Led by the Voices of London Festival, Ahoy! London is a choral education project taking place in 2018 featuring Alexander L’Estrange’s cantata Ahoy! Sing for the Mary Rose, a sequence of choral arrangements of songs from the time of King Henry VIII, sea shanties, and an original song by L’Estrange.
The project encompasses three performances, one each in our focus areas of Merton, Islington and Westminster. Each performance will feature a local youth choir partner, youth music groups and choirs from local primary schools. In the run-up to the performances, participating schools and music groups will be given support with learning and preparation, including joint rehearsals and workshops, from our lead youth choirs and the Festival outreach team, offered free of charge.
This project is geared towards schools where there are significant practical or financial barriers to music participation, enabling young people to get a taste of choral singing and performing at a high level. All school groups will be invited to join the performance of Ahoy! at Voices of London's major works concert on Saturday 30 June.
Voices of London is committed to widening participation in singing and choral music; this project is the first in a series of outreach ventures with our network of partner choirs intended to stem the damage currently being seen due to funding cuts in arts education.
Please help us to inspire more young Londoners to get singing!