|
Formed in January 2005, The Singing Club is a group of young people aged between 10 and 14 who meet regularly under the musical direction of Dan Perkin, and work with musicians from Welsh National Opera to learn about singing and music.
Over the course of many WNO MAX school and community based projects and WNO's main-scale productions it has become clear that there are some outstanding young people in South Wales who would benefit from and contribute greatly to a Singing Club. Some of these young people might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in such a group and be encouraged to develop their music, singing and performance skills and fulfil their true potential. In this way WNO MAX hopes to continue nurturing young people and encourage them to keep singing.
The Singing Club meets in Cardiff at specific times during the year at weekends and during holidays, working with a dedicated team of professionals from the music world.
Throughout the year Singing Club members learn all about acting and stagecraft, music and vocal techniques as well as just having fun and making new friends.
Each year, during the Easter holidays, the Singing club performs a new opera production at the Wales Millennium Centre.
Last year the group performed Dolffin, the second opera in WNO's groundbreaking conservation trilogy commissioned by WNO MAX called the Land, Sea, Sky Trilogy.
Dolffin is about the lives of a pod of bottlenose dolphins in Cardigan Bay, the people that they encounter and the effect that they have on them. The Singing Club played both the lively dolphin chorus and the moody bilingual sea of Cardigan Bay!
This year the Singing Club will be performing in Wild Cat. The Carnegie Prize winning writer Berlie Doherty has written the libretto and Menna Elfyn, one of Wales' best-known poets, has provided the Welsh translations. The composer is Julian Philips, who is currently Composer-in-Residence at Glyndebourne Opear House and the director is Nik Ashton, who has previously directed WNO's Youth Opera (Candide) and is currently the revival director on WNO's La Boheme.
The story of Wild Cat takes place in a small town at the foot of mountains where the young people are running wild and rumours abound of a terrible beast that eats lambs and haunts the backyards of the local population. Megan and her younger sister Catrin are haunted by the tales, so much so that Catrin runs away to find the wild cat's cave.
Megan's boyfriend Mark sets out to rescue Catrin and fight the wild cat, but along the way finds himself making a very different kind of journey, back to his past where he once lived at one with nature, understanding the special balance that must exist between the wild and the civilized. This message is cleverly woven into the story, which uses wonderful images from nature to conjure up a mysterious, poetical world where exotic animals fight back to reclaim land taken from them, poisoning people's dreams in revenge.
Trilogy dates - WMC - Western Studio
Friday 18th May
10am Redflight Barcud
12pm Dolffin
2pm Wild Cat
Saturday 19th May
2pm Redflight
3.30pm Dolffin
5pm Wild Cat
Last April, the Singing Club worked on their very own commissioned piece called The Polymaths. This new participatory chamber opera explores mathematical relationships through song, music and movement. The piece draws on many musical devices including an oversized Monochord - an instrument for demonstrating musical ratios as used by Pythagoras himself!
The Singing Club has a close relationship with the WNO company and currently there are three Singing Club boys performing in WNO's production of Carmen. They successfully auditioned for this seasons production and will perform at WMC as well as on tour nationally.
In November, fifteen singing club children performed alongside the world famous Kirov Opera Company in a performance of the Ring Cycle. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children involved.
If you would like any further information about the Singing Club please contact Sarah Teagle - 02920 635061 / sarah.teagle@wno.org.uk
|
