Young people in Darlington have created and recorded a brand new piece of music inspired by the River Skerne.

Young people in Darlington have been working with professional composter Sarah Freestone, lyricist Katie Doherty and musicians from Opera North to create and record a brand new piece of music called Song of the Skerne, based on their experiences, understanding and historical research around the river that flows through Darlington.

Through a series of creative online workshops earlier this year, young people from Haughton Academy in Darlington took a journey along the River Skerne to explore the river’s evolving environment and rich history – from Romans to railways via marshland and the Durham Ox.

They created lyrics and musical ideas thinking about the river ‘then', ‘now’ and in the ‘future’ with some incredibly thoughtful contributions. The creative team then weaved these ideas together into a moving and uplifting song about the river!

Opera North and Darlington Hippodrome collaborated as artistic partners, the Hippodrome will play host to the Orchestra of Opera North on Thursday 7 November for a special afternoon of music including the live premiere of Song of the Skerne. A special exhibition about Song of the Skerne is currently located at the Hippodrome with some beautiful photography created by the Haughton Academy students.

A special film has been created to accompany the Song of the Skerne which goes live on Youtube at 7.30pm on Thursday 12 August. You can watch the film here.



Song of the Skerne was produced by Orchestras Live in partnership with Darlington Hippodrome, Discover Brightwater, Durham Music Service and Opera North with funding from Arts Council England, Discover Brightwater, National Lottery Heritage Fund, Creative Darlington and the Scops Arts Trust.

To book tickets for the Orchestra of Opera North on Thursday 7 November call the box office on 01325 405405 or visit the show page here.