Town’s famous choral society to perform rare work by Elgar

VISITORS to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park over Easter will be able to ‘app the art’ by using their smartphones to create new artworks.

A new app, sculpture.cam, developed by tech company The Space, allows users to photograph sculptures and submit digital images, which will then be transformed into 3D animations that can be shared across social media.

The project is supported by the BBC and Arts Council England and arose from research at the park that showed a high number of visitors take photographs with their phones or tablets and share them on social platforms such as Instagram or Facebook.

Visitors can download the app on arrival at the park and use GPS prompts to find 10 sculptures, including works by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Sophie Ryder. They must then use a silhouette provided by the app and attempt to capture the exact outline.

There are 120 silhouettes in all, providing a 360 degree view of each sculpture.

The images, captured in different light, weather and seasonal changes, will then be made into 3D animations. HUDDERSFIELD’S famous Choral Society bursts into song once again this spring with a performance of Elgar’s rarely-performed work Caractacus on Friday, April 13.

Caractacus, one of the composer’s largescale choral works, was premiered 120 years ago in West Yorkshire, at the Leeds Festival of 1898.

The cantata tells the story of the ancient British chieftain who led the resistance to the Roman invasion of our shores in the first century AD.

It is the first time the choral society has performed Caractacus and, members of the society believe, the first time it has been heard live in Huddersfield.

While the work was enthusiastically received in Leeds and later premiered in London, it is often overlooked.

Martyn Brabbins, Music Director of English National Opera and the choral society, as well as a popular figure at the BBC Proms, will conduct the concert.

The choir will be accompanied by the Orchestra of Opera North, offering audiences the opportunity to hear one of the UK’s top ensembles alongside one of the country’s bestknown choirs.

Soloists include tenor Ben Johnson, who recently performed with English National Opera; baritone Roland Wood, about to make his debut with Welsh National Opera; renowned bass-baritone Christopher Purves; soprano Elizabeth Lllewellyn, whose current and future engagements include roles with the Royal Danish Opera and Seattle Opera; and bass Alastair Miles, a regular at the Royal Opera House and other major British opera houses.

Tickets for the performance at Huddersfield Town Hall are £8 to £26 from kirkleestownhalls.co.uk or 01484 225755.