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The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Education and Participation Department offers choral opportunities for children aged from 7 to 18, writes Judith Agnew. With activities ranging from instruction in basic singing techniques to performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO), the choral programme encourages young singers to develop their choral skills over the years so that they experience a real sense of progression.

The programme has expanded a lot since we began in 1995 with just the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir. We now run three choirs – each rehearsing weekly – under the guidance of choir directors Simon Emery (also Director of Music at St Mary’s College, Crosby) and Elizabeth Sawyer (Head of Music and Performance Studies at Broughton Hall High School, Liverpool). Each choir offers a different stage of choral training, but all provide opportunities to develop singing skills and to take part in performances. Equal importance is placed on confidence building through musical training, and the development of artistic, personal and social skills. This year the choirs also recorded their first CD, ‘A simple song’, on our own label, RLPO Live.

The Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir, now the senior choir in the programme, provides young singers aged 13 to 18 with the opportunity to achieve choral excellence through a wide range of musical styles, from jazz to classical with full symphony orchestra. The choir performs regularly with the RLPO and Choir at Philharmonic Hall as well as participating in community events and festivals. It also regularly takes part in singing workshops with leading contemporary composers, and has recently performed James MacMillan’s ‘Quickening’ with the RLPO for the second time.

A choral weekend residential course is held each year, offering not only singing workshops but also varied outdoor activities, that encourage the development of positive personal teamwork skills. At the end of Youth Choir training, members are encouraged to progress to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir.

The Liverpool Philharmonic Training Choir was formed two years after the Youth Choir, in response to demand for singing opportunities for younger children. The choir offers children aged 9 to 12 years a comprehensive programme of choral training, with a focus on basic musicianship, vocal training, choral discipline and choral presentation across a wide repertoire. After two or three years in the Training Choir, children are then equipped with the necessary vocal skills and musicianship to cope with the more demanding repertoire in the Youth Choir. Several community performances are held each year, usually at Christmas and during the summer term.

Our youngest group, known as Melody Makers, is made up of children aged 7 to 9 years old. Launched in September 2002 as a pilot scheme, it is a small but enthusiastic group of about a dozen children. This elementary level aims to give instruction in basic singing techniques, musicianship skills and ensemble singing, with occasional performance opportunities. Many of the Melody Makers have older siblings in the Youth or Training Choirs, adding to a sense of family among the ensembles.

Both the Training Choir and Melody Makers benefit from the Kodaly musicianship training scheme. This programme has been developed in partnership with Liverpool Hope University College. It enables students on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education course to develop further choral experience by working through a musicianship course modelled on that of the National Youth Choir of Scotland, developing sight-reading skills and oral training. Around a hundred children benefit each year from the vocal training delivered through the Phil’s children’s choral programme, which we feel offers young people interested in singing an excellent way to develop and progress.

Judith Agnew is Education and Participation Manager at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. t: 0151 210 2895; e: judith.agnew@liverpoolphil.com.

Applications are currently invited for intake to the choirs in September 2004 – entry is through an informal audition in July.