Glasgow 2014 anthems set to unite UK in song

A BOOK of Commonwealth Games anthems is to be created as part of project aiming to unite the UK in song in the run-up to the 2014 sporting extravaganza.

The Big Big Sing will be a centrepiece of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme. Picture: Sandy Young

At least 20 places across the country will be hosting mass singalong events over the next few months before a spectacular finale in Glasgow during the games.

It is hoped dozens of new and existing choirs will take part in the project, the “Big Big Sing”, which will be a centrepiece of the Glasgow 2014 cultural programme being staged over the next nine months.

Schoolchildren will be urged to write their own songs inspired by the Games as part of the £500,000 project, which is being largely backed by the Big Lottery Fund.

Four venues in Scotland will kick off the project in February and March with all-day singing workshops and sessions – the Caird Hall, Dundee; the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall; the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and Aberdeen Music Hall.

During the sporting event in July and August, the 11 songs in the songbook, which are being gathered from across the Commonwealth, will also be performed around Glasgow.

The whole initiative is being masterminded by the Glasgow Unesco City of Music organisation, which hopes more than 10,000 people will take part in the final event on 27 July.