A pop star is to join a massed ladies choir in Huddersfield for a fundraising night to remember.
X Factor winner Joe McElderry’s career has gone from strength to strength since his 2009 victory and he will join Kirklees Mass Choir at Huddersfield Town Hall on November 10.
A concert by Kirklees Mass Choir in March this year raised more than £15,500 for families of local heroes.
Then it was for the Mayor of Kirklees’ charity, The Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Fund.
Now choirmaster Emily Reaves-Bradley is creating a second Kirklees Mass Choir in time for another performance at Huddersfield Town Hall in aid of the Poppy Appeal.
Accompanied by The Yorkshire Band of the Royal British Legion, the singers will also be joined by 22-year-old Joe.
His first single, The Climb, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
His second album, Classic, was released by the record label giant Universal Music and went gold within two weeks of release, hitting number two in the UK Album Charts and selling more than 250,000 copies.
In 2011 another album, Classic Christmas, went gold in just one week. And that year alone Joe sold more than 550,000 albums and performed for the Queen at the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall
Joe hit our TV screens again in 2011 in the live TV show Popstar To Operastar.
Mentored by the tenor Rolando Villazon, he performed classical arias such as Nessun Dorma and went on to win the show with a landslide victory, amassing 80% of the votes.
Joe is planning a 50-date tour for next year.
Emily will recruit, train and conduct the singers who make up Kirklees Mass Choir.
In the style of Gareth Malone’s Military Wives, singers have just eight weeks to learn more than eight songs and master the etiquette of choir performance.
Emily said: “Preparing for the first concert required weeks of hard work, dedication and commitment from each and every member of the mass choir, but it was wonderful to be part of that brave singing regiment.
“It’s daunting to think that we are embarking on that all over again for the Poppy Appeal concert, but the thought of raising lots of money for our lost soldiers and their families will carry our voices on.”
She added: “The last concert in March was a sell-out and this one promises to be even more popular.
“It is a wonderful occasion for the town and we hope local businesses can also do their bit by providing sponsorship that will ensure we can stage a truly professional performance.”
She added: “We will be singing some of the same songs as last time – Wherever You Are, You Raise Me Up, Keep Holding On, but will also be doing a couple of new songs – a beautiful song by Bob Chilcot called Remember Me which is a setting of a Christina Rossetti poem and was written for the Norwegian students who were killed on the island a couple of years ago. It’s very moving and beautiful.
“Our theme, although of remembrance, will also be uplifting and celebratory at times.”
Tickets for the show cost �20 and are available from Huddersfield library and Huddersfield Town Hall.
B&Q have pledged to give one packet of poppy seeds per person for planting in the hedgerows and grass verges of Kirklees in remembrance of the fallen. For more information go to www.facebook.com/KirkleesMassChoir .
