AROUND TOWN MEETS
Youth Choir
Barnsley meets
Through an uplifting chorus of local children and young people, the inspirational and talented singers of Barnsley Youth Choir have become an international flagship ensemble for our town, embodying the true grit and determination that has become symbolic with Barnsley.
“Most of the children had no formal training and couldn’t read music, some were from very tough backgrounds, but we always set out for it to be a community choir,”
Earlier this year, the dynamic and diverse Latvian capital city of Riga rang out with a plethora of multicultural patriotism as the third European Choir Games came to a close. The Olympics of the choir world, thousands of accomplished competitors from across the globe arrive at a different metropolitan city each year to battle it out at Intekultur’s European or World Choir Games.
Yet in the midst of 10,000 participants from 160 choirs stretching across 39 European countries, our little old town of Barnsley sang true throughout Arena Riga as Barnsley Youth Choir became double Champions for the second time.
As God Save the Queen echoed triumphantly around the stadium in the name of Barnsley, a flurry of over 60 of our young people were joined by their musical director, Mat Wright, to take centre stage and collect their prestigious awards. In the lead up to the screams of elation and tears of joy, Barnsley Youth Choir have collectively dedicated the past eight years to singing, starting from social
4
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
community beginnings to now being ranked 22nd in the top 1,000 choirs in the world from the many thousands that compete. But beneath their extensive repertoire, superlative pitch and authentic sound, the children and young people involved have shaped strong futures for themselves and have been given opportunities many would never have imagined possible.
Instrumental to their international success, musical director, Mat, has been the heart and soul of the choir since its inception in 2009. With a strong musical
background of his own, Mat won a full music scholarship to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield aged eight and became the main chorister in the Wakefield Cathedral Choir during his childhood. After studying at Bretton Hall College, Mat went onto become a secondary school music teacher, taking his first job at the home of Kes – the former Edward Sheerien School in Athersley.
As an Advanced Skills Teacher, a title given to only the best
teachers in the country, Mat became Head of Music and also worked as a local authority music advisor to over 100 local schools, providing music education training for teachers and helping expand the music curriculum in Barnsley.
In 2005, through his connections from working on big projects involving up to 500 children, Mat brought over singers from the renowned Aurin Choir, based at Hungary’s Kodaly Institute, to work with his students.
Sat in awe of these girls who formed one the world’s best choirs, this inspirational visit forged ideas to start a choir of their own and discover talent here in Barnsley. Together with retired history teacher, Keith Norton, Mat launched a youth choir four years after the Aurin visit, holding open auditions in February 2009.
“We expected about 30 kids to turn up but there were 167 singers who came to the audition. Keith and I were sat in the room thinking how are we going to manage? “Most of the children had no formal training and couldn’t read
music, some were from very tough backgrounds, but we always set out for it to be a community choir,” Mat says.
Breaking down barriers for singing, the choir is all-inclusive, inviting young singers with different backgrounds, singing experiences and abilities as long as they live, study or work in Barnsley and are under 24.
A not-for-profit organisation run by trustees and volunteers, they also hold the belief that money shouldn’t matter; although the choir receives no public or private funding, many of the children receive bursaries to enable them to attend rehearsals. The choir relies on the generous support of the local community and businesses to operate.
At its birth, parents were drafted in to help run things, with the choir quickly gaining speed and volunteer vocal leaders flocking in to give their time for free to help the children rehearse. Mat even drove around estates picking kids up to attend rehearsals to save parents the worry of getting them there on time. Starting at age seven, the youth choir goes right through adolescence up to young adults in their early 20s. However, combining the two age spectrums proved difficult and so Mat branched into two choirs soon after to provide both a children’s and senior choir.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
