The Manchester International Festival in partnership with Young Voices have today announced the world premiere of The Schools Festival Song written by the legendary film composer Ennio Morricone and Manchester writer Nicholas Royle to be performed by acclaimed bass baritone Nick Garrett.

This song is the second pre-festival commission and will be performed by 8,000 school children from Manchester and across the Northwest and guest artist NICK GARRETT at Manchester's MEN Arena on Monday 4 December.

Young Voices stage the largest children's choir concerts in the world with specially arranged repertoires dsigned to encourage more children to get involved in music and also to broaden their musical horizons.

Artists such as Katherine Jenkins, David Gray, Ms. Dynamite and Heather Small have all performed with the Young Voices choir in the past, giving these pupils the opportunity to perform alongside some of their role models.

This is their 10th Anniversary.

The song has been written by one of the world's greatest and most prolific film composeres Ennio Morricone, who has composed for films including Once Upon a Time in America, The Mission, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Kill Bill.

The lyrics have been written by Nicholas Royle who was born in Manchester and is the author of 5 novels - Counterparts, Saxophone Dreams, The Matter of the Heart, The Director's Cut and Antwerp.

8000 young people will perform this world premiere with guest artist NICK GARRETT, at the finale of the event at the MEN Arean to an audience totalling 20,000.

Nick Garrett is one of the UK's rising international stars and his reputation as an operatic soloist has grown from acclaimed performances in major productions at opera houses such as the Royal Opera House, English National Opera and the Opera National de Paris. 2006 has seen Nick performing the role of Sagredo in the World Premiere of 'Galileo' by Michael Jarrell and Laurent in 'Therese Raquin'. Nick has simultaneously enjoyed broader appeal as the original bass baritone and the creative force behind the opera band Amici forever. With the release of his selft titled CD on Monday 4th December Nick is set to showcase his versatility as a solo recording artist, composer and pianist"

For further information on the Manchester International Festival visit www.manchesterinternationalfestival.com

The event is completely sold out but, Nick's Management are offering 3 of his VIP's and their guests the chance to see this world premier for themselves and be part of this amazing evening.

The competition is being run over on Nick's own website www.nickgarrett.net and you need to be a member in order to enter.There will be the chance to meet with Nick after the event and for any oversea's VIP's, if you are selected as the winner, you will receive a signed photo of Nick taken from his new CD shoot.

Source: OS