ABOUT 150 members of Barnsley Youth Choir will be performing a mammoth 16 shows at the Edinburgh Festival this summer.
The world-beating choir has won multiple gold awards at the World Choir Games and two European Choir Games over the last four years and have now been nominated for a Young Champions award.
But this year the choir is talking a break from international competition to instead perform at the Fringe.
“It’s the biggest arts festival in the world,” said musical director Mat Wright. “We did perform in Edinburgh in 2016, when we took about 60 kids. That was fantastic. But this time we’re looking at taking 80 kids for nine days, and another 70 for four days, so there will be a period in the middle where we have 150 children there representing Barnsley. It’s a massive commitment, and a massive opportunity.”
This time some of the younger children will be involved alongside the more experienced singers.
“We’ll be giving children aged from about ten to 12 the opportunity to perform in the largest arts festival in the world.”
A major fund-raising campaign is now underway to help pay for the trip, beginning with a 13-hour through-the-night sponsored sing, which is taking place next weekend.
“We’ll probably need to raise £40,000 to £50,000, as what we always say is while the children will be asked to make a contribution, we don’t want any child to miss out simply because they can’t afford it.”
See barnsleyyouthchoir.org.uk for further details about how to help the choir.
