Mersey pupils on maiden voyage for new Titanic show
·New Titanic show, commissioned by Liverpool Music Support Service, gets first performance
·Philharmonic Hall – famous for its Titanic band connections – to host premiere
·Concert featuring 200 young musicians to be held on Thursday, July 1 2010
TWO hundred young musicians and singers from across Merseyside will perform the premiere of a new commission by David Bedford called ‘The Wreck of the Titanic’ at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall.
The work, commissioned by the Liverpool Music Support Service (LMSS) and supported by Liverpool City Council, reflects on the sinking of The Titanic, in 1912, and uses music and genuine testimony from survivors of the tragedy to create dramatic ‘soundscape’.
The concert, to be held on Thursday, 1 July has huge significance at the prestigious music venue as it provided many of the musicians of the Titanic’s band that famously ‘played on’ as the ill-fated Cunard vessel sunk – a fact commemorated with a plaque adorning its Hope Street entrance.
The concert, performed by children aged 8-18, will be a showcase of ‘Wider Opportunities pupils’ – a national project run by Liverpool Music Support Service in the city’s schools bringing whole classes together to play musical instruments.
Also performing will be The Liverpool Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir, the Notre Dame Catholic College for the Arts Girls’ Choir and the St Oswald’s Catholic Junior School Choir. Players from the Lancashire Sinfonietta will also recreate the Titanic band as part of the performance.
Liverpool Music Support Service brings music education into schools across the city. This academic year, the service will help over 11,000 pupils get involved in some kind of musical activity. Working in over 120 schools in Liverpool, the service provides anything from individual and small group lessons to whole class instrumental lessons and after school music clubs.
David Bedford, who composed the work, has worked with major orchestras and musicians including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London and Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC proms, Elvis Costello, Madness (David composed the string arrangement for ‘Our House’) and Billy Bragg.
·Wreck of the Titanic will take place at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall on Thursday 1 July at 6.00pm Tickets are £4 and £6. Book at the Box office on 0151 709 3789 or go to www.liverpoolphil.com