Welsh National Opera has been awarded the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Education 2004 for its Katerina Project. The presentation was made at a gala dinner at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The annual RPS Music Awards are the UK’s most important recognition of achievement in the field of live classical music. The awards honour musicians, composers, writers, broadcasters and inspirational arts organisations. Katerina was the first major project for WNO MAX, the initiative which takes creativity and opera far beyond the main stage. Developed originally in Merthyr Tydfil in 2001, 240 primary school children spent three months creating and rehearsing their own large scale ensemble opera with composer Ruth Byrchmore and librettist Alan Osborne, and a team from WNO MAX, including members of the WNO Chorus who sang the principal roles. Using Janacek’s opera Katya Kabanova as inspiration, extensive workshops with the pupils took place in their schools, culminating in performances to over 2,000 people in Rhyd-y-car Leisure Centre in Merthyr Tydfil. The project was so successful that the performances were recorded and are available on CD. In 2003, the Katerina project was revisited in North Wales, sponsored by Barclays Bank, involving children from across Gwynedd and Denbighshire. The two performances at the Rhyl Pavilion were attended by over 1,800 people, including local primary schools, schoolfriends, families and the local community, many of whom had never been to an opera before, as well as Alun Pugh AM, the Culture Minister of the Welsh Assembly Government and other North Wales Assembly Members. The impact of Katerina has remained in the communities who took part. In both Merthyr and in North Wales, children’s choirs have been set up as a direct result of Katerina. In Merthyr, the Katerina Chorus was founded by WNO MAX and is now a group of enthusiastic 9-14 year olds who meet weekly after school on the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr Tydfil. They continue to be inspired by opera, recently composing their own song cycle - I never told you – based on their visit to a performance of WNO’s La boheme in Cardiff. They were invited to perform it for their community at the 2003 Merthyr Festival in Cyfarthfa Castle. In North Wales, the Denbighshire Primary Schools County Choir is due to start in the summer of 2004, set up by teachers, local musicians and the arts officers of Denbighshire County Council. The citation from the RPS Award said: ‘WNO MAX's Katerina has involved 500 participants since 2001, and has demonstrated a true connection between the work of Welsh National Opera and the children's learning and performance. Katerina also left a legacy in the form of two children's vocal groups, in Merthyr and Denbighshire, whose members have already experienced professional excellence at first hand, a model that will stay with them well beyond childhood.’ Sarah Alexander, WNO MAX Director, received the RPS Award on behalf of WNO and the project participants. She said: ‘Katerina was a hugely memorable and moving experience, not only for those of us in the audience, but for the 480 children from Merthyr Tydfil and from across North Wales who took part. We are very proud to be honoured by the Royal Philharmonic Society, and will enjoy taking the award back to Merthyr, Denbighshire and Gwynedd to share the accolade with all the children and teachers who gave so much time and energy into creating and performing this truly remarkable piece of opera. The Katerina Chorus and the new children’s choir in Denbighshire will also be very excited to know that the project from which they were created has been nationally recognised – what a great encouragement for them to continue to be passionate about singing.’ |
| welsh national opera web site: www.wno.org.uk |
| e-mail: |
Thursday, May 13, 2004 |
Older news
stories have been carefully archived.
2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999