darting around the choir and audience.  The image was breath-taking, something I hope will be a treasured memory for many years to come and inspire the children’s singing in the future. 

 

The children sang a range of songs including an American Medley, ‘Any Dream will Do’ which celebrates the 50th anniversary of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ and the stirring Michael Jackson song, ‘We are the World’. 

 

Guest artist, Tony Hadley, received a very warm welcome from both children and adults alike.  Singing his hit songs, ‘Gold’ and ‘True’ to an arena filled with twinkling torch and mobile lights was a sight to behold.  He went on to sing ‘Tonight belongs to us’ a more recent track with the children.  The night finished with a ‘Greatest Showman’ medley which has to be one of the favourite tunes of the night.  The audience’s roar of approval at the close of the concert was quite emotional and definitely goes down as one of those ‘goose-bump’ moments.

 

The children’s enthusiasm, commitment to learning some incredibly complex songs and energy is inspiring.  A deep heart thanks must also go to the parents who joined us, for without their ongoing support, events like this simply wouldn’t happen.