School pupils from 17 choirs in Solihull and Birmingham raised the roof of London’s spectacular Royal Albert Hall on Monday night (26 March) at a gala concert in the presence of HRH The Duke of Kent KG. Over 2000 youngsters from around the country came together to form a massed choir for the ‘AC Academy Does the Royal Albert Hall’ event. They were accompanied by professional musicians and joined on stage by special guests, Strictly Come Dancing stars Gorka and Dianne and actor Mark Williams, known to millions as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films.
The concert included choral music and songs as diverse as Handel’s Zadok the Priest to Pharrell’s Happy and extracts from Bizet’s opera Carmen to music from around the world. An undoubted highlight was The Trip, a piece created by children with moderate and profound learning difficulties as part of AC Academy’s ground-breaking work with children with special educational needs (SEN) which featured backing vocals from the entire choir and some 3500 audience members.
The gala brought together 52 choirs formed through Armonico Consort’s education programme AC Academy, made possible through the generous support of Phillips 66 and its fuel brand JET. The choirs are formed through its in-school Choir Creation scheme, after school choirs and SEN projects. Singing is known to have many education, social and well-being benefits as well as breaking down cultural and social barriers by bringing together young singers, of any ability, from different backgrounds including some of the country’s most deprived areas.
Christopher Monks, Artistic Director of Armonico Consort said, “This year is the 10th anniversary of our Choir Creation scheme where we create choirs in schools and train teachers as choir leaders. It’s also a timely reminder that the incredible thing about singing – aside from building confidence, raising self esteem and benefitting mental health – is that the skills to do it well can be taught on such a large scale, and retained for years to come by the brilliant teachers who work with us. At the heart of what we do is simplicity which, through dedicated hard work, leads to such joy. Monday’s gala gave 2000 children a chance to find their voice and express themselves through singing together, leaving an imprint on their hearts that will last forever.”
Mary Wolf, Managing Director of Phillips 66 UK Marketing, comments: “As a long-term supporter of Armonico Consort, Phillips 66 and JET were delighted to once again be the headline sponsors of the sensational ‘AC Academy Does the Royal Albert Hall’ concert. We were blown away by the electric atmosphere on the night and are in awe of the efforts of everyone involved in making this a truly unforgettable concert. We feel very proud to have played a part in making so many young children’s dreams come true.”
AC Academy reaches 15,000 children a year in partnership with music services nationwide, including Solihull Music Service, and through collaborations with venues such as the Royal Albert Hall. AC Academy’s Choir Creation scheme is now in its tenth year and has an ambitious target to create 300 choirs and train 300 new choir leaders by 2020.
