This page has been created to document the progress and development of Cambiata North West, or "CNW".
CNW has been created to fufil a clear need - to provide for boys who want to keep singing when they reach voice change at around the time of leaving primary school. Without the opportunities offered by CNW, many of these boys would simply drift away from singing. CNW aims to demonstrate best practice in management of and provision for boys' changing voices. It is thus not only an opportunity for the boys to meet together, make friends, develop musically and keep singing, but also a test bed for repertoire development and research.
CNW met together for the first time on Saturday 14th January when about 50 boys, aged between about 11 and 16 came from all over the North West to meet at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn. They are scheduled to meet again on the 10th March and then the 12th May when they will give their first public concert. If you know any boys who would be interested, download this form.
The way it works is quite simple. You start up a satellite group at your school or in your local community. A satellite consists of a viable number of boys who will come at a mutually convenient time to learn the CNW repertoire and, hopefully, to have some fun as well (I know of one group at least that "parties!") These boys can, if you like, perform in your own concert and they can join all the other boys for a really stimulating workshop day three times per season, which leads to a big public concert. It's that seemples, as the meercat said.
There are just two inviolable rules!
(1) Do NOT organise your singing group at the same time as a sports event or practice. Not allowed in BKS! Encourage boys to do BOTH.
(2) Use only music that is properly arranged for changing voices.
If you want to start a satellite group in your area, please contact us.
See current repertoire here.
STOP PRESS repertoire
CNW repertoire continues to grow. We have now added a four part TCCB arrangement of Shine (Take That) by Richard Stubbins. Richard is now working on a more "classical" piecce for us, a setting of John Barleycorn. Martin Ashley has just produced a three part (TCB) arrangement of the classic Bee Gees hit In The Morning, which (for those old enough to remember) was the theme song of the 1970s film Melody and when he next gets a moment he's going to create a cambiata suite of great English folk songs.
Y6 to Y7. Vocally, Y6 and Y7 aren't hugely different - but in terms of schooling, they're miles apart! Is this an opportunity or a handicap? From the NYCOS stable comes a perfect musical answer: Going for Gold: A Sports Cantata. Perfect for Olympics year, a brillinat project to bridge the Y6 to Y7 gap and launch boys into the Keep Singing mindset would be a performance of this by 10 - 12 year olds.
