Ever wondered what it must be like to perform on the big stage at The Glasshouse alongside professional musicians of great renown?
Many will be finding out in a few days’ time when they join Royal Northern Sinfonia and opera stars Dame Sarah Connolly (mezzo-soprano), Roderick Williams (baritone) and Benjamin Hulett (tenor) for a special performance of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.
This is the third Share the Stage event at The Glasshouse, so some of the keen amateurs are likely to have been here before.
The first event was in 2021, a moving performance of Verdi’s Requiem - dubbed The People’s Requiem – to mark a return to mass music-making after the pandemic and to remember those who lost their lives to Covid-19.
Hugely successful, it demonstrated that classical music is something everyone can participate in and if it’s deemed exclusive or elitist, then that’s purely down to opportunity.
The follow-up, in 2024, was A Child of Our Time, Michael Tippett’s secular oratorio which he began composing in 1939, on the day war was declared.
It was part of the venue’s 20th anniversary celebrations and, once again, it proved a season highlight.
County Durham-born Dame Sarah Connolly was present on that occasion too.
“Taking part in Share the Stage in 2024 was a wonderful experience, and I’m delighted to be returning,” she recalled.
“There’s something very special and collegial about performing alongside hundreds of singers and instrumentalists, all who bring different experiences but share the same commitment and love of music.
“The dedication and energy that non-professional musicians bring to a performance of this scale is remarkable, and it’s a privilege to be part of that collective effort.
“The Dream of Gerontius is a particularly powerful work because its emotional journey is both humble and super-terrestrial. Elgar’s choral writing has depth, drama and stillness.
“I think there’s something especially moving about experiencing that drama performed by so many people, all working towards the same shared moment.”
This third Share the Stage performance will be the biggest musical gathering in Sage One since it reopened in September after a nearly £4 million upgrade.
Also contributing to a big sound, under the direction of chorus director Tim Burke, will be the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia and the choir Voices of the River’s Edge – and what The Glasshouse terms Massed Musical Forces of the North East.
The latter range in age from 23 to 85 and among them will be 73-year-old Suzanne Shell, from Morpeth, whose participation in A Child of Our Time marked her return to serious singing after more than 50 years.
Seeing that no audition was required, she dared herself to take part and was then persuaded by her son to persevere after the first rehearsals proved challenging.
“I stuck it out and the performance was one of the best moments of my life. I’ll never forget it,” she recalled ahead of her latest Share the Stage journey.
“Coming back this year, I’m much more relaxed because I know that with the guidance and support we get, we’ll get there.
“I’m just looking forward to hearing us all together and getting those goosebump moments that tell me I’m part of something amazing.
“I’d say to anyone thinking about doing something like this, ‘Give it a go. It’s good for the soul’.”
Roderick Williams is proof of that, a singer whose evident joy in performing has made him a favourite wherever he performs.
The Dream of Gerontius, he says, “is such a powerful work to perform, partly because of the depth of its subject matter, the ambition and scope of the choral and orchestral score, and the fact that it was written for truly operatic soloists.
“Performing alongside enthusiastic non-professional musicians is a reminder of the value of live performance and how fortunate we are to make music together.
“I’ve always been inspired by people’s desire to sing together, whether that’s supporting a sports team, at a Christmas singalong or simply singing Happy Birthday.
“There’s something very special about bringing so many people together through music, and that’s what makes projects like Share the Stage so important.”
The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar’s setting of a poem written in 1865 by Cardinal John Henry Newman, was premiered in Birmingham in 1900.
It follows the journey of a man’s soul from death into the afterlife and many regard it as Elgar’s finest choral work.
Dinis Sousa, music director of Royal Northern Sinfonia, calls it an extraordinary piece to perform.
“It moves between moments that feel incredibly intimate and these huge, overwhelming passages where the orchestra, soloists and chorus come together with enormous power.
“That makes it a wonderful piece for Share the Stage.
“There is something very special about bringing hundreds of people together to make this music, with Royal Northern Sinfonia and our guest soloists performing alongside singers and instrumentalists from communities across the region.
“Everyone on that stage has a part to play in creating the performance and I think the scale and energy of that will be incredible to experience in Sage One.”
James Thomas, executive director of Royal Northern Sinfonia and classical music at The Glasshouse, said: “Share the Stage is about opening up the experience of making great music and giving people the opportunity to be right at the heart of it.
“You don’t have to be a professional musician or have followed a particular route into music to experience what it feels like to perform an extraordinary work alongside a professional orchestra.
“This year we have people coming together from across the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, with hugely different musical backgrounds and levels of experience.
“For one afternoon they will all be part of the same company of musicians on the Sage One stage.
“That sense of participation and shared ownership of music is incredibly important to us and to what Royal Northern Sinfonia and The Glasshouse are here to do.
“It’s something unique to the North East and we’re immensely proud of it.”
Tickets for the concert on Sunday, November 8 (3pm) can be bought from The Glasshouse website.