Highland pupils first to perform WWF musical in Scotland

22nd August 2011

WWF is marking its 50th anniversary in style this year with the Scottish premiere of its musical 'One Sun One World'.

The piece has been specially commissioned by the environmental charity and will be performed for the first time in Scotland on Saturday 19 November at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort Hotel at 2pm.

Young musicians from all over Highland, who form the Highland Youth Orchestra and Youth Choir, along with pupils from Kingussie High School and its associated primary schools, will be performing the piece and rehearsals for them begin this weekend. These two groups and the 6 others supported by The Highland Council have a schedule of weekend rehearsals for the November Concerts weekend which will also see performances by the other Groups throughout the day. More information about the Concerts can be seen at: www.highland-young-musicians.com

Characters which bring the piece to life include the Wise Oak Tree, Panda and Cacao (chocolate plant) which remind us of the great wonders of our natural world. As the musical unfolds the characters begin to doubt the sustainability of our life but it ends on an upbeat note with a powerful reminder that we really do have the power to change the world.

Kingussie High School and its associated primary schools are currently involved in cross-curricular work supported by WWF and the Global Learning Project and based on some of the themes of the musical.

Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland said: "One Sun One World is a fitting celebration of WWF's 50th anniversary as it focuses on important issues such as the consequences of climate change and our use of the planet's natural resources. Our work on education aims to inspire everyone to protect the natural world so that people and nature thrive - and to give them the knowledge and skills to make a difference."

Norman Bolton, Music Development Officer for The Highland Council said:"This is an exciting collaboration for our Regional Music Groups who will rise to the challenge and no doubt produce another top class performance. The fact that we can extend the project with wider education work involving local schools is a great benefit to everyone involved."

One Sun One World.
The composers of the work are Peter Rose, from Inverness and Anne Conlon, highly experienced musicians who have created five environmental musicals for schools and who have a long track record of working with WWF.

WWF has a rich history of producing musicals for secondary schools. The first - Yanomano (exploring the lifestyle Yanomano tribe and their relationship with rainforests around them) - was premiered in London in 1983 with narration by David Attenborough. Subsequent performances took place on the Smithsonian Institute, World Trade Centre and The Kennedy Centre in America with Sting providing the narration. Further productions included African jigsaw, Ocean World, and Arabica.