HEAD for Huddersfield Town Hall on Sunday for a concert that definitely has youth at its heart.
Around 300 young people are expected to fill the hall with music in a concert that will be brimming with skill, enthusiasm and humour.
At the heart of the concert are the combined talents of musicians and singers from Kirklees Youth Symphony Orchestra and Halifax Young Singers.
Neither are strangers to big events.
Both organisations are used to instigating large-scale concerts, with performances such as Karl Jenkins: The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace and numerous joint concerts already under their respective belts.
But Sunday’s concert breaks new ground as the young performers will present both Romany Wood (a new work for children’s voices and orchestra) and the well-known children’s classic Tubby the Tuba with 300 young people on stage.
Romany Wood was written in 2002 by composer David Gaukroger, who was brought up in Calderdale.
All performances of what has been described as a “magical piece of music” raise money for the Romany Wood Charitable Trust, which aims to raise £1m for children’s charities across the world.
The young performers who will sing it on Sunday have been drawn from schools in Kirklees and Calderdale.
From Kirklees, there will be singers from Lindley Junior School, Kayes First School at Clayton West and Emley First School.
Andrew Griffiths will be the soloist for Tubby The Tuba. He grew up in Huddersfield, where his passion for music developed.
Andrew joined Halifax Young Singers when he was nine and stayed until he went to university in 2006. He spent four years with Kirklees Youth Symphony Orchestra, again leaving only when he went off to do his degree.
As a tuba player Andrew has played with the Orchestra of the Square Chapel, the Yorkshire Imperial Urquhart Travel Band and Lindley Band.
He is studying music at Manchester University and plays with its Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta and Brass Ensemble.
Thom Meredith, the KYSO musical director and principal of Kirklees Music School, said: “It’s a real pleasure to be involved in a concert such as this.
“It brings hundreds of young people together for a fabulous event and also introduces them to some great new music in the form of Romany Wood and Tubby the Tuba, which I often listened to as a child on an old 45rpm vinyl record!”
Sue Rosborough, administrator of Halifax Young Singers, said “The concert is going to be fantastic. We are proud to have been invited to give the first performance of Romany Wood in Yorkshire.”
Dr Paul Whittaker OBE, artistic director of the charity Music and the Deaf, will interpret the concert in sign language.
For tickets phone Sue Rosborough on 01422 822393 or the Huddersfield Tourist Information Office on 01484 223200. They can also be bought on the door.
