At the end of this academic year, it’s incredible to look back at the musical highlights of the last ten months. It’s been a rollercoaster of activity, made seamless by our incredible team in the concert and timetabling office who create risk assessments, order packed lunches, book train tickets, hire vans, move chairs, stands and large instruments, and help us deliver an unrivalled musical programme.

September

We began the year with Manchester Camerata and the culmination of their project to record every Mozart piano concerto in the Stoller Hall. As in previous instalments, soloist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy and the orchestra were joined by four string players from Chets. This edition included the rarely heard Triple Concerto, for which Bavouzet was joined by Andrea Nemecz and Chets alumna Rose McLachlan. We’re very proud that this award-winning series of recordings was made in our hall and has featured our students since it began in 2016. 

We joined Manchester Camerata again for a Mid-Autumn Festival concert with the Chinese Consulate. We played music by Mozart and Smyth alongside works by Chinese composers. We were also joined in the first two months of term by professors from the Royal College of Music, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and the Central Conservatoire of Music (CCOM) in Beijing, who delivered inspirational masterclasses for our students.

October

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra Concert at Stoller Hall, October 2024

Sibelius Academy students from Helsinki joined us for Music Course while Professor Petri Aarnio, leader of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, gave masterclasses on chamber music and orchestral leadership. Chets alumnus Wayne Marshall conducted the Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra (CSO) in a programme of Carwithen, Holst and Rachmaninov with piano soloist Yurij Szyrokyj, and the Chetham’s Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) performed music by Galante, Smyth, Dvořák and Mozart with piano soloist Harmony.

Meanwhile, our vocalists were recording the colour of all things constant, a new work by Cassie Kinoshi. This was in conjunction with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and part of a fresh set of BBC Ten Pieces, a resource that brings classical music to schools across the UK. Vocalists were involved in a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and a concert for schoolchildren at Aviva Studios. These also featured Sixth Form hornist Claire Marsden, who played Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra live on radio.

November

Visit by Central Conservatoire of Music Beijing, November 2024

Shortly after half term, we welcomed guests from our partner school in Beijing, the CCOM. Professors delivered coaching and masterclasses in chamber music and composition. We then held a concert featuring new pieces inspired by an old Manchester hornpipe and written by student composers from both schools. We look forward to a reciprocal visit in the next academic year.

We held our annual Brass Academy Day, where students worked with guest tutors and musicians from across the UK for a day of chamber music, solo playing and coaching. We were also very pleased to welcome back alumnus Mathis Picard, who led workshops with composers, pianists and jazz students before giving an inspiring concert in the Carole Nash Hall.

A trio of students and a duo of tutors travelled to Finland for a weekend of chamber music as part of our exchange with the Sibelius Academy. They were hosted in cabins across the Helsinki campus and enjoyed a visit to the composer’s home, Ainola, in the deep Finnish snow.

December

Christmas Music at Manchester Cathedral, December 2024

Following their impressive performance at last year’s Hallé Steve Reich Festival, our percussionists were invited back to the Bridgewater Hall to play again with Colin Currie during his visit to Manchester.

We welcomed over a thousand children and families for our schools and family concerts at Stoller Hall. The vibrant programme included a setting of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Festive Overture, and Mr Bear’s Adventure, a charming piece combining live orchestra and film. These concerts were conducted by Felicity Cliffe and presented with warmth and enthusiasm by Chets Governor and BBC Radio 3 presenter Linton Stephens.

Soon afterwards, we came together for one of the highlights of the Chets calendar: Christmas Music in Manchester Cathedral. This magical evening of music and readings marked the true beginning of the festive season for all in our community.

January

Claire Marsden (right), Benjamin Ellin (centre) and Joseph Buckmaster, January 2025

2025 began with our exchange with Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo. As our string players flew out, their woodwind players flew in… or that the was the plan. The 5mm of snow in Manchester caused flights from a more wintery Norway to be rerouted to Liverpool, but all was well in the end and both groups of travelling students enjoyed a brilliant week of music-making.

Our vocalists performed the off-stage voices for Holst’s The Planets and hornist Claire Marsden was the soloist in Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings at a concert in Slaithwaite conducted by Chets alumnus Benjamin Ellin. Peter Moore, another Chets alumnus, visited with his Nexora Trio, giving inspiring vocal, piano and trombone masterclasses, followed by a stunning recital.

February

 

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We welcomed around 50 young woodwind players to Chets for our Woodwind Academy Day, which featured guest tutors from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Opera North.

While CPO spent Music Course working on music by Takemitsu, Judith Bingham, Borodin and Bruch (with cello soloist Grace), CSO focused on an even broader representation of composers: Anna Clyne, Maconchy, Lili Boulanger, Sibelius, Beethoven, Bruckner, Price, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Judith Weir and Mahler. The project was supported by the Association of British Orchestra’s Sirens Fund, which enabled us to take the orchestra to the Essa Academy in Bolton and perform to several hundred children, many of whom were hearing a live orchestra for the first time. Students from feeder primary schools had worked with our Creative Engagement team prior to the visit to explore and create music inspired by Maconchy.

In the first half of our Stoller Hall concert, Scarlet Banks sang Beethoven’s Ah Perfido and Claire Marsden played Glier’s Horn Concerto, both conducted by Alec Frank Gemmill.

Within two hours of the final chord of Mahler’s Second Symphony, 45 exhausted students and staff set off half asleep on a bus and plane to be resurrected in the Italian Alps. We spent a magnificent week skiing in Pila, though this being Chets there was inevitably music, with our very own Daisy Mitchell directing the whole Chets Ski Chorus in an impromptu performance for all the hotel guests on our final night.

March

Chetham’s Big Band in Rhyl, March 2025

Arriving back in Manchester with as many limbs as we left with, we were straight back into action. Our strings-playing colleagues from Oslo joined us for some chamber music, and our Big Band visited Rhyl Town Hall to bring joy to a capacity audience. We also held our annual Strings Side-by-Side project, where leading professional players coached our chamber groups.

After several months in the making, Bardo Tsa presented the completely student-led premiere of his musical-cabaret, Afterdeath. Staged in the Carole Nash Hall and featuring a cast of singers and instrumentalists, this hour-long performance was a captivating kaleidoscope of musical styles and colours. A project like this can only happen at Chets, and it reminds us of what a unique environment it is in which we’re all lucky enough to study and work.

April

As spring sprung, we were joined for a day by musicians from the Grenadier Guards. They marched and performed, coached some of our wind and brass ensembles, and gave insights into life within a military band. We were also joined by one of the world’s top brass bands, Foden’s, who led a day of rehearsals and workshops for our students alongside Foden’s Youth Band, culminating in a short performance.

The term ended with our annual Founder’s Day in Manchester Cathedral. It featured music from all our instrumental departments, new compositions by Stephen Frith and Andrea Price, and an address by guest speaker, viola tutor and alumna Gemma Dunne.

May

Chets Bakers at HOME during Manchester Jazz Festival, May 2025

As GCSE and A-Level study leave began, our younger students had the opportunity to work with violinist and Chets alumnus Callum Smart, who led a directing project with the Chetham’s String Orchestra around Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and Ayana Witter Johnson’s Dream City. It was a pleasure to welcome Callum back to Chets before he moves to Pennsylvania, where he will take up a professorship at Carnegie Mellon University.

With Manchester enjoying blazing sunshine, a student septet made their way across town to perform at the opening event of Manchester Jazz Festival. Billed as Chets Bakers, they performed two spectacular sets at HOME that made a room full of strangers listen in wonder at the extraordinary music they heard.

June

Manchester Classical at Bridgewater Hall, June 2025

Before we knew it, June was upon us. Opera props were being sourced, rehearsal schedules finalised and the finishing touches added to the Leavers’ Concerts and Chetham’s Summer Festival. These events exemplify what Chets does best: uniting people and communities through exceptional performances and rich musical experiences.

As part of Manchester Classical, winners of our Sixth Form, Middle School and Years 7 and 8 Piano Competitions played beautifully at Bridgewater Hall’s Stalls Bar Stage. We also launched an Orchestral Pathway with the Royal Northern College of Music to provide talented musicians from China with an unrivalled opportunity to progress their studies here in Manchester, the UK’s most dynamic and innovative city.

July

 

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The year ended in spectacular style. As part of our Summer Festival we staged our first fully staged opera, L’Enfant et les sortilèges, by Ravel, staring Chets alumna Divine Sibanegavi in the title role. Working alongside a professional creative team including director Genevieve Raghu, it marked the culmination of a year-long journey for Chets vocal students and was both a showcase of extraordinary young talent and a powerful example of what’s possible when young people are given the space and trust to create.

Chetham’s Philharmonic Orchestra and other ensembles from our Middle and Lower Schools travelled to Bolton’s Victoria Hall to present a spectacular concert that included Kapustin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 featuring guest soloist Jackson, selections from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and John Williams’s iconic The Raider’s March.

Finally, Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra performed side-by-side with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at MediaCityUK, marking the launch of an exciting three-year partnership between the two organisations. The ambitious and vibrant programme featured music by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Roxanna Panufnik, and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess: A Symphonic Picture, all under the baton of conductor Lee Reynolds.

We were honoured to welcome our Patron, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, alongside the Lord Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester and the Ceremonial Mayor of Salford for this landmark occasion. Their presence reflected the importance of this partnership as both a musical milestone and a cultural investment in the region’s young talent.

Chetham’s Philharmonic Orchestra Concert at Victoria Hall, Bolton, July 2025

We must also acknowledge our amazing Choristers. In addition to five regular services each week in Manchester Cathedral, they have been part of many exciting events, including: a service for His Majesty’s Judges; a special Evensong for the Cathedral Organists’ Conference; a performance of Duruflé’s Requiem on All Souls’ Day; performances of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St John Passion with Manchester Baroque; a Masonic carol service in St Ann’s church; three Christmas services, including the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols; a live broadcast of evensong on BBC Radio 3; and services over Holy Week and Easter! Congratulations to all our dedicated choristers and also to Chris Stokes and Geoffrey Woolatt, who make all of this happen.

Beyond these highlights, the year has been filled with a remarkable array of other concerts, workshops, performances, and collaborative learning opportunities — too many to name individually. Among them were 123 lunchtime concerts (including our much-loved relaxed performances), 70 external performances, the ever-inspiring Baronial Baroques, and countless sessions led by our students alongside the Creative Engagement team, using music to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Baronial Baroque in the Baronial Hall, March 2025

Much of this would not be possible without our extraordinary team of accompanists. Their dedication to crafting balanced programmes, supporting every student, and performing with such artistry deserves special recognition and heartfelt thanks.

We are also deeply grateful to the individuals and organisations who support our work, whose belief in what we do is essential. And, of course, none of this could happen without our brilliant young musicians and the vibrant, supportive community that is Chetham’s.

We depend on donations to enable us to provide an inspiring, world-class education to our young musicians. Support us to continue our important work at Chetham’s.

Are you a young musician and are inspired by all we do at Chetham’s? Join us for our next Open Day or book an Advice Audition today.

The competition is the UK’s leading contest for young classical musicians, celebrating the most promising young performers.

It has launched the careers of international stars such as Nicola Benedetti, Mark Simpson and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Fang came from China to the UK to enroll at Chetham’s School of Music in 2018, to study a full range of percussion, including snare drum, marimba, timpani and vibraphone.

His studies at Chetham’s have been supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Bursary. Bursaries support more than 90% of Chetham’s students, ensuring entry to the school is based on musical potential, not financial background.

In February 2020, just one month before his BBC Young Musician category final, Fang played Keiko Abe’s Prism Rhapsody on the marimba with Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra, in front of a packed audience in The Stoller Hall. He played the same piece again during the BBC Young Musician Grand Final. Watch his stunning performance here:

Fang is a member of the China Youth Percussion Orchestra and has won prizes at many Chinese and international youth percussion competitions, including the China Youth Percussion Competition, the New York International Percussion Competition and the Tokyo International Percussion Competition.

As a result of the pandemic, Fang has recently returned to his family in China where he will continue to study marimba, and is looking forward to performing in front of live concerts audiences once again!

Fang was the brilliant winner of the Percussion Category Finals, filmed in 2020 just before the Covid-19 lockdown. Watch that stunning performance again here.

Now, much delayed due to the pandemic, BBC Young Musician returns for it’s long-awaited final two rounds this Friday and Sunday evening.

The competition is the leading UK contest for young classical musicians and has launched the careers of international stars such as Nicola Benedetti, Mark Simpson and Sheku Kanneh-Mason. It celebrates the talent of some of the country’s most promising young performers.

Join us to cheer on Fang from 7pm on BBC Four on Friday 30 April.

The Grand Final will be broadcast on BBC Four at 8pm on Sunday 2 May and BBC Radio 3.

Fang came from China to the UK to enroll at Chetham’s School of Music in 2018, to study a full range of percussion, including snare drum, marimba, timpani and vibraphone.

His studies at Chetham’s have been supported by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Bursary. Bursaries support more than 90% of Chetham’s students, ensuring entry to the school is based on musical potential, not financial background.

In February 2020, just one month before his BBC Young Musician category final, Fang played marimba with Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra in front of a packed audience in The Stoller Hall. Watch his stunning performance here:

Fang is a member of the China Youth Percussion Orchestra and has won prizes at many Chinese and international youth percussion competitions, including the China Youth Percussion Competition, the New York International Percussion Competition and the Tokyo International Percussion Competition.

As a result of the pandemic, Fang has recently returned to his family in China where he will continue to study marimba, and is looking forward to performing in front of live concerts audiences once again!

This year for the first time our chamber music event was also supported by a number of visiting guest artists. Clarinettist Yann Ghiro (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Euphonium player Dr David Thornton (Royal Northern College of Music), and Trombonist Phil Goodwin (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama) worked with many of the ensembles between concerts.  It was a great opportunity for our students to further develop their skills in ensemble playing, alongside some of the country’s finest chamber musicians.

Congratulations to all 96 performers and a huge thank you to the tutors for their tireless commitment to chamber music throughout the year.  A big thanks too to all the mums, who celebrated Mothers’ Day in musical style this year!

The Chamber Music celebration will return in spring 2020, when students across the School once again come together as small ensembles to create a packed day of performance.

We are very grateful to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for their generous support of our celebration of wind chamber music.

Yann Guiro

This year was a particular momentous one, marking the first performances of Chetham’s 50th anniversary year for our two orchestras, Sax Choir, Wind Band and Violetta Strings, as well as for singers in an innovative new take on ‘Opera Extracts’.

Sixth Form Singers: the Drama of the Oratorio

It was the singers who started the week on Sunday 10 February, giving two performances of Margaret McDonald’s reduced version of Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Semi-staged, and taking place for the first time in the Carole Nash Hall to take advantage of our new building’s lighting equipment and projection, it told the entire tale in miniature, drawing out all the drama of the original oratorio. Our thanks to the many students and staff who helped bring it together!

Chetham’s Sinfonia and Ensembles

Next up were our smaller groups and younger ensembles. The Sax Choir, under Andy Wilson, gave the North West première of Ivor McGregor’s Film Noir – to be performed again at our forthcoming Saxophone Day for players of all ages. Violetta Strings, our youngest ensemble led by Dr Owen Cox, performed popular selections by Karl Jenkins, Britten, Bizet and Grieg, ending with the mounting excitement of In the Hall of the Mountain King. Next were Wind Band with David Chatterton, performing Woolfenden’s Illyrian Dances, and after the interval our Middle School orchestra, Chetham’s Sinfonia took to the stage.

Bassoonist George Bailey, 13,  was one of the recent winners of our Lower School Concerto Competition, and performed the first movement of Hummel’s Grand Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, to the pride of the numerous family and friends who filled The Stoller Hall and of his teacher, Ben Hudson, who dashed back from work in Yorkshire to ensure he wouldn’t miss it. After George’s well-deserved ovation, and flowers presented by little sister Jemima, Sinfonia closed the concert with Arnold’s Little Suite and Coates’ London Suite.

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra

It wasn’t over yet! After inviting parents to join them in rehearsal at the weekend, and the public to sit alongside them onstage to explore the context and challenges of the programme, Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra performed in both Manchester and at the Royal Academy in London with Director of Music, Stephen Threlfall, at the helm. Their programme opened with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes and continued with Sibelius’ virtuosic Violin Concerto, performed by Molin Han.

Molin, meanwhile, is in her final year at Chetham’s. After many successes in her native China she joined the School for Sixth Form, and looks forward to continuing to the Royal College of Music in September. Her performance was met with huge applause, impressing audience members with her poise and expression.

Last was Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations – a celebration of friendship through music, and the perfect piece to celebrate the many friends, supporters and allies who have been part of the School throughout its first half century. Our ability to challenge and support students as they reach new musical heights is down to every one of our students, staff, parents, alumni and donors, and it was those friendships which our orchestra expressed with such flair on, appropriately enough, St Valentine’s Day.

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra: Review

Students are now enjoying a well-deserved half term break, but not for long. Singers return tonight and tomorrow, for a weekend of song with former students Marcus Farnsworth and Ruby Hughes, as well as fellow students from the Royal Northern College of Music. For many of our orchestral players, it’s only a short break until our next concert on Sunday 10 March, a celebration of music and faith with Manchester Chamber Choir which includes music by Purcell, Handel, and Poulenc’s Organ Concerto performed by Chetham’s soloist, George Herbert.

For the rest, the next challenge is a mighty one indeed – Mahler’s magnificent Symphony No. 8, live on BBC Radio 3 from The Bridgewater Hall on Friday 5 July. We know it’s been performed by young players before, by the National Youth Orchestra and by the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, conducted by former Chetham’s student Daniel Harding. But are we the first school to tackle it? Let us know in the comments if you’ve heard of such a feat before!

Today, Wednesday 22 November, marks six months since the terrorist attack at Manchester Arena, which claimed the lives of twenty-two people. Chetham’s students have arranged and recorded a new version of Oasis’ Don’t Look Back in Anger to encourage people to remember and support victims of terror this Christmas.

Directly across the road from the Arena, boarding students were woken from sleep to wait through the night as the incident unfolded. Inside the police cordon, they were unable to leave school for 24 hours – and, as the city gathered in Albert Square to pay its respects to the victims, they held their own vigil on the school yard. Appropriately, they used their most powerful language – music – to express their feelings, singing John Lennon’s Imagine and the Oasis song, Don’t Look Back in Anger, in an expression of support and solidarity.

One student shared a video of Don’t Look Back in Anger on Facebook, giving students’ friends and family the chance to see their children safe and well until they could get home. Her video was picked up by numerous media channels, and when two days later the song was sung again in St Ann’s Square, it was clear that it would come to play an important part in the city’s response to the tragedy.

During the summer, Chetham’s students came together again to plan a longer lasting memorial. Many of those who lost their lives were young people, close in age to Chetham’s students. They were music lovers, listening to pop star Ariana Grande’s concert. These factors, combined with the proximity of the attack, brought it close to the heart of this school – the country’s largest specialist music school, where students earn their places through musical potential, and where music is a shared language for young people from a rich diversity of backgrounds and nationalities. With those things in mind, the Head Boy and Girl, Matthew Wilson and Flossie Plain, suggested a new arrangement of Don’t Look Back in Anger – one which could be recorded and shared more professionally and used to raise funds after the attack.

Matthew and Flossie, along with their fellow Sixth Form students, led on the project. They contacted former student Joshua Hickin, who created the new arrangement for trombone ensemble, a small band and the massed voices of the school’s staff and students. Matthew acted as Musical Director for the recording, with Flossie as Producer. The recording took place in The Stoller Hall, the school’s concert venue, supported by the venue’s Technical Manager Simeon Ogden; whilst Chris Mann of Mannmade Productions, a longstanding friend of the school, generously offered his time to produce the video. Head Alun Jones released the entire school from lessons for an afternoon to allow the recording to take place, and finally, permission was received from the Sony Corporation on behalf of Oasis for the song to be shared.

Chetham’s are sharing the video online to mark the six-month anniversary of the attack – which also happens to fall on the feast day of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music. They hope that people hearing it will contribute to the British Red Cross UK Solidarity Fund, supporting victims of terror not only in Manchester but across the country.

“This initiative was led entirely by the student body,” Mr Jones explained. “They felt strongly that the attack was directed at their age group and peers; and as such, they wanted to use music from their own generation to reflect on it. The first vigil on the yard was very much an expression of their own feelings, and of mutual support at a very difficult time. It was never designed to be shared beyond the school walls; but it struck a chord with the people of Manchester, and felt like the right choice of music for us to record. Coming together as a school to sing and make music was a cathartic process for everybody who had been onsite in May, and we’re very grateful to Joshua, Chris and others who have helped the students turn that into something we can share with the wider world. We hope you’ll watch the video and see what these remarkable young people were able to create in just a few days – and we hope that those who can, will make some contribution to support those most closely affected by the acts of terror that have, tragically, taken place in the country during 2017.”

Matthew added, “The project for me has two main aims, firstly to act as a symbol of remembrance for those who were affected on that night in May, and secondly to try and raise as much money as possible to support the victims and their families through the work of the British Red Cross. My huge thanks go to all those who supported the project from both the technical and production side and the students and staff who feature in the track and video.”

Please support victims of terror across the UK through the British Red Cross UK Solidarity Fund

“Music Course provides an orchestral playing experience of a professional standard and on a regular basis, which is invaluable for students who aspire to fill a seat in a leading orchestra in the future” – Matthew, trombone, Year 13

This October we were delighted to be joined for Music Course by three very special guests.  Composer Laura Rossi, now a firm friend of the School, returned with her latest piece, Voices of Remembrance, inspired by poetry written during WWI.  The work was performed by Chetham’s Sinfonia and Chamber Choir at Manchester Cathedral on Tuesday, with the original poems read by the incomparable Vanessa Redgrave.  We were delighted that North West Tonight joined us for the afternoon’s rehearsal, and that the performers played to a deservedly packed Cathedral.

Building the atmosphere in the first half were three smaller ensembles.  Saxophone Choir, Violetta Strings  – featuring some of the School’s most junior performers – and Wind Band presented a varied and lively programme to contrast with the more serious content to follow.

Voices of Remembrance

On Thursday, Chetham’s flagship Symphony Orchestra presented a stunning programme featuring two concerti performed by pianist Callum McLachlan and Linda Heiberga on cello.  Conductor Paul Mann – himself a Chetham’s alumnus – then recaptured his school days by leading the orchestra through Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel.  The piece was familiar to Mann as, when a piano student at Chetham’s, he performed it himself in its original version as a piano suite, and it concluded at RNCM Concert Hall to enthusiastic applause.

“This is home for me.  Every time I come back, I’m 16 again.  I’m blown away by these incredible young musicians” – Paul Mann, guest conductor and alumnus

Congratulations to all of the students involved, and thanks as ever to the staff and families who supported them.  Music Course is now over until February for most of the School – but for a small group, there’s one more performance to go as they play alongside Mr Threlfall and musicians from Jersey Academy of Music in a reprise of Voices of Remembrance at Jersey Opera House tomorrow.

Vanessa Redgrave is celebrated for her performance on stage and screen, most notably Howard’s End (1992).  A six-time Oscar nominee, she was described by Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams as “the greatest living actress of our times”.  In Voices of Remembrance she will read moving poetry written during WWI, alongside Rossi’s richly evocative orchestral and choral work combining stunningly beautiful music with these historically important poems.

Rossi worked with Chetham’s in July this year when Chetham’s Sinfonia became one of the first orchestras to perform in an international tour of the celebrated 1916 film, The Battle of the Somme, with a new score which she created with Imperial War Museums.  That performance saw Manchester Cathedral filled to capacity, and we’re delighted to welcome her back to Manchester with what promises to be another very special and moving evening of music.  During her research for the Somme film, Laura discovered that her Great Uncle Fred was a stretcher-bearer attached to the 29th Division in July 1916, and featured in the film.  Drawing on his diaries and extensive research into the conflict, Laura’s latest work moves us closer to the thoughts and feelings of the soldiers: their spirit, their strength, their hopes and fears.

Voices of Remembrance will be performed by Chetham’s Sinfonia and Chamber Choir at Manchester Cathedral on Tuesday 18 October, alongside performances by ensembles from across the School.  It will be repeated at Jersey Opera House on Saturday 22 October, with new poems by schoolchildren from Manchester and Jersey set to music for children’s choir and ensemble by Laura Rossi.  The children’s poems may be heard in Manchester on Thursday 6 October in a free concert in Chetham’s Whiteley Hall.