Senior Choir launches FYC anniversary year in style

Farnham Youth Choir’s 40th anniversary year was launched in style on Saturday 14th October, with a dazzling concert by the Senior Choir in St Andrew’s Church.

This musical celebration, conducted by Patrick Barrett and accompanied by Matthew Rickard, had the dual purpose of showcasing the choir’s talents alongside fundraising for our forthcoming trip to the World Choir Games in Auckland in July. We were delighted to have both co-leaders of Farnham Town Council in the audience, alongside several of their colleagues from the council, as well as former members of the choir, parents and friends.

As ever, the programme was hugely varied, with songs from the Renaissance up to the present day, and from around the world - with lyrics in Spanish, Latin, Hungarian and Malay - as well as featuring contemporary British composers Will Todd, Michael Higgins, Oliver Tarney and Ben Parry. The programme was interspersed with a wonderful oboe solo from FYC alum Amelie Budd as well as a captivating performance of a Massenet aria by Hannah Poulsom, another alum and FYC vocal coach. Current choir member Grace performed ‘Voi, che sapete’ from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and singer Maddie played an adagio by Platti on saxophone. Past and present singers explained to the audience what being a member of FYC means to them, and shared some of their memories of past tours.

All in all it was a wonderful evening with many musical highlights, as well as raising over £600 to kick-start FYC’s fundraising campaign. As a charity we believe that no child’s musical potential should be limited by their ability to pay. And so we ask you to help our choir to perform at the highest level, at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent the UK at the World Choir Games in New Zealand. Any donation, however big or small, will make a difference.

www.gofundme.com/get-fyc-to-nz

Farnham Youth Choir kicks off 40th anniversary season

Farnham Youth Choir, one of the world’s best youth choirs, is celebrating its 40th anniversary! Over the last four decades, children and young people have been inspired to come together and sing at the highest level, initially by FYC founder David Victor-Smith MBE and now under the direction of Patrick Barrett. The choir has won numerous awards and performed in many of the world’s most prestigious venues.

The celebratory year kicks off with open rehearsals on 6th and 13th September where children and young people from school years 2-9 are invited to come and see what the choir is all about. If they enjoy themselves, children in school years 2-4 can immediately join the Training Choir and older children can audition for either the Junior Choir or the Senior Choir, where a limited number of places are available. The choir has a bursary scheme and is keen to include children from all backgrounds.

After that, celebrations get fully underway at our autumn concert right here in Farnham at St Andrew’s Church. Tickets are available from our website (fyc.org.uk). Various Christmas performances follow and in 2024, the choir invites alumni to join them at a gala concert in London on 9th March. The year culminates in the Senior Choir jetting off to Auckland, New Zealand, to compete in the Interkultur World Choir Games. It’s going to be an exciting year!

Co-Chair of Trustees, Melanie Hancox, said:

‘We’re so excited to be sharing our anniversary celebrations with our local community. Farnham Youth Choir has such deep roots in the town and we want to include as many people as possible in our celebrations.’

Artistic Director, Patrick Barrett, said:

‘Our anniversary year is going to be busy, but we’re very happy to have so many brilliant performance opportunities to offer our young people. It’s a great time to join one of our choirs.’

Budding singers who would like to go to an open rehearsal should visit fyc.org.uk/joinus.

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!