JOHN Forsyth, the musical director and composer who lives in Barton, North Yorkshire, has written a childrens opera which will have its world premiere in the new year.

About 50 youngsters aged seven to 14, who sing with either Tees Valley Voices, Darlington Youth Choir or the Darlington boys ensemble Locomotion, are rehearsing arias, recitative and solo pieces at their regular meetings, and will join over two weekends in early January to polish up the work for a live performance in the theatre at Middlesbrough College.

The Kingfishers Tale is a two-act opera, which tells of a boy’s dream encounter with birds and his quest to help them as a way of redeeming himself for a naughty stone-throwing incident.

It has a conservationist message.

Mr Forsyth, who was made an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this summer, is keen to give children an enthusiasm for choral singing, as well as instilling knowledge and enjoyment of opera.

“We are in danger of losing our heritage of choral singing, as members of such groups are getting older, and too few young people are taking it up. It is a serious issue,” he said.

A former county music advisor for Cleveland, until 18 months ago he was director of Tees Valley Youth Choir, and received the Birthday Honour for services to music in Teesside.

He recently founded the North-East Youth Chorale, for singers aged 16 to 23, in the hope of helping to bolster the tradition. In 1993, he formed Tees Valley Youth Choir, and is the conductor for Cleveland Philharmonic Choir.

The Kingfishers Tale was written after he received an invitation from Tees Valley Voices in conjunction with Darlington Youth Choir. It follows a similar venture two years ago, when childrens groups were involved in a production of All The Kings Men, by Richard Rodney Bennett.

This time, children were given the task of coming up with tunes and ideas for three sections of the story, which Mr Forsyth incorporated into his composition.

The opera will be staged in full costume, with masks for the several bird characters, and the score will be performed by a small chamber orchestra of young musicians.

“It is certainly fun, but also challenging,” said Mr Forsyth, who will conduct and direct. They are having to work, and in fact, one of the most difficult passages is the one they wrote themselves.

“It is the best way for them to understand what opera is about and hopefully give them a life-long interest.”

The project received a grant of over £11,000 from Youth Musics Open Programme.

The award is also supporting the training of leaders and participation of choir members in the Arts Award Scheme.

For more details, contact Joan Carter on 01642- 656273 or by email on info@teesvallevoices.org.uk.