On Saturday 7th November, members of the Harbury Choir School ‘Young Voices Choir’ met at The Harbury War Memorial. They sang a short concert of songs, with very fitting and moving words. Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” and Debbie Wiseman’s “No Wars Will Stop us Singing” made for a very special message of hope coming from such young singers.

The performance drew an audience of around 100 people of all ages from the local community. Even passing cars and a van collecting timber for the local bonfire stopped to hear the children sing.

The concert had a modern feel; using pop songs and live instrumentals on Saxophone and Clarinet by Helen Iles of The Warwickshire Band – Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. There were also traditional Remembrance Day elements. Two poems were read by the youngsters before the Last Post, which was played by the Choir’s Musical Director, David Iles and Ian Bode of The Warwickshire Band.

During the silence, two young singers laid a poppy wreath made from over 200 hand painted poppies. Each poppy was made by the children using their fingerprints – continuing the theme of ‘Joining Hands in Hope’ of this year’s Poppy Appeal.

The Harbury Choir School put a fresh take on the traditional Remembrance Day. The concert had an overall feeling of being part of the local community and bringing people together. An emotional reaction from the audience, showed that war has affected many of us. This message of hope coming from the youth of our community is one that we should not forget.

Novemeber 7th 2009, Harbury