Announcing the International Youth Choir Festival 2017

Mzansi Youth Choir

Members of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain were the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 6 June 2015 for the announcement of the International Youth Choir Festival 2017. Taking place at the Royal Albert Hall on 15 April 2017 with a concert at the Royal Festival Hall on 17 April 2017 the festival will involve the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain along with seven choirs from all over the globe.

The choirs involved are diverse in terms of style, background and country, so the event promises to be a fascinating glimpse into youth singing all over the globe. Ensembles participating include the Boston Children's Chorus from the USA (a choir which uses music to inspire social change), the Diocesan Boys' School Choir from Hong Kong (an all male choir whose boy chorister will be coming to the UK), Manado State University Choir from Indonesia, Mzansi Youth Choir from Soweto, South Africa (a choir which mixes music and dance to showcase African traditional music), the Norwegian National Youth Choir, Riga Cathedral Boys Choir from Latvia, and Sawa Choir from Israel (a group which mixes Israeli Jews and Palestinians).

Riga Cathedral Boys Choir

At the launch on Monday, some of the choirs had sent video greetings which gave us a sample of the excitingly diverse nature of the different groups, as well as bringing out the sheer enthusiasm and talent of the young performers. We also got to hear some live music, as Dominic Peckham conducted an ensemble of eight young singers from the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain.

The event is non-competitive and is simply a chance for performers to showcase their talents, meet other performers and for everyone to learn from each other. The Saturday event will see a day of workshops, seminars, demonstrations and performances which will involve the youth choirs, delegates to the festival and music education professionals. There will be a huge variety of events on offer, filling the spaces of the Royal Albert Hall, and each choir will get a showcase performance. On Monday 17 April  2017, all the choirs will join together for a group performance of Jonathan Dove's There was a Child with the Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by Ben Gernon at the Royal Festival Hall.

Full information on the Saturday event from the Royal Albert Hall, and on the Monday event from the Southbank Centre website.


You can see other video at the International Youth Choir Festival pages