Halifax Young Singers is described by Dr Gordon Stewart as "one of the great youth choirs in Britain" and is celebrating twenty years of singing in the 2011-12 season. The programme of events is a fitting one to celebrate such a milestone.

The choir's twentieth season has been a resounding success to date with concerts to sell-out audiences in Halifax and Huddersfield.

We are sure the success will continue into 2012. HYS are honoured to have been invited to perform in a fundraising concert for the Mayor of Kirklees’ charity – the Forget-Me-Not Trust. The choir will join with the world-famous Brighouse and Rastrick Band in Huddersfield Town Hall for what will be a memorable evening, on Saturday 28th January in aid of such a worthy cause. Tickets are available from Kirklees Box Offices on 01484 223200.

HYS looks forward to performing at our “home” Carlton URC on Saturday 4th February and to taking part in the Mrs Sunderland Music Festival in Huddersfield Town Hall later that month. HYS were winners of the Youth Choir class in 2010.

The choir will then on Saturday 24th March perform The Seven Ages of Man, a choral work based on texts from William Shakespeare’s plays, which was written for HYS’s 10th anniversary by Geoffrey Kinder. It seems entirely appropriate that we perform Seven Ages again in our 20th season. The performance will feature soloists from the choir and will be accompanied by a seven piece orchestra.

The choir will present its own Concert for Summer at Carlton URC on Saturday 19th May and members of the Youth Choir will round off the season with their annual informal ‘Sweeties’ Concert on Thursday 28th June.

HYS will celebrate the end of the 20th season in style on Saturday 30th June. We invite ALL singers who have been members of the choir over the last 20 years, and their families, to join us for an afternoon concert of repertoire from the last 20 years. A celebratory dinner will be held that evening at The Venue, Bowers Mill, Barkisland.

The quality of the choir’s performances comes from the expert leadership of Lynn Hudson and Craig Cockerill, our Music Team, and from our members, whose enjoyment of their singing is evident to audiences in this country and abroad. We are always delighted to welcome new singers so why not come along and join us for a few rehearsals – we’re sure you’ll enjoy singing with us.

In April this year the choir won three classes at the Eskdale Festival of the Arts in Whitby. Adjudicator Coral Gould described the choir's performances as "beautiful" and praised the young people for their high standards of performance. In 2010 HYS won the Youth Choir class at the Mrs Sunderland Music Festival and also won the Arthur Rooke Trophy for the Outstanding Performance by a youth choir on the day. The Adjudicator, Dr Eileen Bentley, described the Young Singers performances of ‘Gloria’ and ‘Prayer of the Children’, as ‘choral singing of great beauty and musicality’ awarding them an ‘Outstanding’ score for delivering ‘an exceptional performance, both technically and artistically’.

Of our recent performances in the National Festival of Music for Youth the well-respected adjudictors Keith Hewson, Sam Dunkley and Damian Harron wrote "This is a first rate choir who obviously enjoys their singing and performance", "Well done for performing such challenging but fantastic repertoire – this has energy and unlimited enthusiasm – but wonderful poise and assurance – intense focus! Wow!", "This is difficult music, but you meet the challenges with confidence in your abilities", "You slip effortlessly into harmony without losing any power. There is an ease and beauty to your sound throughout." and "This is a high quality youth choir who obviously enjoys the art of performing. I really enjoyed your performance!"

We would be delighted to welcome new members to help build on our success and sing with us. We rehearse every Thursday during Calderdale school terms and we extend a warm invitation to new singers to join us for a few rehearsals to see the choir "in action". The Youth Choir, for singers in school years 5-8, meets from 6.45pm to 8.00pm and the Chamber Choir, for singers in years 9 and above, meets from 8.00pm to 9.30pm. Rehearsals are held at Carlton United Reformed Church, Carlton Street, Halifax. The first rehearsals of the new season are on Thursday 8th September.

HALIFAX YOUNG SINGERS - NOW AVAILABLE NEW CD The Young Singers CD 'Halifax Young Singers Live at Carlton' features many of the Young Singers favourite numbers and as it is a live recording really captures the spirit of the choir. The CD is priced just £8.50, including postage and packing. Order your copy of 'Halifax Young Singers Live at Carlton' Now! (PDF form)

A REVIEW OF OUR RECENT SEASONS

Performances by the Halifax Young Singers during recent seasons have been described as:

"outstanding", "life enhancing", "a triumph", "captivating", "spellbinding" and "a collaboration of youth, good music and total enjoyment"

"This was by far the best concert I have heard".

In recent National Festival of Music for Youth heats well-respected adjudicators have said

"This is a very impressive, disciplined and musical choir. Tonality absolutely secure. Your performance of Nova! Nova! was stunning."

"You perform with clear pleasure, class, assurance and quality. Your tone and diction belie your youth."

"An outstanding performance of an outstanding piece"

"Your sound was lovely throughout - the balance was a credit to your maturity as performers."

"Congratulations, you really choose ambitious, interesting and exciting programmes. Here we have a piece composed of traditional singing, vocal and body sound effects and how well you combine them to give a compelling and musical performance."

"Impressively large ensemble. Great stuff! This is a terrific undertaking! Lovely to see you tackling demanding and thought-provoking repertoire! Very well done!"

Dr Simon Lindley describes the Young Singers as "The Jewel in Calderdale's Cultural Crown"