On Tuesday 24 February, Barnsley Singers sang live at Parkway Cinema Barnsley before a special screening of The Choral, conducted by the film’s on-set conductor, Joe Judge.
About the film
The Choral is directed by Nicholas Hytner from a screenplay by Alan Bennett, with Ralph Fiennes as the chorus master of a Yorkshire choir during the First World War. In the film, the choir learns Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
Learning Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius runs to over an hour and a half and is a challenge for many choral societies. Our Musical Director Luke Mather arranged a section from the end of Part One for us, which we’ve been learning as Go Forth!
Joe, who studied at university with Luke and Rob, came to our rehearsal on Tuesday 17 February to workshop the piece with us, a week before the screening. As well as a conductor, Joe is a countertenor, and it was a privilege to learn from someone who worked on the film itself.
The evening
- We opened from our seats with Shine
- Joe gave a pre-show talk about how the singers were cast, how the music came to life on screen, and stories from the set
- Joe then conducted us in our extract from The Dream of Gerontius
- The film followed, with the choir watching alongside the audience
Our name in lights
In the week before the screening, one of our members spotted something we never expected to see: Barnsley Singers up in lights on the cinema’s sign. It’s one for the scrapbook.
Thank you
Thank you to Parkway Cinema Barnsley for inviting us, to Joe Judge for leading us in rehearsal and on the night, and to everyone who came along to listen.
Fancy singing with us? Barnsley Singers rehearses on Tuesday evenings at Barnsley Sixth Form College. There’s no audition, and you don’t need to read music. Find out about joining.