FYC Senior Choir wins best Children’s Choir!

Farnham Youth Choir is immensely proud to have returned from the Concours Choral International in Provence with another trophy! Conducted by Patrick Barrett and accompanied by Matthew Rickard, FYC won the Children’s Choir category following their outstanding performance against choirs from China and Chartres. 

FYC also competed alongside adult choirs in the ‘Sacred Music’ and ‘Pop, Gospel, Spiritual and Folk’ categories and was delighted to be the children’s choir placed highest in each category. A highlight of the trip for all the young singers was meeting choirs from around the world. FYC member Keira said:

‘It was an amazing experience as everyone from musical backgrounds across the world were coming together to sing. It was also amazing to see the other choirs perform to such a high standard and to spread their love for choral music with big smiles on their faces.’

The tour was a fantastic bonding experience for all involved and cemented the already strong friendships between members. Singer, Zoe, said:

‘Having the opportunity to travel with such a kind, funny and supportive group of people is what made this competition so special.’

FYC parents who were lucky enough to attend the concerts in Provence witnessed this first-hand:

‘As a parent it was a fantastic experience to see the performances and see the choir develop and grow!’

‘The FYC singers all seem genuinely kind and supportive of each other and this seems to be amplified when they are together. These tours give our youngsters life-changing experiences and lessons on how to be kind and accepting human beings.’

So, where next? Farnham Youth Choir choir is looking forward to celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2024 with a special concert in London in March 2024 and a tour to the World Choir Games in Auckland, New Zealand. Local people can support the choir to reach this goal by making a donation at fyc.org.uk/donate.

FYC Senior Choir heads to Provence!

Farnham Youth Choir has today (Thursday 6th July) departed for France to represent the UK in the Concours Choral International in Provence. With a reputation as one of the UK’s best youth choirs to uphold, FYC will compete in the ‘Sacred Music’, ‘Children’s Music’ and ‘Pop, Gospel, Spiritual and Folk’ categories. The choir will compete against choirs from as far afield as Indonesia, Canada, Ghana and China – as well as having the opportunity to sing together in a friendly concert in La Navarre.

FYC are hoping to repeat their recent triumph of winning gold and silver medals at the Interkultur International Choir Competition in Hull in April. After nearly 40 years of choral excellence, Farnham Youth Choir has developed into a family of choirs that supports children to achieve extraordinary things through a shared love of singing. Co-Chair of Trustees, Melanie Hancox, said, ‘competing gives our young singers the impetus to perform music at the highest level. It also allows them to meet other young people who have the same passion for choral music.’

Singer and FYC senior leader, Freya, said, ‘Competing in Hull was so much fun. The reward of winning the youth choir category after working so hard all year made me feel on top of the world.’ 

Local people still have the chance to support the choir’s competitive efforts in France, by making a donation at fyc.org.uk/donate or wishing us luck on our Facebook page, facebook.com/farnhamyouthchoir. Without the support of many local people and organisations, we wouldn’t be able to give our young singers such transformative opportunities.

FYC Singing Spree 2023 is a roaring success!

Farnham Youth Choir’s second annual Singing Spree took place at Farnham Maltings on Friday 23rd June, 2023, and was a roaring success! 300 Year 2 children from six local primary schools took part in the morning, which was led by FYC’s brilliant conductors Patrick Barrett, Margaret O’Shea and Claire Robins, accompanied by Susan Norman.

Many of the schools had already had a workshop visit from Claire Robins earlier this year and so had the opportunity to learn a new song, ‘There’s a dinosaur in my garden’ by Claire McCue, in advance. They had also been able to practise along with a video made by FYC’s Melanie Hancox, featuring the Training Choir. It was fantastic to hear the schools all come together and raise the roof with this catchy song, complete with actions!

The children also learnt some new songs on the day which they sang alongside FYC and were then treated to short performances from the three choirs. FYC Senior Choir’s (gold-medal-winning!) performance of ‘Joshua’ had the children particularly spellbound.

Our children loved every minute of it! We thoroughly enjoyed last year, but I think this year was even better. Thank you for an engaging and uplifting workshop.

St Peter’s C of E Primary School, Farnham

A fantastic morning of singing provided by such enthusiastic leaders!

St Mary’s Church of England (Aided) Infant School, Frensham

We were delighted that the Mayor of Farnham, Councillor Alan Earwaker, was also in attendance to present a donation from Farnham Town Council’s Community Grant towards this event, which was free for schools to attend.

All children in Years 2-4 (current Years 1-3) are invited to come along to FYC’s next open rehearsal on 28th June at 5.15pm at Farnham Maltings. Go to https://www.fyc.org.uk/join-us-tc to register.

FYC Ahoy!

On Sunday, 2nd June the Farnham Maltings was ringing with the sounds of sea shanties and folk tunes from Tudor England! FYC’s Junior Choir were delighted to join forces with Farnham and Bourne Choral Society in a performance of Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose by Alexander L’Estrange. Written in 2013, the work commemorates the opening of the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth. Conducted by Margaret O’Shea and Ben de Souza, the choirs were accompanied by a jazz quintet including accordion and violin, creating an atmospheric sound.

The FYC Junior Choir also brilliantly performed some of their own repertoire and received very positive feedback from the audience. Well done, JC!

FYC in London world premiere

On Tuesday, 9th May FYC’s Junior Choir - along with some members of the Senior Choir - took part in the world premiere performance of Ian Fletcher’s oratorio Jonah, based on the biblical story. It is scored for a full symphony orchestra, an adult chorus of about 100, a children’s choir and four soloists.

The concert took place at London’s Cadogan Hall, where the choir had the opportunity to perform alongside the National Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus and professional soloists. Altogether there were approximately 200 participants!

For most members of the choir, this was their first London performance in a professional setting. Singer Lucy said, ‘It was very exciting and a new experience for me to sing with a professional orchestra and singers’.

As always, FYC rose to the occasion and contributed to a fantastic performance, which was very well received by the audience, resulting in a standing ovation. Well done FYC!

FYC Senior Choir triumphs in Hull!

On 27th April, Farnham Youth Choir’s Senior Choir (FYC) arrived in Hull for the first ever Interkultur International Choir Competition to be held in the UK. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was also the choir’s first international choral competition since 2019. The choir competed against choirs from as far afield as Finland, South Africa and Turkey. In total, 27 choirs from 10 countries took part.  

Led by their artistic director Patrick Barrett and accompanied by Matthew Rickard, FYC competed - alongside adult choirs - in the ‘Sacred Choral Music a cappella’ category and came away with a silver award. They also competed in the ‘Youth Choirs of equal voices’ category, winning the category trophy with gold!

After nearly 40 years of choral excellence, Farnham Youth Choir has developed into a family of choirs that supports children to achieve extraordinary things through a shared love of singing. FYC has previously won international competitions from the World Choir Games (2006, China) to double gold medals at recent European Choir Games (2015, Germany and 2019, Sweden). The choir were delighted to uphold their reputation as one of the UK’s leading youth choirs and also to have the opportunity to meet other choirs from all over the world.

Singer, Freya, said, ‘Competing in Hull was so much fun. The reward of winning the youth choir category after working hard all term made me feel on top of the world.’ 

Co-Chair of Trustees, Melanie Hancox said, ‘watching this group of singers, some of whom have been in FYC for years and others, only months, work so hard and raise the level of their performance was inspirational. There is no doubt that events like these change lives – none of our singers will forget what they achieved this weekend.’

Artistic Director, Patrick Barrett said, ‘the International Choral Competition in Hull was an inspirational experience. Seeing the incredible talent from across the globe helped us to raise our game and celebrate the brilliant voices of Farnham on the world stage.’

The next date in FYC’s competition calendar is the Concours Choral International taking place in Provence in July 2023. Local people can support the choir’s competitive efforts, by making a donation at fyc.org.uk/donate or wishing us luck at our Facebook page, facebook.com/farnhamyouthchoir. Without the support of many local people and organisations, we wouldn’t be able to give our young singers such transformative opportunities.