REDDITCH is to get a sneak preview of a brand new piece of music commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Do You See? Do You Hear? featuring 180 young voices from RSA Academies across the West Midlands, including all four in Redditch, will be premiered at the CBSO Centre in Birmingham on July 10, 2018.
However as a warm up for the big event, a special preview will take place at St Stephen’s Church in the town centre – The Church on the Green – on Tuesday, June 26 at 6.30pm.
The youngsters, from Year 4 through to Year 13, have been working with Michael Betteridge, a leading composer and conductor who has created work for celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, the London Symphony Orchestra, Salisbury Festival and much more.
Do You See? Do You Hear? is around 40 minutes long and is made up of a series of a cycle of songs.
Commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group in collaboration with the Royal Society of Arts, Michael has collected material for the lyrics and music through a series of workshops with the youngsters.
The project has been supported by The Oak Foundation and the Redditch schools taking part are Abbeywood First School, Church Hill Middle School, Ipsley CE RSA Academy, Arrow Vale RSA Academy.
After the two warm-up performances in Tipton and Redditch, Do you see? Do you hear? will received it official premier at the CBSO Centre.
“Working with the RSA Academies to create a piece of music that examines what it is to be a young person today has been an eye-opening and wonderfully creative experience,” said Michael.
“The young people have created inspiring and thought provoking lyrics alongside striking melodies and it’s been a joy as a composer to collaborate with them.”
