Trinity School’s choir selected to welcome France to Rugby World Cup 2015

01 Jun 2015

Trinity Boys Choir is one of 20 schools in England and Wales to have been selected to be part of the ceremonies that will officially welcome the teams to Rugby World Cup 2015. The ceremonies will also include the formal presentation of official Tournament caps and Rugby World Cup 2015 participation medals.
The school was chosen following an application process, led by leading independent charity Youth Sport Trust, which was open to all schools in England and Wales. With over 100 applications, the standard was very high resulting in a competitive judging process which was carried out by Tournament Organisers, England Rugby 2015, the Youth Sport Trust and the RFU.
Trinity School will be welcoming France in an iconic location in London. This is all the more fitting as Trinity School is proud to have been chosen as the team base for France this coming September during the Rugby World Cup 2015.
The successful schools include a mixture of state and private schools with both primary and secondary age groups involved. With schools selected from all around England and Wales, the Tournament reach continues to broaden with people across the UK joining to celebrate Rugby in its biggest year.
Managing Director of England Rugby 2015, Stephen Brown, said: “Congratulations to Trinity School on being selected to be involved in the Welcome Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup 2015. We were really pleased with the response that we got from schools wanting to be involved. The standard of the applications was very high and I would like to thank all schools that took the time to apply. We now have 20 excellent choirs from across England and Wales that will help us to welcome the participating unions to the Tournament and make it a celebration of Rugby. We hope this will provide them with unforgettable memories and give them and the teams a fantastic Tournament
experience.”
The choirs vary in size from 18 to 50 pupils and perform in a range of musical styles, including choral and gospel. Each choir has been asked to sing the official Rugby World Cup anthem, World in Union, during the ceremonies that will officially welcome the 20 teams to the Tournament and will be a celebration of Rugby.
The Trinity Boys Choir, selected to welcome France, has been performing professionally in the UK and internationally for half a century and in that time has acquired a reputation for being world class. This achievement is all the more remarkable as Trinity is not a specialist music school. The Choir has worked with some of the finest conductors and composers of our time, whether for live or recorded performances, and its repertoire spans the whole range of musical genres. The boys are equally at ease singing in Glyndebourne’s production of Carmen or Disney’s blockbuster Maleficent.
Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver added: “We are very excited to be able to offer this unique opportunity for schools to be involved in the Welcome Ceremonies for Rugby World Cup 2015. “We hope that it will impact not only the pupils performing, but the whole school to engage with the Tournament in a way that inspires learning. The Youth Sport Trust is delighted to support and work with Trinity School and England Rugby 2015 and we look forward to seeing great creativity in the school performances.”
The venues and dates of the ceremonies will be announced in the coming months. Steve Grainger, Rugby Development Director of the RFU added: “Schools across the nation are eagerly looking forward to Rugby World Cup 2015 and it is fantastic to see such a wide range of
them playing an active role in the Welcome Ceremonies. “We are working hard to expose more schools to Rugby Union and its values, encouraging students to watch games, take up the sport and join local clubs. Through our All Schools programme we will have 400 more secondary schools playing Rugby by the time the Tournament starts, over 1,000 have signed up so far to the online schools resource pack linked to the Tournament and there has been a great response from schools to the Festival of Rugby, which will run from June 10 until October 31.”
Trinity School’s Director of Music David Swinson commented: “Boys at Trinity School love both music and sport and are actively encouraged to do both in their time at school. It’s great for us to be able to demonstrate this aspect of our pupils’ education by having our choir support the Rugby World Cup welcome celebrations. We can’t wait!”
Trinity pupil and chorister Haig Lucas (aged 14) spoke on behalf of all the boys when he said: “I am really excited at the prospect of singing for the French rugby team and everyone is looking forward to having the French team in school with us in September.”