A unique performance by African Burundi drummers, Holme and Colne valley choirs and a group of special needs musicians based in Slaithwaite will celebrate the arrival of the Tour de France in Kirklees.
The concert, at 1.30pm on Friday, June 27, at the North Light Gallery, Armitage Bridge, will showcase a multicultural song cycle created by Colne Valley writer Adam Strickson and composer Andy Burton.
Inspired by the Pennine landscape and cycling anecdotes collected from members of the Sharing Memories and Good Companions groups based in Holmfirth and Slaithwaite, Up and Down Hill features the Xylosound Orchestra, drummers from The
Abatimbo group, and choirs Singin’ Slawit and Singin’t’Valleys.
The Satellite Arts project has been financially assisted by Kirklees Neighbourhood Arts and The
Creative and Cultural Industries Exchange at the University of Leeds.
Next weekend the performers will travel to Leeds for a concert at the University Theatre.
The community choirs will perform a new song, Le Tour Negative and Positive, which describes the differing viewpoints on Yorkshire’s hills – by Lycra-clad French cyclists and a group of feisty home-grown women – while the Abatimbo drummers, who are based at St Thomas’ Church in Huddersfield, will be heard praising the landscapes of both the Pennines and Burundi, including a mention of BBC presenter Harry Gration and the King of Burundi, both keen cyclists.
Xylosound members, who meet and rehearse at The Watershed in Slaithwaite, play large wooden Xylophones and tuned percussion.
The Colne and Holme valley choirs are run by Hoot, the community arts organisation which specialises in projects to boost mental health and wellbeing, and are led by Gill Bond, Moira Wade and Jenny Goodman.
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