May
5, 2000 - Western
Mail Echo
CHARLOTTE CHURCH may be up for three awards at the first Classical Brit Awards, but she is far more excited about the new clothes she will be wearing.
The 14-year-old singer, who shot to worldwide fame less than two years ago, is performing at tomorrow's ceremony in the Royal Albert Hall, London, which honours the cream of the classical world.
Her mother Maria said she was keeping her fingers crossed that Charlotte would win an award, but her daughter is far more interested in dressing up and having fun.
Charlotte said, "I can't wait for the awards because I get to wear three new outfits and they are wicked.
"I'm really looking forward to the occasion, because it will so cool to sing at the Albert Hall and to see the violinist Vanessa Mae perform, because I really respect her."
Charlotte will perform two songs at the ceremony and has chosen La Pastorella and Cwm Rhondda.
The hymn is becoming something of a regular in her repertoire, mainly because it is always so well received.
"I have sung Cwm Rhondda a few times in America and they just love it," she said.
"They look at me and think its so cute that a little Welsh girl is singing a little Welsh song.
"It is one of my favourites because it is so Welsh and it is a rugby song, so I have to do it."
Mrs Church said Cwm Rhondda was also chosen because of its forcefulness. She said, "There are so many great artists performing, this will make her really stand out, because it is such a powerful song, which she sings really well.
"We are really looking forward to the event and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she will win.
"I think an awards ceremony for classical music is long overdue and this just shows the increasing popularity of the genre."
Charlotte is nominated for three Classical Brit Awards: Young British Classical Performer of the Year, Female Artist and Album of the Year. Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is nominated in the Male Artist of the Year category.
BBC
News - Curtain up on Classical Brits
Teenage singer Charlotte Church and violinist Nigel Kennedy will perform at the first Classical Brit Awards in May. The British Phonographic Industry is launching the new ceremony in to mark rising sales of classical music, bolstered by the publicity surrounding 14-year-old Church. BPI chairman Rob Dickins said: "Classical music has, over recent years, spread its influence to encompass all kinds of markets and in doing so is reaching a much wider audience. "The strict and somewhat old-fashioned conformities of the past have been eroded and music is the winner." Also performing on the night will be Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, soprano Lesley Garrett, Cecilia Bartoli and the English Chamber Orchestra. The awards will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 6 May and broadcast on ITV a fortnight later. This year's Brit Awards proper - the UK pop music industry's annual awards show - take place at Earl's Court on Friday.
The
Guardian
The
sound of knives being sharpened is deafening, the smell of
camphor is overpowering. Yes, the grey-faced, grey-suited
establishment music critics are reaching for their well-worn
overcoats, fine pens poised, to ride out for the first ever
"classical Brit awards".
Our
brave crotchet warriors are going into valiant battle. Such
philistine activity as a classical music awards show
requires the most poisoned of quills. They are not to be
deflected by mundane matters such as facts, because the
truth can sometimes be hard to bear. It is true to say that
the majority of people in Britain regard classical music as
irrelevant. It is true that many of our orchestras almost
went bankrupt last year, only to be bailed out at the last
minute by the Arts Council. And it is true that music
education in our schools has been knocked to its knees.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, our ink-splattered
Valkyries live in a far more rarefied atmosphere than we
mere mortals.
The
idea of playing classical music on a mainstream television
channel in a contemporary context to which a broad-based
mass audience can relate is too abhorrent a thought for them
to contemplate. "How can you compare the vocal beauty
of our great sopranos as if they are taking part in Miss
World?" they ask. "How dare you judge our great
tenors as if they are entrants to a Mr Universe
contest?" they exclaim.
But
gentlemen, gentlemen (they are virtually all men), whether
you like it or not, this is life, as we know it. Classical
music in the UK is perceived as elitist, incomprehensible
and impenetrable by far too many people. If classical music
is to take its rightful place in everyone's life, the
classical music establishment can no longer afford to follow
a kamikaze course of burying its head in the sand.
All of
us involved in classical music care about the industry in
which we work and the artistry that forms the centrepiece of
everything we do. We believe that classical music has the
power to transform people's perceptions of the surrounding
world for the greater good and we also hope that classical
music can play a part in social cohesion. Yet, as soon as an
initiative such as the classical Brit awards comes along,
the critics' vitriol pours forth. These awards exist to
raise the profile, heighten awareness and, at the very
least, give a glimpse of the beauty and joy that is
classical music. For that reason, they must be applauded and
supported, not denigrated by cheap-shot journalism or the
Machiavellian, elitist protectionism of a small, exclusive
club. We have seen it all before at Classic FM. Eight years
ago, when the station was born, no critic came close to
predicting its success. Yet today, more people enjoy their
classical music through Classic FM than through any other
medium.
Now is
the time for those who want classical music to flourish in
this country to encourage each other and to work together.
T-shirts and trainers should be welcomed in our hallowed
halls, not turned away. The house which is classical music
has many rooms and there are more than enough to accommodate
everyone.
Classic
FM, for its part, will support the classical Brit awards,
just as it supports Music Teacher of the Year, National
Orchestra Week and numerous other activities across the
classical music spectrum. At the heart of Classic FM's
ambition is a desire to be inclusive, welcoming, accessible
and relevant, and that is why more than six million people a
week are listening to the radio station.
Of
course, the record companies, organising the event are
motivated by the hope of commercial gain. But this is the
year 2000 and, as the song says, "money makes the world
go round", and anyone who knows a professional musician
can tell you that money plays just as important a part in
their lives as it does for the rest of us.
Commerce
and art have always been uneasy bedfellows, but they have
slept together for centuries. There is an enormously
positive tradition of patronage. In the 1600s, it was the
Medici family funding the likes of Michelangelo and
Botticelli. Today, Save & Prosper is sponsoring a hugely
successful series of concerts by the London Symphony
Orchestra. Yes, we need to protect our musicians - there is
a real need to nurture and look after them. But keeping them
shut away from the greater public, hiding them in dark halls
and treating them as a private collection of musical Pokémon
cards for the critics to swap among themselves does nothing
for the future of classical music. |
