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Young Voices Festival 2008

Search for Peace

Search for Peace

The annual Royal School of Church Music Young Voices Festival is an opportunity for young people from schools and churches to join together in song in fabulous venues across the UK. It offers an inspiring musical and spiritual experience for all participants, and a chance to develop vocal and musical skills under expert musical direction.

The festival is a Voice for Life outreach event. The Voice for Life scheme is one of the RSCM’s core educational programmes, which exists to encourage, support and promote singing in schools, churches and the wider community.

This year’s festival has been put together on the theme of peace. More than ever, as we see oppression and war around the world, we yearn for peace in our world. The young people of today will play a vital role in shaping our world, and we pray that they will face this future with confidence, and that we can all be united in the pursuit of peace.

There are eight festival services from which to choose (see below for more details about the directors and venues):

Festival venue Date Director
Eton College Tuesday 10 June 2008 Ralph Allwood
Ely Cathedral Wednesday 11 June 2008 John Wardle
Winchester Cathedral Wednesday 11 June 2008 David Ogden
Dunblane Cathedral, Scotland Saturday 21 June 2008 Matthew Beetschen
Kings College School, Wimbledon Friday 3 October 2008 Daniel Phillips
Ripon Cathedral Wednesday 15 October 2008 Gordon Appleton
St Alphege Church, Solihull Wednesday 15 October 2008 Jon Payne
St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, London Saturday 18 October 2008 Esther Jones

What you will need

There is no charge for participation in the above events, though choirs will need to provide a copy of the service booklet for each singer. Each choir will only need to purchase a Search for Peace CD-ROM and a Voice for Life Songbook (vol 1). These include all the musical and liturgical resources for the service which can be printed/photocopied as many times as necessary, and we hope the contents will also prove useful throughout the year for assemblies and concerts etc.

The songs included in the Search for Peace festival service are:

Shalom chaverim - page 26
He's got the whole world in his hands - page 194
The Lord is my light - page 64
Give us light - page 33
Give me strength - page 32

The Voice for Life Songbook 1 was also used for the 2007 festival, and contains 40 songs with training notes, demonstration CD, and advice on warming-up and rehearsing your choir. A CD of piano accompaniments is available separately. For further information, listen to the Voice for Life Songbook 1 podcast and sample songs online here.

Please use the order form below to order your copies of the songbook and CD-ROM from RSCM Music Direct, or order online here.

To book places

A booking form for the festivals is enclosed. Some of the locations are extremely popular and we would advise early booking. Please give an indication of the number of singers you expect to bring (we reserve the right to restrict the number of singers per choir if oversubscribed). Please book by 9th May for the events in June, and by 12th September for the events in October.

To arrange your own Young Voices Festival

The flexible format of the Search for Peace festival service makes it ideal for use at your own event. We hope that schools and churches will wish to collaborate in encouraging young singers to take part.

We have prepared a free guidance pack to help you organise your own festival, including advice on arranging and staffing the event.

Further information

If you have any queries or would like more information please contact:
RSCM Education, 19 The Close, Salisbury SP1 2EB
Tel 01722 424843, Fax 01722 424849, Email education(at)rscm.com

Directors and Venues

Eton College

Tuesday 10 June 2008
Ralph Allwood is Precentor and Director of Music at Eton College and the Founder and Director of the Eton Choral Courses. This festival is held in the beautiful chapel of Eton College, which is within walking distance of Windsor Castle.

Ely Cathedral

Wednesday 11 June 2008
John Wardle directs the RSCM Southern Cathedral Singers and is RSCM Awards Co-ordinator. He conducts the festival in the magnificent setting of the Norman cathedral known as "The Ship of the Fens".

Winchester Cathedral

Wednesday 11 June 2008
David Ogden is well-known as a conductor and composer, and is Director of the RSCM Millennium Youth Choir. He conducts the festival at Winchester Cathedral - an opportunity to experience the fantastic acoustics of this medieval cathedral.

Dunblane Cathedral, Scotland

Saturday 21 June 2008
Following the success of the first Scottish Young Voices Festival last year, Matthew Beetschen (Organist and Choirmaster of Dunblane Cathedral and Chairman of RSCM Scotland) will again conduct the service in this ancient cathedral.

King’s College School, Wimbledon

Friday 3 October 2008
Daniel Phillips is Director of Music at King’s College School, hosting the Festival in south London. The school is located on the south side of Wimbledon Common, where participants are advised to look out for wombles!

Ripon Cathedral

Wednesday 15 October 2008
Gordon Appleton is the RSCM Director of Voluntary Networks and musical director of the RSCM Northern Cathedral Singers. Join him in the stunning surroundings of Ripon Cathedral for this annual festival.

St Alphege Church, Solihull

Wednesday 15 October 2008
Jon Payne is an organist, choir trainer and Project Manager for Sound Futures (Birmingham Youth Music Action Zone). Schools and choirs in the Birmingham area are invited to join him for this year's festival at St Alphege, Solihull.

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, London

Saturday 18 October 2008
Esther Jones is Programme Director of the RSCM Church Music Skills scheme, and an experienced singer and choir trainer. St Sepulchre’s Church is the largest in the City of London and has hosted many RSCM events for massed choirs. It is also the home of the National Musician’s Chapel.