Voices of Lions - Hampton School’s highly rated youth male voice choir - returned to the Edinburgh Fringe festival for the sixth consecutive year in August.
The choir took part in the Music for Youth Proms in November and were awarded the privilege of performing at the Royal Albert Hall. Furthermore, Voices of Lions have featured on BBC Radio 3 numerous times, as well as reaching the final of the National Choir of the Year Competition in 2014. Their future exploits could even stretch to Britain’s Got Talent, as a representative from the show sought out Iain Donald - Voices of Lions' choirmaster - after a performance on the Royal Mile.
Performing at Old St. Paul’s Church, Voices of Lions’ set included an emotive cycle of songs from World War 1 in order to commemorate the centenary of the Great War. In addition to this, there were a number of arrangements from members of the choir, including Freddie Mercury’s ‘Good old-fashioned lover boy’ and 'September', by Earth Wind and Fire.
Audience members were very complimentary of the choir, with many impressed by the seamless transition between heartfelt, classical numbers and the contemporary, upbeat songs which are always a concluding feature of Voices of Lions’ set.
While many performers at the Fringe hire others to publicise their shows, Voices of Lions were a consistent sight on the Royal Mile before their performance, handing out black and gold flyers. The publicity was clearly worthwhile, as the final show attracted a record crowd of 164.
Tobias Droy, a member of Voices of Lions said: "Participating in the Edinburgh Fringe was a wonderful experience. Amid such widespread competition from the various other musical shows, it struck me how unique Voices of Lions is as a group of performers.
"It was an enlightening and educational week, and I’m sure that our involvement in the festival will help us as we prepare for our Christmas concerts."
