It would be a wonderful thing to have a thriving children’s choir in the Strathy area, but if somebody started one, the chances are it would be nearly all girls. Well, lots of girls would be great, but what about the boys? Don’t they like singing too? Retired academic Professor Martin Ashley, who moved across the Border to live in Boat of Garten last September (and is very glad he did) believes they do. He’s been doing research for over twenty years on the question of why so many boys seem reluctant to join choirs, and has worked with, amongst others, the National Youth Choir of Scotland’s boys. There are plenty of them, and they all like singing! So, when he was asked by the organisers of “Friday Music at Saint John’s” (Catherine Cargill and Stuart Palmer) if he could contribute to the series of concerts held each year in Rothiemurchus, he thought “well, what about a boy who likes singing and who’s rather good at it?”Ten-year-old Jerome Collins from far away Wimbledon has been contributing to Martin’s ongoing research on how high boys should sing and is certainly a boy who likes singing. He’s also extremely good at it: for example, he sings with the world-famous boys’ choir Libera and, though only ten, has already been a soloist on their global tours. Martin is going to give a short talk based on how the Protestant reforms of King Edward VIth of England fundamentally changed the answer to the question of how high boys should sing, and Jerome is then going to sing the title piece for the concert, Purcell’s Music for a While at the pitch Martin thinks a boy should sing it! Jerome’s recital will include works by Faure, Elgar, Mendelssohn and Schubert as well as the odd more contemporary item and a few surprises. Don’t miss it!
Cath Cargill
musicinverness 
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