National Children's Choir to perform summer concert in Birmingham
Young voices to fill Birmingham's Great Hall in annual choir concert
Hundreds of talented young singers from across the UK will come together in Birmingham next month as the National Children's Choir of Great Britain (NCCGB) presents its annual Summer Concert.
The performance will take place at the Aston Webb Great Hall at the University of Birmingham on Saturday, August 8, at 3.30pm, bringing together all four of the choir's ensembles following two week-long residential courses.
Featuring singers aged from nine to 19, the concert will showcase a wide-ranging programme spanning sacred and secular music, ancient works and contemporary compositions.
Under the musical direction of Dan Ludford-Thomas, the choirs will perform individually and in a variety of combinations, highlighting music they have been preparing throughout the year.
The programme includes performances in several languages, with Green Choir singing a cappella in Bulgarian and Pakpaknese, while Blue Choir will perform Francis Poulenc's Le hérisson in French.
The Senior Choir will present works spanning more than 450 years, from Renaissance composer Francisco Guerrero to contemporary Swedish composer Anders Edenroth.
Yellow Choir, made up of singers aged nine to Year 6, will perform We Can All Do Better, a new song by brothers Nick and Anthony Drewe. Originally written as a gift for Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday, the piece will also feature in the nationwide Sing2Save environmental fundraising campaign later this year, supporting Butterfly Conservation.
Ahead of the Birmingham concert, the NCCGB Senior Choir will give a free lunchtime recital at St John's Church in Bromsgrove on Wednesday, August 5, at 2.30pm.
The programme will include music by Josquin des Prez, Francisco Guerrero, Joanna Marsh and Sarah Quartel, alongside popular songs by The Supermen Lovers and ABBA.
Later in the month, older members of the choir will travel to Sweden for an international tour from August 14 to 19.
The specially formed Tour Choir will perform concerts in Skärholmens kyrka, Västerås Cathedral and Stockholm Cathedral, while also visiting cultural landmarks including the Vasa Museum, Skansen and the Royal Swedish Opera House.
Previous overseas tours have taken the National Children's Choir of Great Britain to Germany, China, Italy and Spain.
The choir holds auditions each autumn for children wishing to join, with dates for the 2026 intake due to be announced later this year.