EMMA'S MISSION TO HELP CHOIRS; Top soprano joins fundraising concert as Armonico reaches out to children.

Byline: PATSY FULLER

LEADING English soprano Dame Emma Kirkby is supporting a bid to set up new children's choirs in Coventry and Warwickshire.

She will be joining Warwickshire-based choral ensemble Armonico Consort for a fundraising concert in Warwick this month in support of the group's Music Outreach Mission.

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Armonico Consort gives more than 50 concerts and opera performances a year but it also offers free singing and drama workshops to thousands of children across the country and more than 400 youngsters sing in one of its AC Academy children's choirs.

Now it aims to set up two new children's choirs - one in Hillfields in Coventry and the other in Stratford. The concert at St Mary's Hall, Warwick, on September 29 will help to support these initiatives.

The singers, accompanied by period instrumentalists, will perform music from the late Renaissance and early Baroque period, including Allegri's sublime Miserere Mei, and Carissimi's passionate Jephtha, best known for its final movement with its exquisite harmonies.

There will also be excerpts from Buxtehude's Cantata, Membra Jesu Nostri.

Christopher Monks, founder and artistic director of Armonico Consort, said: "Emma sang in our very first concert at St Mary's in Warwick in September 2001. That year we had just nine performances, and since then, we have been on a sort of rollercoaster ride.

"We are about to start two more children's choirs, one in a very deprived area of Coventry, and the other in Stratford, so we are hoping to raise as much money as possible from this concert."

Tickets on 0845 5120 137 or visit www.armonico.org.uk EMMA Kirkby will be back at St Mary's Hall, Warwick, on October 6 to launch Leamington Music's monthly series of early music concerts. She will join the London Handel Players in a programme to celebrate anniversaries of Purcell, Handel and Haydn. Tickets on 01926 776438.

n AN EXCITING young pianist from South Korea will help the Philharmonia Orchestra launch its season in the Midlands this month.

Twenty-year-old Sunwook Kim will be playing Schumann's Piano Concerto under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, on September 18.

Sunwook Kim was born in Seoul and started making him the youngest winner for 40 years. Since then he has had concerto and recital engagements throughout Europe.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 and Schubert's Rosamunde Overture will be the other works on the programme. Tickets on 0116 233 3111.

n COVENTRY'S Tony Gibbs Singers will be in action in the city centre tomorrow to support a medieval church.

They will be giving concert at St John the Baptist Church to raise money towards the hefty maintenance bills of the Grade One listed building on the corner of Fleet Street and Spon Street.

The church is hoping to become an established venue for arts and entertainments. Several concerts and dramatic performances have already been already staged in its medieval surroundings and many more are planned.

St John's rector, Father Paul Such, said: "We have been serving the people of Coventry for 700 years, both spiritually and pastorally, but now we hope to embark on pastures new, by becoming an established venue for performance art within Coventry and Warwickshire, including holding art exhibitions for both new and more established artists.

"The Tony Gibbs Singers are well-regarded across the UK and beyond, and the programme they will be treating us to promises to be full of popular music - classical, folk and show tunes - so there will be something for everyone."

The Tony Gibbs Singers were founded in Coventry in 1994 and draw members from different choirs, including the Coventry Philharmonic Choir, St Michael's Singers and the Coventry Blue Coat School Choir.

The choir has raised more than pounds 26,000 for worthy causes over the years. Tomorrow's concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets cost pounds 6 on the door.

n SING LIVE is looking for people to join in a celebration concert in Coventry Cathedral The concert on December 4 will feature the Disney Candlelight Processional which is performed at Epcot in Florida. The music is a celebration of classic Christmas music interwoven with the nativity story and is described as "something different for anyone who loves to sing."

Rehearsals start on October 4 at Caludon Castle School, in Axholme Road, Coventry. Call 01609 780315 for more details.

WIN concert tickets WE'RE giving you the chance to win a pair of tickets to an evening of top music.

Birmingham-based Contrasts return to Bedworth Civic Hall on Saturday, September 19 for an evening of popular classical music. They will be joined by Scottish Opera soprano Louise Ratcliffe and the hall will be transformed into an informal cabaret-style setting with tables for the performance. Tickets cost pounds 10 from 024 7637 6707.

Enter the following question to win tickets for the concert: Where are the Contrasts based? Send entries to Classics Competition, c/o Marion McMullen, Features, Coventry Telegraph, Corporation Street, Coventry, CV1 1FP. Closing date September 10.

Standard rules apply. Full list of winners and rules available on request.

Classical Diary TONIGHT The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

TOMORROW The Tony Gibbs Singers: Accompanist Barbara Lewis, director Tim Campain - Popular music including classical, folk and show songs. St John the Baptist Church, Fleet Street, (corner of Spon Street), Coventry city centre. 7.30pm. Tickets pounds 6 on door.

The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

SUNDAY The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

MONDAY Alistair Reid (Coventry Cathedral) - organ recital: Coventry Cathedral, 1pm.

TUESDAY The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

WEDNESDAY City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: conductor Andris Nelsons, piano Arcadi Volodos - Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven: Birmingham Symphony Hall, 7.30pm. 0121 780 3333. The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

THURSDAY City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: conductor Andris Nelsons, piano Arcadi Volodos - Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven: Birmingham Symphony Hall, 2.15pm. 0121 780 3333. The Opera Show: Kilworth House Theatre, Lutterworth Road, North Leicestershire, 8pm. 01858 881939.

CAPTION(S):

THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A DAME... Emma Kirkby joins the Armonico Consort for a concert in Warwick later this month to support the creation of two children's choirs in the area.