Ilkley Youth Choir Seniors had the honour and pleasure of opening for Italian piano virtuoso Mauro Bertolino at his concert in Bradford Cathedral last week as part of his global tour.
The choir sang two songs, You Raise Me Up and The Blessing, the dramatic setting and clear acoustics complementing the beauty of the music and voices.
This was followed by a remarkable two-part piano-based set from Mauro Bertolino himself. Classically trained and astonishingly technically accomplished, Bertolino mixes thrilling variations on classical pieces such as Blue Rondo a la Turk and Flight of the Bumble Bee with his own interpretations of film scores and popular music – a dramatic version of Bohemian Rhapsody was a particular highlight.
Film music is a particular passion of Mauro’s – unsurprising given that he spent part of his early career working with Italian film soundtrack legend Enio Morricone, whose beautiful theme to Once Upon a Time in the West was one of many standouts. Others were film themes by Hans Zimmer (Tennessee), Nino Rota (The Godfather), and Ryuichi Sakamoto (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence).
The concert was organised by producer Deana Morgan who after seeing Mauro perform last year was so touched by his talent that she wanted to involve him in Bradford Cathedral’s Global Connections commitment to Bradford 2025.
The event was a huge opportunity for IYC to not only sing in such a beautiful and historic setting, but to perform with a professional world class musician.
The senior cohort of Ilkley Youth Choir, which has singers from age 11 to 18, started in 2019 and is directed by local music teachers Emma and Stephen Bradnum. There is also a Junior choir for young singers aged 6 to 11, both meet at Moorfield school weekly. Emma and Stephen want everyone to be welcome and their aim is to give opportunities to for all singers to learn and improve and so hold no auditions for their choirs.
Emma and Stephen were delighted to be invited to be part of this special concert. Emma said:
“We were thrilled to be invited to perform as the “curtain raiser” for the incredible Mauro Bertolino. Bradford Cathedral is such a stunning venue to perform in and the acoustics were wonderful – they really complimented our chosen pieces. Stephen and I are really proud of our young singers. They performed with confidence and expression and most importantly they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”
It was a magical musical evening and inspiring for the young singers. Emma added:
“I loved watching the reaction of the youth choir as they enjoyed Mauro’s performance. They were blown away by his talent and were left feeling incredibly inspired by his passion and the dedication to his craft.”
Emma and Stephen believe their purpose is to inspire people to love music. They also direct Bradford and Airedale Youth Choir and Ilkley Stage Singers, among other musical projects, and are constantly creating very special opportunities for their singers and musicians to come together through music.
Producer Deana Morgan said:
“The harmonies were so clean, the diction so clear and they handled themselves with maturity and professionalism beyond their years. Well done Ilkley Youth Choir – be very proud!”
The audience were moved to a standing ovation at the end of the concert – the energy and enjoyment in the room is already leading to plans to repeat the concert next year.
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