iSing, Sing Out and Sing and Sign concerts for Doncaster children

Pupils from schools across Doncaster came together to perform their own original songs for their families and friends. Doncaster Music Hub is a collection of local partners, led by Doncaster Music Service and darts.

iSing started everything off in April, with students from Doncaster secondary schools performing alongside the Doncaster Youth Jazz Association. Students wrote original songs for the concert with the help of professional musicians Luke Carver Goss and Jim Lunt.

Next, 32 primary schools took part in Sing Out over two days at The Dome, with over 850 young people performing. Doncaster pupils performed a mixture of well-known songs and their own original songs, written with darts musicians Luke Carver Goss and Jim Lunt. The children also performed choreography by dance artist Alex Mettam. Sing Out featured performances from

darts’ Swag Choir and special guests Abigail Kelly and Ben Knight from the Royal Opera House. Abigail and Ben performed a piece from Mozart’s opera ‘The Magic Flute’, which has been specially adapted for young singers as part of the Royal Opera House’s Create and Sing programme for schools. School staff fed back that they were very proud of the young people performing.

One teacher said: ‘A totally awesome event: our first time but certainly not our last. It’s difficult to convey how proud we were of our pupils. It mattered for each and every one of them. [Most of the pupils] had several family members there - several commented about the confidence their children had and their smiles. Not enough superlatives!’

Finally there was Sing and Sign, a massed singing event for Doncaster’s special schools, held at Doncaster College. This year musician Moony Wainwright visited schools to co-write original songs exploring time travel, taking us from the ice age to the year 3019. Pupils performed Makaton signs along with their songs, accompanied by the Doncaster Music Hub Rock Band. Lots of parents and carers attended to sing and sign along with the students.

The concerts were greatly enhanced this year by Doncaster Music Hub’s business sponsors, Savoy Cinema and Frenchgate Shopping Centre. The businesses provided every young person who took part in Sing Out and Sing & Sign with their own branded t-shirt to wear during the concerts, and professionally printed programmes for the audience. The Royal Opera House also supported our schools with bursaries to cover their travel costs for Sing Out, meaning lots more schools could take part. Darts is looking to secure further business support for next year's events. For more information, please contact [email protected]

How to get involved – If your school would like to be involved in iSing, Sing Out or Sing and Sign next year, sign up to the Doncaster Music Hub newsletter to be notified when booking opens for the 2024 concerts.

You can sign up here https://bit.ly/3xr1kBd or at www.doncastermusichub.org

If you would like any more information on the concerts, do contact Sophie for a chat on [email protected] or telephone 01302 493843.