The Glasshouse

This blog is by Voices of the River’s Edge choir member Claire Bramley.

Fantasy, Myths and Legends at BBC Proms at The Glasshouse rocked Sage One last month. Voices of the River’s Edge (VOTRE) choir, Royal Northern Sinfonia and conductor Ellie Slorach came together to perform music from epic film, TV and gaming from titles such as Harry Potter – Hedwig’s Theme, Game of Thrones Suite, and World Of Warcraft – Malach, the Angel Messenger.

VOTRE started rehearsals in late April, and immediately there was a feeling of excitement when we heard what we would be singing. It’s not often you get to be the chorus for the most famous pieces in the film and TV world. Learning some of the music properly when we were already very familiar with it was trickier than expected, but our conductor, Simon Lee, worked patiently with us while we learnt the correct melodies.

A week before the concert, we joined Royal Northern Sinfonia and our conductor, Ellie, in Sage One for a joint rehearsal. Standing above the orchestra was a new experience – we had to get used to following Ellie’s conducting from afar and balancing our voices with all those incredible instruments. It took a bit of practice to pick up our cues as we were listening too intently to the music around us.

On concert day, we arrived early for a final run-through of the show. We learnt that Ali Plumb, Radio 1 film critic, was our compère for the concert, supported by Sean Chandler, a British Sign Language interpreter. We also heard the other pieces the choir didn’t feature in; listening to a full orchestra from such close range was a treat. Once we had rehearsed each piece a final time, we went for a quick break and got ready to perform.

Naturally, we had preshow jitters, but they stopped as soon as our first piece was over. Then we relaxed into it. The first half flew by, with our highlights being the Theme from Good Omens and listening to The Fellowship of the Ring Symphonic Suite. Then it was time for a quick drink break backstage. Our most challenging pieces were yet to come.

We came back on stage as the audience returned following their drinks and ice cream interval, and we could feel their excitement, which gave us a real boost for the second half. Here, we heard the orchestra play fan favourites such as A Night on a Bare Mountain and In the Hall of the Mountain King. We continued to sing our hearts out until we reached our final piece: Star Wars – Duel of the Fates. We’d rehearsed this piece intently. The fantastic energy in Sage One meant we hardly noticed our tiring voices and sang it the best we had all term.

It is always a pleasure singing for The Glasshouse and BBC Proms, and this time was no different. However, it was very special performing to all those families in the audience. Who knows? Maybe we inspired some future VOTRE members.