National Children’s Remembrance Concert, Genting Arena, Birmingham, November 3rd 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of the first World War.

More than 2500 children will be performing in the first ever National Children’s Remembrance Concert at the Genting Arena in Birmingham on November 3rd 2018 to mark the 100th anniversary of the ending of the first World War.

Children from across the country will perform music, song and drama to commemorate and remember the tens of millions of civilians and combatants from across the world who died in that war including an estimated 540,000 children. The concert will pay homage to the role and sacrifices by women and non-combatants and the many millions of animals that were killed in the conflict including nearly eight million horses and mules. Large screens will be used throughout.

There will be a choir of over 2000 children dressed so as to represent two giant poppies and an orchestra of 180 Young Musicians made up of members of the Birmingham Schools’ and Ealing Youth Orchestras.

The music, songs and associated images have been carefully selected and sequenced to tell the story of the war so as to extend factual knowledge and understanding of the war and to enhance empathy for all who were affected by it and its consequences. There will be moments of joy and moments of sadness, of emotion and reflection, of pathos and hope, and of remembrance and gratitude. It will be a concert for all and which commemorates and remembers all.

Concert Director and Founder Ron Dawson said:

“If the spirit and duty of remembrance is to endure it must be passed from generation to generation. The ambition of this children’s centenary concert is to renew that remembrance and our gratitude to those who lived, fought and died in that war a century ago.

It is important to remember all of those who were affected by World War I, whether they were combatants from anywhere in the world, their families, their children or their friends and neighbours. I hope this concert will change the way we commemorate remembrance forever and inspire an interest and understanding of remembrance in the next generation.

Whilst Remembrance Day has continued year upon year, the hope that the war would bring an end to all wars has still to be realised. If that hope is ever to be fulfilled it must be planted and nurtured within the hearts of everyone, but most importantly within the hearts of today’s children.”

Music will include Mars, Nimrod, Cavatina, Silent Night, Hymn to the Fallen and popular songs from the home front and the trenches. The concert climaxes with a mass singing of Lest we Forget, a song written and co-composed by Mr Dawson.

Press:

Pensioner spends three years organising a national WWI Remembrance concert for children

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www.lestweforgetconcert.org