LYC Chamber Choir at D-Day 80

Published 14 June 2024

It was an honour and a privilege for LYC Chamber Choir to perform as part of the D-Day 80 commemorations at the British Normandy Memorial on 6 June. The choir sang a specially-commissioned anthem by Andrew Lloyd-Webber – Lovingly Remembered – with singer-songwriter Naomi Kimpenu and the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, as well as the French and British National Anthems, in front of His Majesty King Charles III, Queen Camilla and Emmanuel Macron.

We’re so proud of our members and are delighted that LYC could give them the opportunity to be part of this significant act of remembering.

You can watch the full event on BBC iPlayer. LYC sings at 1:57:30 (Lovingly Remembered) and 2:07:30 (National Anthems).

Behind the scenes: Singing with veteran Norrie Bartlett

On the ferry across to France, LYC members were talking to veterans and hearing of their experiences, including from 98 year-old Norrie Bartlett, who joined the Royal Navy in 1942 at the age of 16 and was travelling back to Normandy to remember friends who never came home. 

When Norrie said that he loved to sing, LYC Chamber Choir offered to sing a song with him, leading to an impromptu performance of folk-song ’The Water is Wide’ to an audience on the ferry. Chamber Choir Conductor Matthew Quinn described it as an ‘incredibly humbling experience’.

A youth choir singing, with a world war veteran in the centre with a woman holding a mcirophone to him.
A black and white image of Norrie, world war veteran, in between Nina Camilleri and Matthew Quinn
LYC Chamber Choir, dressed in black, singing, with blue sky above them.
An aerial image of the British Normandy Memorial, which is shaped like the Union Jack.
UNLOCKING YOUNG PEOPLE’S POTENTIAL THROUGH THE POWER OF CHORAL SINGING

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