A SEARCH for singers from Oswestry to join a massed choir of 200 voices to call for world peace was launched this week.

The performance at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, on July 5, will pay tribute to the thousands of men, women and children massacred in the 1990s war in Bosnia and shine a light on the desperate plight of those currently suffering in war-torn Ukraine.

The concert, called The White Flower: Into the Light, will be days before Srebrenica Memorial Day on July 11 to remember the 8,372 Bosnian Muslims who were massacred in 1995.

The White Flower motif has been adopted as a symbol of remembrance in Srebrenica and the 11 petals of the flower represent the day the genocide began.

The theme of the concert was chosen to reflect the founding purpose of the Eisteddfod, an iconic event which was established in 1947 to promote peace in the aftermath of the Second World War.

It will feature extracts from the haunting mass for peace, The Armed Man, by renowned Welsh composer Karl Jenkins as a centrepiece of the programme.

Volunteers are needed to join the huge, specially formed choir, one of the biggest ever seen in North Wales.

They will be accompanied by the acclaimed NEW Sinfonia orchestra that will be making its debut headline appearance at Llangollen Eisteddfod.

NEW Sinfonia conductor Robert Guy has issued a call for singers of all ages to sign up for the choir, with rehearsals due to get underway on May 13.

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He said there will be no barriers to taking part in this stirring occasion, adding: “It is not restricted to those with previous concert singing experience.

“We are opening it up to all comers, all they need is a love of singing.”  

At the heart of the choir will be a group of keen amateur singers who belong to the hugely successful NEW Voices project already established by NEW Sinfonia.

Robert said: “It’s thanks to the huge success of our NEW Voices project that we already have a core group of enthusiastic amateur singers ready to step up and sing at Llangollen.

“But we need lots more singers, especially tenors and basses.

“We will need 200 voices in all so we are urging anyone with a passion for singing and a desire to take part in this momentous event to sign up quickly now.”

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Rehearsals will be at two hubs, one in Tŷ Pawb community arts centre, Wrexham, and the other at St Asaph Parish Church.

They meet on Saturday mornings from 10am-12 noon. There is also a facility for people to join rehearsals via Zoom video conferencing technology.

Llangollen Eisteddfod executive producer Camilla King said: “I am expecting demand for tickets will be high as there is no doubt in my mind that this will be a truly unforgettable evening.”