EXCITING times lay ahead for Boscastle women’s acappella chorus North Coast Harmony as they rehearse for an upcoming performance at the Barbican Centre in London.

‘When We Collide: A British Songbook’ was commissioned by Sky Arts as part of its ‘Art 50’ initiative. Art 50 looks to fund 50 artists from various disciplines to create pieces of work that say something important about what it means to be ‘British’. North Coast Harmony, along with 23 other vocal groups from across the UK, worked with writer and composer duo Hanbury and Groves to produce a songbook which reflects on the national identity of participating groups.

North Coast Harmony’s musical director Siân Netherton said: “It’s been a really exciting project to be involved in. We spent time with Rebecca Hanbury back in Spring 2018 discussing what Cornwall means to us, and our words, along with the words of other similar groups, have been used to create some really beautiful pieces of music, with the entire collection of songs being made available for free to any group that wants to sing them.

“Cornish identity is really important to us, and to get the opportunity to express that, and have our words used to create such fantastic songs is wonderful. Our favourite piece in the collection is ‘I am Waking’. It’s great to sing, but it also contains the line ‘I’m approaching the coming home trees’, which speaks of the delight we all feel when we spot them from the A30 and know we’re nearly home, a feeling that I’m sure everyone who’s ever returned to Cornwall can relate to!”

North Coast Harmony will be performing songs from When We Collide: A British Songbook alongside other vocal groups throughout the afternoon at the Barbican Centre on February 23, with the songbook being available online through the chorus website www.northcoastharmony.co.uk/when-we-collide