Students on song for festival

Adjudicator James Stretton and Mayor of Oldham Derek Heffernan with pupils from Lyndhurst Primary, Whitegate End Primary, Freehold Primary Academy, St Anne's, Lydgate and Oasis Limeside Primary School

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A CELEBRATION of music filled the Queen Elizabeth Hall this week as more than 2,500 children and young people from Oldham schools took part in the annual Oldham Schools Music Festival.

The festival, which ran from June 13 to 17, treated audiences to five days of ensemble performances and concerts showcasing the musical talent of local schools and the Oldham Music Centre.

For more than half a century, the Oldham Schools Festival has been a regular feature of the borough's musical life and this year's event was no different with 50 schools taking part.

Talented young people of all ages and abilities performed a wide range of music in front of parents, carers and fellow pupils.

The festival is an opportunity for school pupils to take part in a celebration of music and show off their talents in public.

Organisers were delighted to welcome adjudicator James Stretton and the Mayor of Oldham councillor Derek Heffernan to the musical extravaganza.

Gerard Booth, Oldham Music Centre's director of music, told the Chronicle: "The fact that we have so many schools taking part in the Schools Festival speaks for itself.

"It just shows what a thriving musical school community we have and what a musical place Oldham actually is."

He added: "The children enjoyed themselves enormously and so did the enthusiastic audience."