Even You Song at Trinity

More than 150 Cambridge students from The Grove and Orchard Park Primary Schools will take part in an innovative concert in Trinity’s Chapel on Saturday 2 November 2019.

Even You Song is the creation of Bettina Furnée and Lucy Sheerman, set to music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, and inspired by the moon landings 50 years ago. Cambridge Chorale, directed by former Trinity organ scholar Owain Park, will join the schools’ choirs for the performance.

The Master, Dame Sally Davies, will read the first lesson at the service, which will be led by Trinity Chaplain, Reverend John Summers.

Trinity alumna, Hannah King, has worked with the students over the past two months to prepare them for the performance at Trinity and at St James’s in Piccadilly. As well as teaching them the music for Even You Song, Hannah’s sessions have used music and dance to build confidence and leadership. The students have interviewed the artists behind the project and met some of Trinity’s choral scholars, all which feeds into work for their Arts Award: Discover certificate.

Hannah said:

They are now performing some difficult music at a really high level, and to see the difference in confidence in some of them is amazing – especially to see 120 of them singing together in Trinity Chapel with a real shared ownership of the space!

Hannah has worked with Trinity’s Schools Liaison Officers (SLO) to enable rehearsals and ensure everything runs smoothly on the day. SLO Ellie Wood said:

It’s great to be able to work with local students to highlight what lies on their doorstep, and for them and their families to see a part of Cambridge they might not normally visit. Where we have capacity, we are keen to sow the seeds among primary school students that anyone clever and motivated, from any background, can aspire to study at Trinity.

Even You Song, a piece for organ and choir, premiered at Peterborough Cathedral in 2017 and has been revised for the current Arts Council funded tour to mark 50 years since the first landings on the moon.

Artist and creative writing tutor, Lucy Sheerman, said:

‘Even You Song follows the format of choral evensong, with a libretto based on interviews with twelve local couples and projections using text and footage taken from their homes. It was devised to bring audiences who might not usually be able to access choral music or church buildings into the heart of the performance.’

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