NYCoS National Boys' Choir
15 April 2006
Background and context
Activities in 2006
National Youth Choir of Scotland
The National Boys' Choir will be holding their annual residential course in April, the highlight of which will be a concert at the Horsecross in Perth on 15 April.
The National Boys’ Choir was founded in April 2002, with support from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund. It began as a choir for boys with unchanged voices, and has expanded substantially in its five year history to include three sections.
 |
 |
The Junior Corps is the training ground for the main choir, and choristers take part in the end-of-course concert. The Changed Voice Section provides 'an enjoyable singing opportunity for boys whose voices are currently changing'. It is coached by an expert with specialist knowledge of boys’ voices, and repertoire is selected to suit voices at various stages of development. There are around 70 members of the main National Boys’ Choir. The choir has performed at such high profile national events as the Edinburgh International Festival and the Glasgow Proms in the Park. |
The choir meet for a residential courses that lasts six days around Easter time each year. Auditions were held in January, and this year’s course is taking place at Queen Victoria School in Dunblane, from 10 – 15 April.
The team spirit within the choir is important. Choristers are encouraged to make friends in the choir by posting messages to other choir members on the members-only website before the course takes place.
| During the week in Dunblane, choir staff run games activities, and the school has a swimming pool, TV and video room and a quiet reading room. Staff are welcoming and encourage the boys to make friends – they promise that any homesickness will quickly disappear! |
|
|
A concert takes place on the final day of the residential course. This year’s concert will be held at the Horsecross in Perth, which opened recently. The concert programme will include a new commission by Tom Cunningham, who composed The Great God Thor which was a favourite in last year’s repertoire.
The National Boys’ Choir will undertake its first tour this year. From 11 – 14 May, the choir will give concerts in Belfast and Londonderry in Northern Ireland, homeland of the choir’s conductor Christopher Bell.
 |
|
The National Boys’ Choir is part of the network of choirs managed by the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCoS) whose office is based in Glasgow. Celebrating it's 10th anniversary this year, the choir was established to 'provide a forum for young people to sing to the highest possible standards'. About 100 singers between the ages of 16 – 24 attend the residential courses that take place each year. The National Youth Choir has earned critical acclaim in it's performances and tours both nationally and internationally, and has recorded three CDs. Other offshoots of the choir are the Training and Chamber Choirs, and there are another eight area choirs with a total membership of 1,500. |
| For more information on the choirs, have a look at the NYCoS website. |
The National Youth Choir of Scotland is funded by the Scottish Arts Council, Glasgow City Council, Charitable Trusts, Dunfermline Building Society, Choir member subscriptions and Friends of NYCoS. The National Boys' Choir is additionally funded by Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust, Hope Scott Trust and prg recruitment. |