The wind on the moor

As we have been reporting today is the much-awaited performance of the opera The wind on the moor at the St. Michael and All Angels Haworth parish church.

Some days ago we read on the BrontëParsonageBlog a press release concerning this opera based on the lives of the Brontës and written by children (the news have also appeared in the local press and in the regional BBC):

Primary school children from four Bradford schools are gearing up for the performance of a lifetime when they perform their very own Brontë Opera at Haworth church on Thursday 30 March 2006 at 1.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. in front of an invited audience.

Virginia Rushton, Project Director and Operahouse Artistic Director said the process had been “exhilarating and exhausting! The journey from blank page to performance is always exciting for a composer, but on this project we have had 120 young composer-performers and their teachers so we’re off the scale in terms of excitement”.

She added, “As the journey has progressed, it has gathered pace and is now racing towards the premiere of “The Wind on the Moor”. Harnessing all the energy and ideas, keeping the creative process on track, supporting the class teachers as they came to grips with techniques for writing songs, and simply managing such a large group of children has been a challenge. But we knew what we were aiming for, and I think we have achieved something unique for each of us and for our audience”.

Andrew McCarthy, Audience Development Manager at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, said, “We have focused on the Brontës’ experience of childhood in Haworth and the contrast between this industrial village in which they grew up and the extraordinary imaginary worlds they created in their early writing”. He added, “The children and teachers involved have enjoyed themselves immensely and have totally engaged with the project. They are looking forward to the final performance on 30 March with much anticipation!”.

Categories: Opera, Music