The Big Sing: 1000s performing new Jonathan Dove songs for Friday Afternoons

Friday Afternoons - Photo Aldeburgh Music

On Friday November 18, 2016 thousands of young people will come together to sing a new set of songs by Jonathan Dove (with lyrics by Alasdair Middleton) as part of the Friday Afternoons project's Big Sing. Friday Afternoons is led by Aldeburgh Music they will host 800 Suffolk school children at Snape Maltings Concert Hall and other participants include music hubs in Nottingham, Lancashire, Lincolnshire; schools in Kent and Leeds; and choirs in Ipswich, Isle of Skye, London and Birmingham.

Friday Afternoons arose out the the the worldwide 2013 Britten centenary celebrations and takes its name from the set of simple songs the Britten wrote for his brother’s school to sing every Friday. Each year Friday Afternoons commissions a new set of songs, creating a significant resource of songs written for young people’s voices. Now in its fourth year, the annual project champions the joy of collective singing and encourages as many young people as possible to join in. It culminates in the Big Sing day when performances take place across the UK as close to Britten’s birthday (22 November) as possible.

A selection of performances of Jonathan Dove's new songs from across the UK will be live streamed on the Friday Afternoons website on 18 November 2016. The website also includes the resources needed to learn the songs, including scores, recordings, teaching resources and interactive material from Charanga, available for free download.