Hampton School’s exceptional youth male voice choir, Voices of Lions, have been impressing audiences at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival since 2013 and this year was no exception. Josh Bartholomew reports on their trip to the world’s most famous arts festival:
For the seventh consecutive year, Voices of Lions travelled to the Edinburgh Fringe to perform their popular show at the world’s largest arts festival. This time, however, pride was bigger than ever, with 50 members making the trip to Scotland, armed with a giant mascot – Leo the Lion.
In a shortened run, the choir attracted a crowd of over 100 for every show before smashing the record audience – set only last year – selling over 200 tickets. These attendances pay tribute to the tireless persistence shown by the singers on the Royal Mile each morning, pestering hundreds of festival-goers with colourful flyers in the hope that they will come to the show.
Singing under new direction after Mr Roland took over from retiring Mr Donald, Voices of Lions performed a particularly challenging repertoire, none more so than the complicated Bohemian Rhapsody; Queen’s most famous number was arranged brilliantly by Upper Sixth leaver Felix Elliott.
Arrangements from members of the choir were as common as in previous years with Nick Dibb-Fuller and Max Elliott both arranging songs for Voices of Lions to perform.
Audience members were very complimentary of Hampton’s youth male voice choir, with many impressed by the seamless transition between heartfelt, classical numbers and the contemporary, upbeat songs which are always a concluding feature of the choir’s set.
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