THE Anvil will be alive with music on Sunday, April 27, as the best singing groups from across the region take part in the prestigious National Choir of the Year competition. 

Twenty-two talented singing groups with singers aged from nine to 85 years old will be performing classical and contemporary choral music, pop arrangements and songs from around the world in an action-packed day.

They are competing for the accolade of Choir of the Day and the chance to move a step closer to the coveted title of National Choir of the Year 2014.

Audiences also have the opportunity to sing along with conductor Greg Beardsell as he leads them through material from the Big Big Sing – a nationwide singing initiative launched in celebration of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Taking place at the end of each audition session, these fun and accessible workshops will give competitors and members of the public the chance to try their hand at singing songs from across the Commonwealth, from Canada to the Caribbean and Samoa to South Africa.

The best choirs will make it through to the next round, the Category Finals, at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday, October 19.

After that, just six choirs will make it through to the Grand Final at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on Sunday, December 7. The competition is recorded and will be broadcast by the BBC in special National Choir of the Year programmes on BBC FOUR and BBC Radio 3.

Tickets for the heat in The Anvil cost £5 and are available from the box office on 01256 844244 or online at anvilarts.org.uk.